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Go East
  • Herbert E
  • Meike Grothe

Go East

Een 175-daags avontuur van Herbert & Meike Meer informatie
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  • Go East
    Early start with the sunrise
    Mongolia or Romania?Mountain paths1Too steep to paddle...Mud volcanosCampground surrounded by mountains

    Mud vulcanos

    26 juli 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Another long day ahead, another early start. Again, we stopped for breakfast at a minimarket after 25km. This time, a group of people surrounded us as soon as we stopped. They all wanted to know about our trip and couldn't believe we cycled from Germany to Romania. A guy who works in Germany and spoke broken German later explained to us that the group were gipsies and we should be careful. We didn't feel unsafe around them though.
    The first 95km of today's route were very flat again and sometimes reminded us of Mongolia. The wind had turned to Northern directions and was a lot more challenging, so we couldn't go as fast as yesterday. Still, we made the boring part by noon and stopped for lunch in order to regain energy for the last, more interesting, 30km day.
    We had to climb again, never higher than 400m, but steep and often and on gravel. At one section, we even had to push our bikes on the loose rocks. But the effort was totally worth it, as we were rewarded by beautiful small mountain paths on the way down.
    Our destination today was a private campground next to some mud volcanos. After a refreshing shower, we visited those and enjoyed the view of the blubbering mud pools surrounded by lush green mountains. Another very cool spot in Romania!    Meer informatie

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    Push bike roads

    27 juli 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Finally, we had some proper mountain roads ahead of us. We started at 7am, when everyone else on the campground was still asleep. The idea was to have breakfast in one of the minimarkets again. But today, this turned out to be more difficult. As we went on really remote roads, we found the first decent shop only after 27km. Not a problem on flat roads, but today's route started with a lot of up-and-down-riding, loose gravel and a 350m elevation gain. So we were already quite exhausted when having breakfast.
    Afterwards, we faced another climb of about 650m. On the last 350m, the elevation gain was over 15% continuously which is crazy on our fully loaded bikes on this distance. We actually pushed the bikes for the last bit in order to give our upper legs a break and use some other muscles instead.
    The landscape, however, was absolutely beautiful and we enjoyed the views. Plus, there were very few cars on the street and we came to remote villages where the locals still live in wooden houses and where kids were bathing in the river.
    After the climb, we had a technically challenging but fun downhill to a valley and cycled on a paved road along a river for a few kilometres. And as we are in the mountains again, a thunderstorm was coming, so we decided to stay in a little guesthouse. We had to hide from the owner, as she was nice but definitely overcaring...    Meer informatie

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  • Go East
    Castle Bran1Sunset over Brasov

    Lord Dracula

    28 juli 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today, we headed to the city of Brasov. The first part of the route was nice, a very scenic route along a lake. In the morning, there was only few traffic, so we enjoyed the ride. Unfortunately, it got busier and less interesting, the closer we got to the city.
    In Brasov, we could leave our luggage at Radu's and Mihaela's, our hosts for the night. We wanted to see the famous "Dracula Castle" in Bran. In order to get there, Radu recommended to take a shuttle bus to the local ski resort, enjoy a scenic downhill and then follow the main road to the castle. So that's what we did.
    The castle looked pretty cool from the outside. But there were definitely too many tourists from our point of view. So we didn't go inside and just took a couple of photos from the outside before heading back to Brasov on the terribly busy main road.
    Back at our hosts, Radu cooked a yummy risotto for dinner. Afterwards, he gave us a tour through the beautiful historic centre and took us to the best icecream place. Brasov is a really cool town: old buildings, lots of cafés and restaurants, many people on the roads and especially because it's right next to the mountains!    Meer informatie

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    Our hosts in Brasov: Radu and Mihaela

    Fortified churches

    29 juli 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Radu recommended us to cycle some secondary roads in Transylvania to visit some remote villages and see some of the fortified churches that are famous in this region. So instead of South we headed North from Brasov.
    After we got out of the city, the roads became quiet and we had a day of easy and nice cycling, passing remote villages and fortified churches as predicted. In the end, we had to climb a bit, but nothing too serious. We wanted to do some backyard camping, but the guesthouse that offered it didn't provide shared showers which wasn't an option today 😉 So we took a room, did some laundry and cooked some rice for dinner.    Meer informatie

