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Cycling East

August 2017 - July 2018
A 315-day adventure by Silke und Read more
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  • 112footprints
  • 15countries
  • 315days
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  • 13.9kkilometers
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  • TravelerCycling East
    2
    Day 32

    Short stay in Croatia

    September 30, 2017 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Heading South, Henrike was a very nice host to us in her beautiful house in Érsekcsanád and gave us time to replace Silkes worn out chain in her garden.
    A result of the dinner before: Peppers can be really really spicy in the country of the peppers and even burn under the fingernails for days...

    After a cold bath in the Danube we went from stronghold to stronghold along the Hungarian-Serbian border greeting Hungarian soldiers with smiles and finally found a crossing to Serbia.
    In Serbia and later that day in Croatia people started to greet and wave us enthusiastically.

    We had an amazing stay at Tanjas & Ivans place in Osijek and there was no end of adventurous cycling stories (among other trips, the two of them cycled almost 2000km within 10 days in the Alps!). We are super grateful for your hospitality!

    Back in Serbia, we continued along the Danube and stopped by at the impressive fortress in Novi Sad for an extended afternoon nap in the sun. Since yesterday, we are in the aspiring city of Belgrade where we're going to spend a few days enjoying Cevapcici, Kajmak and Rakija - well-earned with 2045km on our clock now :)    Read more

  • TravelerCycling East
    Day 34

    Berlin of the Balkans

    October 2, 2017 in Serbia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    The fact that we came up against the town sign of Belgrade almost 20km before our hostel in the city center, made us aware of the size of this city. Novi Grad (the new town) welcomed us with new buildings made from steel and glass while on the eastern side of the holy river Save, the old fortress at the outlet into the Danube and a mixture of a few remaining pre-war and concrete buildings are dominating.

    We did not expect too much of the Church of Saint Sava, one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world, as the inside is still under construction. However, the outer appearance of it (inspired by the Taj Mahal?) and even more the crypt are impressive. We can hardly imagine how it will look like when it is finished and provides space for more than 10,000 people.

    Rakija enriched with honey sweetened our days walking around, exploring the fortress and discovering delicious food in the countless bakeries - and for some reason, Belgrade, 'The White City' reminded us of Berlin.    Read more

  • TravelerCycling East
    1
    Day 39

    The Iron Gates

    October 7, 2017 in Serbia ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    Until the point we reached Serbia we could hardly imagine what it would be about. One thing we've noticed quite from the beginning was the way Serbians are welcoming us in their country (yes, that started right behind the border crossing). People passing by are waving at us and quite a few of them do speak German what makes it a lot easier for us to decode Cyrillic letters.

    Not only the people, but also
    the landscape has impressed us. Especially the section around the Iron Gates where the Danube passes through a narrow long gorge.
    From the little-used road alongside the river we obtained several panoramic views over the gorge - paired with sunny weather we enjoyed perfect days (and one day passed through 21 (!) tunnels along this brilliant road).

    For unknown reasons, we are meeting more and more other cyclists compared to the weeks before - a French guy cycling to Greece, a couple from New Zealand cycling all around Europe, a German women cycling to Istanbul, another one cycling to the Black Sea, a Serbian couple enjoying an extended weekend trip, a French couple cycling the Danube up to Vienna with backpacks on their bicycle racks.

    Right now we're staying in a cosy guesthouse at Bojan's place in Negotin, decided to take a rest day, enjoy tasty tea and pastries and wait for the rain to pass. Tomorrow, we're going to continue our journey and probably reach Bulgaria :)    Read more

  • TravelerCycling East
    11
    Day 45

    Sunny autumn in Bulgaria

    October 13, 2017 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    We've reached our last EU country and our first time zone shift - and it feels as if we're traveling into the past, with omnipresent horse buggies, old Ladas and abandoned villages and industrial facilities (including never finished or decommissioned nuclear power plants). But there are charming lively villages with open-hearted people as well. An old lady bought us two expensive Milka chocolate bars and we believe she told us (with her hands and feet) that we'll need it for the Bulgarian mountains. Yes, communication is sometimes a bit difficult but there's always a way and the OhneWörterBuch we got from Samuel in Vienna has turned out to be quite helpful.

