Bulgaria, a charming country

478,33 km parcourus	34:15 heures sur le vélo	4 468,00 mètres d’ascension
1061 mètres altitude maximum	7 jours sur le vélo (68,33 km/jour)	13,96 km/h vitesse moyenne

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This is a new story! We had left you with a little wet taste, we have dried well since 🙂

We get up Monday, April 15, without much regret, so, to leave this part of Romania, and direction the port of Bechet to cross the Danube and arrive in Bulgaria!

We were not very sure that this option to cross the border by the ferry is possible but if, for barely two euros, we can ship, at the time indicated on the site, and after 20 minutes, we are on the other side!

We have fun on the boat as they let us ride in first before cars and trucks:

The exit of the ferry, be careful not to slip!

We pass quickly the passport control and here we are in a new country:

From the exit of the ferry, no respite, it climbs hard, which allows us to take a little height on the Danube and a nice view.

This the end between the Danube and us, snif !

Our lunch is spent at the top, near a playground and especially a horse, not very well hung, which will graze all around our space, he does not seemed to mind us :

And in the evening for our first night, we will have a very nice Bulgarian welcome. We had booked a room in an airbnb, because of a small computer problem, it turns out that it was actually complete, that does not matter we will be hosted directly at the mom’s house, Vania. And Vania, she knows how to welcome guests! As soon as we arrived, she made us feel at home, then offered us dinner (delicious), and finally she even offered me a nice silver spoon to drink my coffee (she said that it was because I am a princess !!). Despicable comments abstain 😉

After this great night, and especially this great meeting, we ride our bikes until the city of Pleven. Besides the consonance with a Breton village, we thought it would be nice to go take a look. We were not disappointed, it’s nice:

Some pictures of the day, because we did not do only resting, we also did a little bycicle :

For the night, we will dig up at the top of a small mountain, a more than friendly corner to bivouac:

We wait a little, the time to check that no stray dog, or recalcitrant owner come to dislodge us, but no problems on the horizon. We take out the popotte and the tent:

The night begins to fall:

Romain takes the opportunity even to work the course of the next day on the computer :

The night will pass without trouble, and the next day will take us to the former Bulgarian capital, Veliko Tarnovo, it is a beautiful town on the edge of the mountain, with beautiful adjoining houses and a fortress to watch over everything. It is a city rich in history that does not leave indifferent.

We stay two nights, just to rest and have time to enjoy. Everything would have been perfect if it was not counting on the Bulgarian shower. Small thumb down for this invention is to put the shower in the same room as the toilet and preferably just above:

At best it dries after a few hours and at worse as in the hostel where we were, it does not dry at all, everything stays wet. As soon as you go to the bathroom, you have to dry your feet! Not happy! After a last great evening at Veliko Tarnovo:

We leave on Friday, April 19th, it will be a beautiful and long day. There it is Emilie who does not know yet what will happen next :

For lunch we find a field to stop, with a beautiful view:

And that’s when it gets rough, we start the mountain:

With a threatening sky:

The next, it climbs, it climbs, and then it bursts, was to expect, so we end up a little wet!

After a bad news, often comes a good one, and actually after the short rain we are rewarded with a wonderful view for our evening bivouac:

We do not get bored with the view to taste our pasta:

This view evolves over the minutes, the mist giving way to new hidden peaks a few moments before. Then it’s a beautiful moon all round and orange that comes to decorate the sky:

it does not look good in the photo but it was to keep a little memory of this beautiful night in the mountains! In the morning, we must put a good shot in the back to wake up! But when we hear that it’s a little rainy, we decide to stay warm under our sleeping bag, when finally we emerge, we realize that we are surrounded by cows now and the shepherd is not far, he will come gently to greet us!

That day we finish climbing the climb that we started to pass on the other side of the valley, it is a little more than 1000 meters of elevation gain in all

Fortunately we have taken full eyes before because at the top, there is nothing to see, except a pylon and a trash!

The next day goes a bit like a hair on the soup, not super nice, we alternated between electric pylons, a central, unwelcoming villages, it happens sometimes. Finally we arrive in the evening in a great campsite in the city of Biser, held by a very nice English man :

Biser is not far from the border, this is our last night in Bulgaria which will remain in our memories a charming country, hilly for those who like climbs and welcoming : our visit to Vania’s house will be remembered! The last day to be included in this article will be Easter Monday, day during which we will make a quick passage to Greece which is on our way, under a beautiful sun and small roads very nice:

we followed without trouble maps .me (application that provides a road map), which works normally very well but here it is the tile, it is true that there is a road before and a road after:

but unfortunately our bikes are not amphibious and the current flowing through, is hard to cross ! Even local people explain us sometimes it is ok, but the current is really too strong! Never mind, Romain, find a small way:

then a little ride on the highway with little traffic, and we will manage to cross this river:

After these adventures, we cross the border between Greece and Turkey where we have been since and where everything is going well especially with the food for the moment!

See you soon

 

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