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Go East

mai - november 2020
Et 175-dagers eventyr av Herbert & Meike Les mer
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  • Go East

    Bees and lakes

    5. august 2020, Romania ⋅ ☀️ 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.    Les mer

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    14

    Transalpina

    6. august 2020, Romania ⋅ ⛅ 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.    Les mer

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    1

    Canyon ride

    7. august 2020, Romania ⋅ ☁️ 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.    Les mer

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    1

    Danube Iron Gate

    8. august 2020, Romania ⋅ ⛅ 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.    Les mer

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  • Go East

    Crossing the Danube into Bulgaria

    9. august 2020, Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 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 😂    Les mer

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    Relax and "big spectacle"

    10. august 2020, Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 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!    Les mer

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    2

    Bulgarian "rockies"

    11. august 2020, Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 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!    Les mer

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  • Go East

    Entering the Balkan Mountains

    12. august 2020, Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 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.    Les mer

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  • Go East
    1

    Canyon roads

    13. august 2020, Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 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.    Les mer

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    A walk through Sofia

    14. august 2020, Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 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.    Les mer

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