    We're enjoying the quiet, bleak hilly landscape, a gorgeous starlit sky and perfect weather - only sun so far. There are burning bushes alongside the road and we're wondering whether those fires are made on purpose - locals only shrug their shoulders.

    There is no infrastructure for tourists at all on this section of the EuroVelo 6 so our tent became valuable like never before - and we're glad to find a beautiful guesthouse yesterday, including a hot shower.

    We're going to miss the Danube but are definitely excited about the next days and our way to the Black Sea.    Read more

  • TravelerCycling East
    1
    Day 47

    Veliko Tarnovo is really 'veliko'

    October 15, 2017 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We didn't want to miss this cultural and historical jewel so we left the Danube and pedaled towards the mountainous center of Bulgaria. Veliko Tarnovo kept what it promises with its name - a truly great city!

    Located on three hills above the Yantra river, people only know three directions: Go up, go down, or take the stairs. As the former capital city of Bulgaria, moving history is within one's grasp and nowadays, the city attracts artists looking for inspiration in the picturesque city and landscape. Moreover it's famous for a sound and light show at the spectacular fortress (we couldn't see it this time as there was no public holiday and nobody ordered it, but checking out the videos on YouTube is worth it).

    We stayed in the beautiful house of Jaap from the Netherlands and had a fantastic, intense and informative time with him and he didn't even refuse us to stay one more night. We're very grateful Jaap and we admire your lifework and your strong commitment to the society by conveying Bulgarian traditions and fighting for the environment - and we believe that we've learned a lot about Bulgaria, even reading Cyrillic is getting a small and smaller issue for us.

    Simply put, Veliko Tarnovo is a must!    Read more

  • TravelerCycling East
    1
    Day 53

    Back at sea level

    October 21, 2017 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    With directions from our insider Jaap we felt confident to cross the upcoming range of hills and reach the Black Sea within a few days.

    Cycling along little-used roads through beautiful landscape during a seemingly never ending gypsy summer, we've developed more and more love for this country and its people.

    However, the village of Sungurlare ought to dampen our mood as we found ourselves within reams of garbage surrounding this village. We've already seen and documented a lot of trash along the roads and within the fields in Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria but this beats everything so far on our journey - the picture below is just a small snippet. Of course, there are reasons and attempts to explain this mess and we understand that people are working hard and fighting for their daily bread to survive - but what gives people the right to treat our environment like this, no matter how their living conditions look like? We're wondering what we can do about it on our journey to make at least a tiny little change...

    With slightly more than 3000km on our clock we've reached the Black Sea in Burgas. After spending two relaxing days on the beach, today, we're going to jump on a freight ship which will take us to Batumi in Georgia within three nights. We've refused our plan to cycle through Turkey as the Eastern highlands have already seen frost and snow - hardly imaginable how it would look like if we would get there in more than a month :)

    However, we're super excited to get the chance to explore Georgia!    Read more

  • TravelerCycling East
    31
    Day 56

    Cruising the Black Sea

    October 24, 2017 in Georgia ⋅ 🌬 21 °C

    A cabin with seaview, three meals a day, sunshine, an endless sea and a freight ship called 'Drujba' (means friendship), what did we want more? Well, there was more: At the port of Burgas we met Tural from Azerbaijan who has been cycling all around the world and whose contact we received from Bojan in Negotin. We shared a cabin, of course, and his stories are just amazing. We experienced the crazy truck drivers acting out a solid drinking culture and participated by investing the rest of our Bulgarian money in beer, longdrinks and Schnaps. Gagimardschos!

    Several cute, playful dolphins were guiding us and the beautiful skyline of Batumi with the majestic Caucasus Mountains behind welcomed us to Georgia.

    Heavy spasms in both legs after almost one week without cycling? Hauke almost had to call a taxi for the 3km from the ship to the hostel, but we made it. After quickly checking in our room, we saw the three of us heading towards the next Georgian restaurant with a thrill of anticipation. To say it with Turals words: "This is the moment I've been waiting for more than two years!" (Although he could have gone directly from Azerbaijan to Georgia instead of round the world.) But since we tried our first Khinkali with him we absolutely understand his feelings about this delicious, delicious Georgian specialty, jammy! Combined with Georgian wine and Chacha, even better.

    Batumi looks really impressing and has obviously done a lot for tourists with a well maintained, palm-lined promenade, casinos, clubs and hotels but we were eager to discover the real Georgia and left the next morning to climb the Caucasus Mountains.