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  • Go East
    Lunch and heat break in Rupea
    Citadel of RupeaTraditional vs. Sowjet architectureWashing opportunity in ViscriFortified church in ViscriOff to find the perfect campspot

    Transilvanian village tour

    30 juli 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    It was going to be hot again today, so we wanted to be on the road early. Unfortunately, we didn't plan with the guesthouse owners. They had closed and locked the electric gate and were deep asleep when we wanted to leave. So we had our breakfast at the hotel instead of later on the road. When they weren't awake by 7:30am yet, we knocked on the door and woke them up.
    We had to cycle on a busy road for the first 25km. Although the landscape was nice, it wasn't much fun with all the cars. In the next town, we stopped for a coffee before finally being able to cycle on backroads again. We came across many Transilvanian villages with fortified churches again. The architecture in these villages is unique and houses look very similar to each other. Every now and then, some Sowjet style building makes the appearance of the village a bit "different".
    In Rupea, we had a longer stop in the shade of the park and cooked some lunch. Afterwards, we visited the citadel before continuing to Viscri. Here, we luckily found a water source to wash of our sweat. Viscri is UNESCO World Heritage site because of the traditional village structure and its fortified church.
    When the sun started to set, we took off to find a campspot for the night. And the whole washing process was useless... We went on a mountainbike trail and had to climb a little in the forest. It didn't take long and we were all wet again. Only 2km into the trail, we found a beautiful meadow to camp. Luckily, we carried enough water to have a full body wash. We get pretty good at it, 350ml per person are sufficient 😊    Meer informatie

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  • Go East
    What a start into our cycling day 😍
    11Clock Tower in SigishoaraExploring the historic center

    40 km trail heavily loaded

    31 juli 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Time for some bike fun! Radu had recommended to take a mountain bike trail from Viscri to Sigishoara. And as there were some exit options, we decided to try what our bikes are capable of. The trail was absolutely wonderful! Even with our fully loaded bikes, we very much enjoyed riding the narrow trail through the forest and passed meadows. So we ignored all of the exit options and rode all the 40km until we got back to civilisation and arrived in Sigishoara.
    The city has a picturesque historic center with its famous clock tower. Houses are colorful and well maintained and you can do a lot of exploring by wandering along the small streets. There's also a restaurant in a house where Lord Dracula live for some years, but it's quite pricey. We are lucky we got to this place in Corona times as we can only imagine how packed with tourists it is in a normal year.
    After having spent the afternoon in Sigishoara, we continued to Saez where we could stay with Andreas. We spent the evening with him and a couple of his neighbors listening to some stories about communist times, fishing, the flight to West Germany and the relationship between Romanians and Germans.    Meer informatie

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  • Go East
    Our host Andreas
    Dinner in the backyard of the farmHouse wine and a view

    Chill out

    1 augustus 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    In the morning, we were very motivated to go and visit Sibiu. So instead of a planned rest day, we left Andreas' house and headed towards the city. However, the wind wasn't in our favour and our legs felt tired. So after 35km, we changed plans and looked for a place to stay. We found a farm some 12km away where you could also camp. So that's where we went and spent the day resting.Meer informatie

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    Energy gaining day

    2 augustus 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Tomorrow, we want to cycle the famous Transfaragasan to cross the mountains. That's why we had another quiet day today. After only 35km, we found a campground at the foot of the mountains, pitched our tent and took it easy to gain some energy for the big climb. We did our laundry, cooked some food and prepared breakfast and lunch for tomorrow already. In order to fill up gas for our stove, we had to go to a petrol station that was at the start of the Transfaragasan. It was extremely busy and it was no fun cycling, so we decided to have a very early start to beat the traffic and don't loose time with food preparations before hitting the road.
    All day, we could see the mountains and we are really looking forward to the views. Crossing fingers the weather is stable 🤞    Meer informatie

