July 10 -13 Bucharest to Varna

Our journey east has taken us to the Black Sea. Tomorrow, Monday, we will be turning south for the final stretch to Istanbul. We entered Varna yesterday, a resort town that attracts tourists from all over Europe. It is a welcome oasis after the gastronomic aridity of the Bulgarian countryside. We are staying at a good hotel near the sea, with restaurants, cafes and ice-cream stands just a few metres from the doorstep. This is a true rest day, with no particular historic, cultural or scenic diversions to sap our energy. I swam in the sea this morning and then retreated to a shady park. The beach was already thick with toasting bodies.

We left Bucharest last Thursday morning as we had entered it, in a convoy escorted by the same, friendly motorcycle policeman. We reached the Bulgarian border around midday, crossing the Danube one last time, and made our way through the town of Ruse to the motel where we were expecting to camp. However, upon arrival we received the news that we were no longer welcome: "Construction workers will be staying at the motel tonight, and they will surely get drunk and fight with you..." So we stayed at an impromptu campsite with no facilities other than a nearby spring for drinking water. At least we were safe from belligerent construction workers.

We held our second talent-show that evening. I sang a song about camels and hedgehogs, followed by The Foggy Foggy Dew.

The next day we set out on a complex network of secondary roads zig-zagging through the countryside toward the town of Sumen. Bulgaria uses the Cyrillic alphabet, making navigation even more interesting, but the route was well flagged by our support team. It was one of the harder cycling days, 130 km and hilly with the steepest, longest climb at the end in the afternoon heat. There we stayed at quite a good hotel, with welcome hot showers.

Bulgaria is a softer country than Romania. The people seem slightly friendlier (construction workers aside), service is a little faster, the roads are less rutted, the drivers more courteous, there are no derelict factories, and most of the dogs have owners. The countryside is less wild, with huge fields under cultivation, though not a barn or farm building in sight. The landscape has been beautiful -- reminiscent of the South Downs, with rolling hills and towns and villages nestled in the valleys.

We continued on secondary roads for the first part of Saturday's ride, past huge fields of sunflowers in full bloom and through picturesque villages with waving children. The final route into Varna took us along a main road, but the traffic was reasonable. As we reached the coast we were slowed by a strong, cool headwind -- the breeze off the Black Sea.