Day 21: Stanevo - Gigen

This morning Sue prepared me a great breakfast and even asked me to prepare something for the journey. At 8:30 a.m. I was on my bike and set off. The way out of Stanevo was a bit difficult (mainly unmown dirt roads and muddy roads). After 2 km I was back on the main road and making much better progress. In Kozloduy I tried to buy a dog whistle to be better protected from the wild dogs. A nice older gentleman was very helpful and took me to two shops that sold pet supplies, but unfortunately none of the shops had a whistle. So I carried on. But I had a negative encounter with wild dogs all day today (one chased me briefly once, but as I was going quite fast at the time it quickly gave up).

Around midday I was in Oryahovo, where there is a ferry to Romania and so there was a very long traffic jam of trucks. But I was able to cycle past it and eat my sandwiches in one of the wooden huts on the beach. Then I climbed a few meters. By now it had become very warm and it was very tiring to cycle up the mountain (mainly because sweat kept running into my eyes and it burned). Once I got to the top, however, there was a great view over the Danube valley and the hilly landscape of Bulgaria and Romania. After 118 km I found my accommodation for the day, which is on a farm run by an older Bulgarian couple (Willi and Nadia). Neither of them speaks a word of English but Google Translate gets by. First I washed a few items of clothing and hung them up to dry in the garden.

I'm currently lying on the bed in my room after showering. The special thing about the accommodation is that dinner is being cooked for me. Nadia is already in the kitchen and Willi is being given small tasks by her! I'm excited to see what's on offer.

Overall, I'm feeling really good and I'm looking forward to the next few days :)