    We said goodbye to Tural who would chose a more straight forward route on his way home and promised to meet in Gori, Tbilisi and in his hometown Baku, for sure. See you there, then!    Read more

  • TravelerCycling East
    2
    Day 58

    Attacking the Goderdzi Pass

    October 26, 2017 in Georgia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Our first thought when leaving shimmering Batumi: 'Let the adventure begin!' We encountered cows, pigs and horses in the city and on the roads, black exhaust clouds, overstuffed crammed vans passing by, tobacco, vine and khaki fruits in the trees, kids racing against us with their bike and lots of warm smiles!

    We came to the Dandalo medieval bridge, set up our tent and joined a campfire with two Georgian and two Saudi Arabian guys, enjoying Arabic coffee, Caj, Tamr (dates from Saudi Arabia) and a pile of lamb meat - thanks for the invitation Nasser, hopefully you enjoyed the snow and the mountains!

    Climbing on, we came to Khulo where we were received by an old man on the road, hugging us, talking, screaming, laughing and following us into a café - apparently not even the locals understood what he was saying. But did this crazy man have a presentment?

    After that, a Belgian guy who plans to open a hostel in Khulo told us the road would become worse - and what happened not even 3km further? A big bang from Haukes rear wheel and not only the inner tube but also the tyre bursted. We fixed it and continued, as the road continued to become worse and steeper. Time to set up our tent! We decided to start early the next day to master the last 25km to the pass (1300m in height to go, >5% average climb) to have an extended lunch break in the sun with stunning views from the top. However, the road conditions became a nightmare and it took us more than six hours to get to the top, completely exhausted but super proud!

    Everything in Goderdzi seemed closed down because the hiking season is over and the skiing season would start in December, but luckily, a little hotel was open and we could get any room we wanted. When we entered the restaurant it still felt like the hotel was just open for us but an hour later, Julia, Pierre and Michelle from Russia and France came in and it started to fill up with Georgians drinking and singing their songs - what a great atmosphere on the summit, surrounded by clouds.    Read more

  • TravelerCycling East
    12
    Day 61

    Autumn scenery in Caucasus Mountains

    October 29, 2017 in Georgia ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    After a few "what the hell are we doing here?"-moments, we found cycling through this gorgeous landscape to be worth any effort, with all the colors, valleys, creeks and waterfalls, the snow, sun and clouds, the coldness and warmth. We definitely want to come back one day to hike to the more remote Adjarian villages hidden in the mountains.

    It's been easy to find great camp spots next to a river, especially the beautiful Kura river makes you thinking about pitching the tent every few kilometers.

    Back on asphalt after more than 50km on difficult terrain, we came to appreciate smooth roads like never before.

    Another anecdote: Silke needs to speed up buying groceries if she doesn't want Hauke to cycle slalom behind - in Borjomi (which is actually famous for its healthy waters), there was enough time to get invited for three shots of vodka and some sausages, Gagimardschos!    Read more

  • TravelerCycling East
    1
    Day 63

    From Borjomi to Mtskheta

    October 31, 2017 in Georgia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Looking forward to our reunion with Tural in Gori, we speeded up and chose to cycle on the motorway for the first time. Moreover, we're not yet in the mood again to go slalom on the bumpy side roads.

    In Gori, which is actually Stalin's birthplace, we met Tural in the lovely Nitsa Guesthouse, had a Georgian feast together and admired the daughter of the house playing the piano. What a great host family! We decided not to visit the Stalin museum as it is said to not review the history in a proper critic reflective way. However, at least the giant Stalin statue has been removed. Or as a French guest commented on the Stalin cult 'What an impression would a Hitler-statue in Germany make?'.

    Next day, the three of us hit the road towards Tbilisi and cycled together until we split up at Mtskheta as Tural wanted to meet another friend and we decided to pay a visit to Mtskheta. Contrary to Gori, we found this city to be in a better shape, but significantly more touristy. However, the cathedral is quite impressing and we could practice our Russian with a nice Georgian granny in our guesthouse.

    In the meantime we've left Tbilisi behind us and are having a lunch break in a roadside family kitchen. The border with Azerbaijan is getting closer. Pictures of Tbilisi will follow...    Read more

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