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  • Go East
    Morning hours
    2The famous turns of the Transfăgărășan1

    The legendary Transfăgărășan

    3 augustus 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Our strategy to leave early to avoid the traffic worked out nicely! At 5:45am, we were on the road and for the first 2 hours, we saw almost no car. It was still cold though, but as we had to climb continuously, we got warm soon. After half of the climb, we stopped for a coffee and our second breakfast before cycling the most interesting and mountainous part of the famous Transfăgărășan: 15 turns of 180 degrees winding up to an elevation of 2000m. As we started at about 500m, we had an elevation gain of 1500m which we managed in under 4 hours, mainly with strong headwinds.
    It was really cold at the top and very touristy, too. By now, the car drivers had woken up as well, so we had to share the place with quite some people when we had our third breakfast at the lake.
    Our plan was to stay at a hostel and go hiking tomorrow. However, when we ask for a room, they told us they were closed because of current "conditions". That's actually the first time on this trip, that we are affected by the Corona measures.
    We could have stayed at a hotel or one of the campspots further down, but as it was too touristy and as we are spoilt by hiking options in the Alps, we decided to descend. The 30km downhill was very scenic and we enjoyed it a lot. The only downside was the rising amount of cars, but at least the vast majority was still coming uphill at this time.
    We arrived at a lake where we could turn into a nice and quiet dirt road. Good to be away from the traffic again! The lake ends with an enormous dam, looking down was impressive. From here, we only had to cycle another 5km in order to get to a campground. Not that nice, but it had a (cold) shower and an electric fence to keep the bears outside.
    We also passed some milestones. Since starting our trip in September last year, we've cycled 20.000km and climbed 200km 💪    Meer informatie

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  • Go East
    Fresh bread for breakfast :)
    Lots of push-your-bike sections2"Bear foot"1End of the trail and no way outValley roadCamping in the park

    The bear foot trail

    4 augustus 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    When we woke up today, we decided to have breakfast at the next minimarket as it was really windy and cold at the campground and there was no corner to hide from the wind. At the market, we had a coffee and wanted to eat our bread, but it was moldy. The market didn't have bread, so we had to continue to the next one. Here, we were lucky as the bread delivery van had just arrived.
    Afterwards, we took a trail through the forest. On the map, it looked like a hiking trail, but we don't mind a bit of pushing and definitely prefer 8km on a quiet forest trail compared to 40km on the busy main road. The first part of the trail was ok. We had to push a couple of steep sections, but could cycle most of it. We had to pass a pasture through a gate, but like in the Alps, this is not a big deal. When we met the cowherd, he explained to us how to get to the village on the other side of the hill. But as he spoke Romanian, we didn't understand much and trusted on our GPS.
    Then, the "fun" part started. Our GPS showed a trail, that didn't exist in reality. We followed some traces that looked like a trail, but didn't exist on the map. We also just pushed and cycled between the trees to kind of match the GPS trail. At some stage, we arrived at a path we could cycle for 1 or 2km, so that's what we did. But it got worse and worse with more and more sections to push or even carry the bikes. We saw lots of signs for bears like footprints and bear poo, but no sign of civilisation. The trail ended at a meadow with a deserted hut and really high grass. We looked for a way out, but no chance. So we had to go back the terrible way we came. Once back at a known intersection, we tried a different turn. This time, we were more lucky. Not a good trail, but after some more pushing and carrying the bikes we got back on our trail in civilisation. Instead of 8km, we spent 20km in the forest and about 4 hours! We were totally exhausted and hungry.
    However, even though there were houses, we couldn't find a store to buy food. So we continued on our route. We had to climb 250m on gravel first, but were then rewarded by a really long downhill through some remote villages and a beautiful valley. Afterwards, we had a 10km section on a main road. The scenery was spectacular, but the road was way to busy to be able to enjoy it. When we could finally turn onto a smaller road, we were happy to find a supermarket where we had our "lunch" at 4pm. As we were tired, we started looking for a place to stay for the night and found a camping sign just at the end of the village. It was actually a festival ground on the weekend, but the manager let us camp there and use the facilities.    Meer informatie

