Left our camp at 7.30am. Delightful ride for the first 60ks through sunflower and wheat fields. The views were really lovely, the roads reasonably good with patches of potholes, to which we have become accustomed! Reasonably easy gradient today, over undulating hills, we still climbed 1450metres. Found a coffee shop at 40ks, a cost of .60 cents NZ per cup!
Lunch at 60ks, then a long climb of about 4ks through beautiful countryside. It went up and up and up!It got hotter, until it reached around 34 degrees. We rode with Graeme and Manon. In the Bulgarian countryside agriculture is mechanized and so there are not the peasant farmers in the fields. It was a lovely view over large fields to the mountains in the distance. The people were all very friendly, waving and calling encouragement to us. There were still a number of farmers transporting hay by horse or donkey and cart. Bulgaria is tidier than Romania, though there is still a lot of rubbish on the sides of the road. Houses seem to have tidier yards. We passed through a number of small villages, there were not a lot of shops on the streets though. We arrived in Shumen at 4.30pm, and when we asked a taxi driver for directions to the hotel he said he would show us. He put on his hazard lights and led us through the streets. We gave him a donation for his services!
Showered for the first time in two days! Did our washing in the bath as usual and strung the line across the bedroom. Then we relaxed before dinner and watched the Tour de France. Dinner was at 7.30 in the car park. Relaxed in the hotel before heading to bed at 10pm. Distance today was 130ks, 6hours 43 mins. 19.3 average.
Lunch at 60ks, then a long climb of about 4ks through beautiful countryside. It went up and up and up!It got hotter, until it reached around 34 degrees. We rode with Graeme and Manon. In the Bulgarian countryside agriculture is mechanized and so there are not the peasant farmers in the fields. It was a lovely view over large fields to the mountains in the distance. The people were all very friendly, waving and calling encouragement to us. There were still a number of farmers transporting hay by horse or donkey and cart. Bulgaria is tidier than Romania, though there is still a lot of rubbish on the sides of the road. Houses seem to have tidier yards. We passed through a number of small villages, there were not a lot of shops on the streets though. We arrived in Shumen at 4.30pm, and when we asked a taxi driver for directions to the hotel he said he would show us. He put on his hazard lights and led us through the streets. We gave him a donation for his services!
Showered for the first time in two days! Did our washing in the bath as usual and strung the line across the bedroom. Then we relaxed before dinner and watched the Tour de France. Dinner was at 7.30 in the car park. Relaxed in the hotel before heading to bed at 10pm. Distance today was 130ks, 6hours 43 mins. 19.3 average.
2 comments:
Dad and his Tour de France! You have already cycled further than they have so you can pretend to be winning Dad :)
See you in a few weeks!
xx
its always a momental perception one makes of a reality it sees and later on leaves...Vratsa and Chirpan are my favorite cities of BG, many people there were incredibly poor but were always kind to us, and even invited us in their homes.Bulgaria should be discovered more in the heartzone of it.
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