Week 7 Ruse - Tulcea

We cycled in Bulgaria for another day after Ruse. We rode on a highway for the last time, fast and easy. Since then, we have been wearing reflective vests and using a pool noodle to keep overtakers at a distance. It works quite well, but unfortunately, there are also a few idiots who try to squeeze through despite oncoming traffic. We have our lunch break at the beautiful Srebana Lake, where there is a colony of Dalmatian Pelicans. Unfortunately, they were too far away. The border crossing to Romania is located near Silistra. There are long queues of cars and trucks, but with our bikes, we can ride directly to the only counter!

We can set up our tent in the monastery garden of a well-visited monastery. In the evening, we observe the happenings in the church, the visitors, and the monks.

The route to the north towards the Delta is very hilly. We have to climb up to 100 to 160 meters and then descend to 20 meters repeatedly. It is very exhausting. At one point, we think we are smart and take an alternative route. That is a big mistake because there are just as many hills, but after a lonely village, there is no more asphalt. So we struggle on gravel for the next 18 kilometers and just make it to Ion Corvin before a thunderstorm, where we then look for accommodation. The landlady's children practice Romanian numbers with us.

The weather has been very changeable in the past few days. Before the trip, we were afraid of temperatures around 40 degrees, but we are far from that. Pleasant 28 to 30 degrees are optimal for cycling. In the afternoon, there are often thunderstorms. Before a particularly heavy one, we were able to take refuge in a greenhouse on an open stretch. We admire the large tomatoes and eggplants, get cookies, and are supplied with so many tomatoes as a farewell gift that we can hardly fit them into our luggage!

In the villages, you often feel like you have gone back decades. There are more horse-drawn carriages than cars, and the roads are not paved except for the main road. Sheep, cows, horses, donkeys, and geese are kept everywhere, and fruit and vegetables are grown in every garden.

The Romanians are particularly warm and helpful. We are brought to guesthouses twice, which don't even have a sign, we are allowed to harvest vegetables from the garden, and we are constantly gifted with tomatoes.

In Tulcea, we have reached the beginning of the Danube Delta. After the strenuous days with headwinds and many altitude meters, we treat ourselves to a day off!

Current mileage: 3196