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  • Go East
    Lake no. 1
    Lake no. 2 and one of the bee trucksShort water and cookie break during the big climbRadler break at Lake no. 2Dinner timeStretching at the river

    Bees and lakes

    5 augustus 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    After some complications regarding the navigation yesterday, today was easy: At our campsite, we took the valley road and followed it until the end where we found another campsite.
    On the way, we passed two nice lakes and countless bee trucks parked next to the road. We also had to climb from 300m to 1600m before descending to our sleeping altitude of about 1300m. As camping was really cheap, we decided to spend the money in a restaurant instead of cooking ourselves. Unfortunately, dishes feel very small after an exhausting day on the bikes, so we had to get more food from a nearby food stall.
    Before going to bed, we chilled out at the river next to our campspot and did some much needed stretching.    Meer informatie

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    19am: coffee and Palinka at the top of Transalpina4Targu Jiu with the 3 famous sculptures and a church

    Transalpina

    6 augustus 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    It was very cold when we got on the bikes only 6°C. Our goal was to cycle Transalpina, the second famous panoramic mountain road in Romania. Our strategy was to start early and beat the traffic, so we were on the road by 7am.
    We had to climb from 1300m to 2100m. And the climb at Transalpina was definitely harder than the one at Transfaragashan, steeper with an average of 7% elevation gain plus really nasty headwinds coming from the top of the mountains. However, on the way up we had the road pretty much to ourselves.
    At the top, we stopped for a coffee. A German speaking gentleman saw us and offered us a Palinka to warm up. We had a nice chat about our biketour. The lady who sold the coffee also brought me a blanket when she saw the goosebumps on my legs - it was damn cold and windy up there...
    But the views were stunning. Compared to the Transfaragashan, the Transalpina was less spectacular as you couldn't see all the turns from above. But we liked it a lot because it seems more natural.
    On the way down, we were happy to have started early, because many many cars came driving up the road. The downhill was relatively steep and fast and the winds made it challenging. Within less than 30km, we were back at 500m where we followed a rolling, slightly descending road for the last 45km to Targu Jiu. As it was now over 35°C, it was quite exhausting. In the city, we treated ourselves to a guesthouse, did some laundry and visited the city. Apart from 3 sculptures, the Kissing Gate, the Table of Silence and the Infinity Column, it wasn't too intersting, so we went back to the guesthouse, cooked dinner and went to bed early.    Meer informatie

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    1Camping with a view

    Canyon ride

    7 augustus 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    The people of the guesthouse thought we were crazy when we left at 6:30am. But we wanted to get out of the city early to avoid the worst traffic. We left Targu Jiu to the West. The further we got away from the city, the fewer cars were on the road and the more mountains we saw.
    After 20km, we had our breakfast break at a gas station which had some tables outside. The guy behind the counter was nice, so we chatted a bit in sign language about our trip.
    Afterwards, we climbed up to 900m of elevation and passed some remote villages. The descend was spectacular. The road led through a canyon next to a river and we were surrounded by high walls. The area is a National Park called Domogled Valea Cernei and is stunning. Towards the end of the canyon, the mineral spas of Baile Herculane are based where we planned to stay. We didn't go to the spa though as it was too touristy and busy. The campgrounds were a bit crowded, too, but people were nice. So we pitched our tent and had a couple of Radler with our dinner.
    We also could have done wild camping easily. But campgrounds in this area cost about 2-3€ and we prefer having a clean camping area with a toilet instead of the popular wild camp spots that are usually full of rubbish.    Meer informatie

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  • Go East
    Roman building in Baile Herculane
    "Iron Gate" - the Danube forms the border between Serbia and RomaniaFeeding the 6 puppies 😍Polenta dish in Constantin's backyard1

    Danube Iron Gate

    8 augustus 2020, Roemenië ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    In the morning, we followed the canyon road into the village of Baile Herculane. On the way, we passed some public mineral spas that were crowded already as lots of people slept in their cars right next to them and were awake even in these early hours.
    Baile Herculane is a holiday place and kind of surprised us. There are lots of old buildings of Roman architecture, but most of them are sadly in decay. Instead, some huge ugly hotels were built where people stayed.
    After 10km, we had to go on a very busy main road. Luckily, the wind was on our side and we could go fast. In Orsova, we had a coffee and breakfast break at a gas station where we met a Greek cyclist.
    We now cycled along the Danube which forms the border between Serbia and Romania at this section. The valley is beautiful as it's relatively narrow and very green on both sides. Unfortunately, it's no fun cycling as the traffic is bad with lots of trucks.
    When we could finally turn off the main road after 70km, we were happy and stopped for a cold drink in the first village. The men were nice, invited us to a coffee and showed us proudly the 6 puppies in their backyard. One of them spoke German and we had an interesting discussion about old and current times in that village. They also complained about reckless Romanian drivers and people leaving their rubbish behind, 2 things we don't appreciate either.
    We continued for another 40km or so through a pretty deserted region. In Prislov, we stopped to check out our sleeping options. Herbert also picked plums from the tree next to the road. A car stopped and the driver signaled him to follow him as he has more and better plums in his garden. Some minutes later, Herbert came back with a bag full of juicy plums. Then another car stopped and the driver, Sorin, asked if he could help us. We asked if he knew a place to sleep - either a guesthouse or campspot - and he offered us to sleep at hat s friend's place just one block away. So we went to Constantin's house who had a spare guestroom which is really rare in Romania. The 2 guys showed us the bathroom before leaving for the next 3 hours to do grocery shopping in the next bigger city.
    Meanwhile, we had a shower and cooked dinner. We tried a Polenta dish for a change as Polenta has the best calories to weight ratio. It was actually pretty yummy!
    When Sorin and Constantin came back, we had some beers and lots of discussions. Sorin also took us for a short drive to the Danube to watch the sunset at border triangle of Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria.    Meer informatie

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    Border crossing via the Danube bridgeVidin fortressPlaying with the energetic dog

    Crossing the Danube into Bulgaria

    9 augustus 2020, Bulgarije ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Today, we wanted to cross the border to Bulgaria. As we weren't completely sure about the current border situation in Corona times, we left early. We saw the sunrise and at the same time a thunderstorm just ahead of us. So after only 6km, we had to stop to wait out the rain.
    The rest of the way to the border was flat and busy, so we tried to go quickly. People are definitely more used to cyclists in this area (one option of the Danube Eurovelo passes here), and waved to us or greeted with a "hi, how are you". As it was Sunday, quite some people were outside drinking coffee and/or beer and chatting.
    We wanted to cross to Bulgaria via the Danube River bridge. Against all expectations, border crossing went smoothly after we had found the right lane for bicycles. We gave our passports to the Romanian border security, he gave it to the Bulgarian guy sitting right next to him and we got them back. No interrogation about our travel intentions or possible symptons or anything.
    The Bulgarian city on the other side is called Vidin. Here, we saw a sign of the Eurovelo 6 and followed it to the fortress. At the fortress, we relaxed for a while, enjoyed the view and had some lunch. We also spent some time cycling through the city. It's quite interesting to see the ugly, shabby Sowjet highrises next to a modern park along the Danube river. Many people were outside and really friendly asking us about our trip.
    From here, we only had to cycle around 20km to our campground. However, these were exhausting because of the heat (35°C) and the surface (some sections of cobblestones). The campground, though, is located in a nice green and cool valley, protected by trees. So the only thing we did was relaxing and playing with the dog. He had so much energy that we didn't get him tired 😂    Meer informatie

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    Relax and "big spectacle"

    10 augustus 2020, Bulgarije ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    This morning, we got up early as usual and brushed our teeth. Then we decided to go back to bed (= tent) and have a very easy day at this beautiful quiet oasis. So we relaxed in the hammock which fit both of us.
    Around noon, we wanted to go for a walk in the forest. But after 30 minutes, we went back to our camp as it was too hot to move.
    In the afternoon, we called Joro. Joro is a local who we talked to at the campground last night. He invited us over to a bbq, so we cycled those 3km to the next village. We had a fun night over great food, local drinks and great conversations in a mix of German, French and Bulgarian. Joro is an artist and the director as well as one of the actors of the Vidin puppet theatre. When he tells us stories about his work or travels, everything is always a "big spectacle". He introduced us to the Bulgarian lifestyle: eat, drink, love. We had high quality "Rakia" as an aperitivo and a 5 year old brandy with chocolate icecream for dessert. His house is more of a museum than a living space, full of antique furniture and especially old retro longplays and tape recorders. Joro loves music and played "Lily Marleen" and some other songs on the accordion. Travelling is never boring!    Meer informatie

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    2

    Bulgarian "rockies"

    11 augustus 2020, Bulgarije ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Most people think of the beaches at the Black Sea when they think about holidays in Bulgaria. However, the country has lots to offer and many mountains to climb and explore. So that's what we are going to do.
    Our destination today was Belogradchik. In order to get there, we cycled on remote roads which were in a semi-good state. Good for us as cars seemed to avoid them 😉 We also passed some villages, but most of them looked very deserted and in decay. In 10 years, there won't be anyone living there anymore I guess.
    We had a stop in one of the busier villages. It had a Sowjet monument in the central park. Around the park, people were sitting in front of the mini shops drinking coffee and beer as we've seen it quite often before on our trip.
    Along the roads, we saw many fruit trees with apples and pears. In a week or two, the fruits will be ripe and we can just pick them - yum!!
    When we arrived in Belogradchik, we went to a campground which could have been nice. But the owner doesn't seem to take good care of it, so it looked a bit uninviting. We cooked some pasta, so we had enough energy to explore the area. Around town, there's some incredible rock formations looking out of the forest. We went on a 2 hour hike to see them from different perspectives. We had never heard of this place before, but it's really impressive. Looking forward to what's coming up next!    Meer informatie

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  • Go East
    Breakfast stop with a notice board in the backMaybe our next touring bike?!Relaxing in the pool

    Entering the Balkan Mountains

    12 augustus 2020, Bulgarije ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Downhill on a smooth road winding through those rock formations during sunrise... What a perfect start for a day on the bike!
    Today, we could cycle on backroads most of the time, so we didn't see many cars. We are at the foothills of the Balkan mountains meaning that it starts getting hilly and we climb and descend alternately.
    Again, we had our breakfast in one of the villages. Here in Bulgaria, the middle sized ones all have a central square with some Sowjet War Memorial and a mini market selling coffee. So that's where we stopped to eat our bread. We noticed that, in the villages, people print out dead notices or anniversary information of their family members and hang them up publicly in front of their houses or at a central location (like a notice board). That's what you can see behind Herbert.
    In general, logistics in Bulgaria are more difficult than in other countries. They do have mini markets, but they mainly sell chips and softdrinks, so we can't rely on proper food. So today, we were very happy when we could go grocery shopping in a bigger supermarket in Berkovitsa. In the front, Herbert saw our new touring bike which will get us up the mountains faster in the future 😉
    For the night, we booked a cabin for a change. The hotel was beautifully located: In the middle of the mountains, very peaceful and quiet and with a pool in which we could cool our muscles.    Meer informatie

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  • Go East
    Sunrise over the central park in Berkovitsa
    Lunch breakDescending into Iskar Canyon1View of Iskar Canyon

    Canyon roads

    13 augustus 2020, Bulgarije ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Plan and reality can sometimes be a little different. We were planning on crossing the high part of the Balkan mountain range on a main road early morning and then make a big detour West of Sofia to avoid the people and the traffic of the city.
    It all went according to plan until we got on that main road (after 7km only). It was so busy with fast cars and trucks, that we decided to take a different route. So we did some quick replanning and cycled in a Southeastern direction on secondary roads, passed a few villages and crossed the mountain range at a lower altitude further East. On that climb, we encountered exactly 7 cars in 1.5 hours :) The descent was awesome! A steep curvy road led towards Iskar canyon.
    The canyon itself is very impressive. However, cycling wasn't so much fun anymore from this point, as traffic was pretty heavy on the canyon road as well. Plus, it was rolling up and down and up and down which was VERY exhausting. Due to the lack of options, we also decided to go to a campground based in the outskirts of Sofia. It's actually quite nice with very friendly owners and right next to a metro station. So - unlike our plan - we are going to visit the capital of Bulgaria tomorrow.    Meer informatie

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    A walk through Sofia

    14 augustus 2020, Bulgarije ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Today, we had a bit of a different day as we visited Sofia. We took the metro which was very convenient. The city was surprisingly empty, we felt like the only tourists around. I guess that's the positive thing about travelling in Corona times...
    We spent the whole morning exploring the uncountable churches and other religious buildings, impressive palace-like hotels and government buildings and huge green parks with interesting war monuments. With temperatures around 30°C,we were happy to find many shadowy places under the trees.
    At several spots, we saw people in tents who are peacefully protesting against the Bulgarian government system from what we understood from those few English signs.
    When it got even hotter in the afternoon, we went to a bike shop to buy a couple of pedals and new chains and headed back to the campground for some bike maintenance. We finished the day with a bbq.    Meer informatie

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  • Go East
    Empty shopping street at 7am in Sofia
    Dry under the roof at our campgroundGeysir in Sapareva Banya

    Into the Rila Mountains

    15 augustus 2020, Bulgarije ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Cycling in a big city is never fun and we had to cross pretty much all of Sofia from Northwest to South which is 15km. At around 7am, the roads were still empty, so it wasn't too bad and we only had to struggle with the stop-and-go at traffic lights.
    Once out of the city, we stopped for breakfast and then climbed on a smaller road up towards the mountains. We passed really nice houses with an amazing view of the city. Unfortunately, most of those mansions blocked our view over the city 😕
    The smaller road was quiet busy as many people seem to use it for weekend drives. Herbert made friends with one of them who kept a distance of way less than a metre between his Mercedes S Class AMG and our bikes. When Herbert showed him the finger, the bolded gym guy of 2 meters with lots of tattoos pulled over, got out of his car and wanted to fight. Herbert just went on pedalling trying to signal him at the same time to keep a greater distance next time. Looking at Herbert's signs, the guy's face turned from angry to confused and he let off. And when he overtook again, he kept at least a meter of distance 😉
    The rest of the ride to Sapareva Banya was uneventful. The town is a bit touristy because of its mineral spas and a Geysir. But there's a fountain built around it, so it's not particularly interesting.
    Luckily, our campground has some roofs and indoor spaces as there were a couple thunderstorms in the afternoon. More lined up as well, so the night probably won't be quiet.    Meer informatie

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  • Go East

    Relaxing in a mountain camp

    16 augustus 2020, Bulgarije ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Our route for today was very short. Only 16km with an elevation gain of 800m. We could have cycled it yesterday, but as we don't want to hike with all the people on a weekend day, we took it easy. This way, we can go hiking tomorrow, when most of the locals are back to work.
    The morning was slow and we did not start riding before 11am. So our tent was almost dry after all the rain during the night. We had to climb straight away until we reached the "Lift to the 7 Lakes Hike". Here, we could pitch our tent next to a hut and relax the rest of the day. We also ordered chips with cheese, a bean and mushroom soup and an omelet with cheese from the bar. For some reason, the owners thought this is a weird combination, but we didn't mind.    Meer informatie

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  • Go East
    Paneurhythmie - circle dancing in white dresses

    Spiritual mountains

    17 augustus 2020, Bulgarije ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Hiking day for a change. In order to beat the crowds who take the lift up to the mountains, we started our hike from our camp at 7am. 550m higher, we left the forest trails and came into a more mountenous area. Here, the 7 Rila Lakes hike started. We were surprised to see many people up there already, mainly elderly women who had slept in the hotel in the mountain. Luckily, there was a climb at the beginning of the trail, so we could overtake pretty much all of them within the first 15 minutes.
    Maybe 30 minutes later, we arrived at a meadow next to the "Kidney Lake" which looked like a popular picnic spot. Some 10-15 people had stopped there. We were a bit confused as most of them started to change into white clothes. At a closer look, we saw rocks on the ground, laid out in huge circles. We decided to wait a little and more and more people arrived from all sides, all wearing or changing into white dresses. One of the younger ladies told us in broken English they were going to dance in circles when we asked her what this was all about. As it got too cold to sit and wait, we hiked further up a mountain and half an hour later, the ceremony started and we could observe from high above. Probably about 200-300 people had come to participate in what's called "Paneurhythmie". It's some cult of a white brotherhood which takes place only some days in August in the Rila mountains. People follow some ritual dance practices, move in circles, dress in white, some musicians playing in the middle of the circles. For those of you interested, google it 😉
    However, we continued our hike along the lakes as it got cloudy already. Further away from the ceremony, we didn't meet any other people, so we could enjoy the nature. We also hiked all the way down instead of taking the lift, as we preferred to spend the lift money on lots of food in the hut where we could camp.    Meer informatie

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  • Go East

    Rila Monastery

    18 augustus 2020, Bulgarije ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Our day started with a great 30km downhill until we reached a bigger town to have breakfast. Afterwards, the more exhausting part started. We could follow some back roads at first, then turned into the valley of Rila.
    The valley is very scenic. The villages are full of vineyards hanging around most of the houses. On both sides, the mountains rise pretty high which leads to scenic views. We climbed about 600m with sweet tail winds until we arrived at Rila Monastery. It's probably the most beautiful monastery we've ever seen and it's in the middle of the mountains. Definitely a cultural highlight of our trip.
    We weren't sure where to sleep at night. On the way up, we had found some ok spots for wild camping as well as camping next to a hotel, but nothing was really convincing. However, about 1.5km behind the monastery, we found a campground in the middle of nature which we liked, so we pitched our tent. All afternoon and evening, we could hear the thunder in the mountains and even see the dark clouds. But so far, we've stayed dry. Let's cross fingers for the night!
    Funnily, where we are now is roughly only 6km away from where we hiked yesterday - as the crow flies. However, on the bikes, we had to cycle more than 80km and even descend to 400m above sea level in between.    Meer informatie

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  • Go East
    Typical Bulgarian coffee place2Brake has arrived and fixedBansko historical centerBansko old town - cat is observing people from the window

    Bulgarian Chamonix

    19 augustus 2020, Bulgarije ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Last night ended with a spontaneous invite from our campground neighbours from Germany. Over a glass of wine, they told us they would have been on the Pamir Highway this year if it wasn't for Corona.
    In the morning, we left early as usual. There had been a thunderstorm with heavy rain during the night, so we didn't sleep too well. The roads were still wet and dirty, those crystal clear streams from yesterday had turned into mud brown rivers.
    After a 42km descent, we stopped for breakfast, bought some fresh bread at a Lidl and sat down at a typical Bulgarian coffee place. Pretty ugly, but the coffee is good and cheap and we have chairs and tables to eat our breakfast.
    Then we continued going South. First, we could cycle on a quiet secondary road, but had to turn into the main road once we headed into the next valley. We had to gain about 900m of elevation over 24km. It's not too steep, but no fun with lots of traffic. On the way, we saw lots of huge signs next to the road, advertisements for spas, resorts, clubs and alike, so we were already wondering if we had chosen the right place for us. But when we arrived in Bansko, it surprised us in a positive way. Once we had past the resort area, we got into a quiet residential area where our guesthouse was located. The owner was nice, he had received a package with spare bike parts for us. So we could spend the afternoon fixing my rear break.
    Afterwards, we went exploring the town. Part of it is a typical ski resort with lots of bars, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs etc. But it also has a really nice historical center where we also had dinner at a restaurant.
    Overall, Bansko is VERY empty this year, half of the stores and restaurants are closed. Our guesthouse owner told us that they have no foreign tourists at all this year and Bulgarians only come on the weekends. It's sad to see how Corona hit this town. But for us, the situation is kind of lucky as I don't think we'd enjoy the normal amount of tourists here.    Meer informatie

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