This has been sent by e-mail to inform our Friends all over the world about what happened with us in 2011. Now we are going to publish it here, so everybody can read. :)

Jan-May – Wedding and preparing for the great honeymoon

In the beginning of this year it was clear that we will get married on the 4th June and then hit the road for a Honeymoon Around the World bicycle journey. The first brave step was to tell Árpi’s boss about our plan for the next years. This was the “point of no return” in January. Then the next few months passed away so quickly as we got the vaccines and applied the visas for the journey. It was a busy time since we also had to organize our wedding and of course some details of our not-so-ordinary honeymoon. Thanks to Zita’s brilliant idea, we had a really unique civil wedding in Budapest. It was full of fun and joy because after the short ceremony we just hopped on our city bikes wearing our cycling-wedding dress and crossed the city together with our friends whose were also riding bicycles.

The religious wedding with the great party was just wonderful as we had the church ceremony in the countryside, in Vérteskozma. This is a little fairytale village in the middle of the Vértes mountains, with a lovely little church. We have a personal story about this place; that church was the first one we visited together with Zita, so that was the place where I asked her to marry me. She said yes, so we had our wedding ceremony in that church there. Our priest was one of Zita’s friends from the University and the children’s choir was from Zita’s workplace where she educated those children. Thanks to Csaba – the priest, and to the children’s choir, the ceremony was unforgettable. After this we had a party until early morning, then next day there was an afterparty with a lot of outdoor activities. It was a great idea because this way we could spend more time with our family and friends coming for the wedding. Two special friends were there among the others: Serge and John, Zita’s Camino friends. Zita walked the el Camino de Santiago (900kms on foot with backpack) and on her journey she gained many kind and close friends.

Jun-Aug: Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia and Armenia

One week after the wedding we started our long journey. There was a little crowd in the Hero’s Square in Budapest at that morning, lots of people came to say goodbye to us. Since the first stage in Hungary was “opened”, dozens of friends were cycling with us in the first days.

The first night we camped in the middle of Hungary, then on the 4th day we have visited the house in Timișoara where Árpi’s grandpa was born. After this point, our team was decreased to 3 persons: the honeymooners and their ‘buddy-guard’, Daniel. He had the same type of bicycle like us (recumbent!) but even lower. We had really great time together during the first 3 weeks of our trip while we managed to cycle to Istanbul, Turkey through Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria. In Istanbul, we spent 8 wonderful days whilst we were waiting for the entry visa to Iran. We participated in a Couchsurfing boat party on the Bosporus with 400 passionate CS members.

From Istanbul, we were continuing like a classic honeymoon, only two of us. We spent 40 days in Turkey and we had a wonderful time there. The Turkish people were really friendly and hospitable with us. Near Ankara, we accidentally crossed some Kurdish villages and a Kurdish family invited us into their home and to a traditional Kurdish wedding. It was just an amazing experience. After visiting the great Salty Lake (Tuz Golu), we have visited the wonderful Cappadocia and then cycled on the Black Sea coast to Georgia. Arriving back to a Christian country was a delight, especially due the famous hospitality of the Georgian people. This way we had an unforgettable day in Batumi and after leaving the city, we met a 66 years old cyclist, Soso who rides his bike like a young man – for him the Bicycle is the Life. Next day we met a Hungarian family, Mariann and Peter. They are travelling with a campervan in Asia and their uniqueness is their lovely 3 years old daughter, Ajsa, who travels with them during their out-of-the-way journey. This is a way of life we really would like to have maybe after 5-6 years. We could spend 4 days in the beautiful capital, Tbilisi, thanks to the Polish priest of the Catholic Church. The mountains of Armenia were a real challenge, especially for Árpi, since he had a diarrhea these days. But the sickness has gone and the joy has returned to the road, thanks to the unbelievable hospitality of the People of Armenia, we can say we will never forget these days. After visiting the famous Goshavank Monastery we stayed with a family. They had several kind of animals in the stable under their homes. The father is a beekeeper and the oldest son is a hairdresser by his profession, so Árpi’s had his first haircut during our journey. Before the Sevan Lake we crossed a 2177m mountain pass – at the time that was the highest! :) In Jerevan we spent 8 days with Laci, our Hungarian friend – let say after this really great one week in the capital of Armenia. This rest was really appropriate that time and we enjoyed it so much.

Sept-Dec: Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan

In Iran we spent 27 days, where we enjoyed the world famous hospitality of the Iranians. It has started in Tabriz and continued on the road to Tehran. We spent our nights in several family’s home, which was a perfect way to get know more about the country and about their way of living. In Tehran we stayed with Neda and Alireza by CS. Our first meeting was in a police station, since we were so dumb and forgot to ask about the price of the ride when we hitched the last 100km on the crowded highway to Tehran. Surprisingly our driver asked 250 dollars when we tried to say goodbye to him on the Azadi (Friendship) Sq. We didn’t pay that crazy amount of money to him so we ended up at the police station where finally we paid only 70 dollars – that was the price of the lesson: always ask for the price in advance! Regardless of this we had wonderful time in Tehran. Thanks to Abolfazl, who was a crazy friend we’ve met on the road, we had a tandem paragliding flight above Tehran on Zita’s birthday and the next day we’ve met two extremely kind guys, Hamed and Heshmat. They guided us through Isfahan as we were old best friends returned home. After this side trip to Isfahan, we hopped on our bikes and crossed the 2656m high Kendevan pass in a crazy traffic, due to the last weekend of the summer holiday the mountain pass to the sea was crowded by cars. In Iran the drivers have no clue about safe driving, we think that it’s because they might have to follow so many strict rules by the religion in their everyday life so the people are going crazy on the road since the rules out there are not so strict. Anyway, we survived the traffic and spent some lovely and pleasant days with 3 different families on the coast of the Caspian See (25m below the “normal” see level). In Mashhad we were waiting 4 days for the Turkmen transit visa. As usually all over in Iran, we had lovely hosts. Their hospitality was gorgeous; they tried to make us to stay even after the 4 days… :)

But the adventures called us, so we hit the road of Turkmenistan but only for 5 days due to our transit visa. First we stayed in the middle of the nowhere with some kind of neo-nomads, then we had headwind for several days. One of the most difficult challenges of our whole journey until now was the sandstorm before Mary. But then, as usual, we had really great time as we got up before the sun and we could see the sunrise in the Karakum Desert, cycled 137km in one day to reach the Uzbek border station half an hour before closing on the 5th day. Then we watched the sunset over the sand dunes and finally rescued a tiny little sweet kitty with hair growing out from its ears. Zita grabbed the cat and took it under her pullover to the next village where the kind local people offered a nice shelter. We hope even by now that the little cat has a good place there and give joy to the people around itself. In Uzbekistan, we have visited Bukhara and Samarkand, two of the historical Silk Road cities. We enjoyed them so much, although at that time Árpi had some serious problems with his teeth. Thanks to Bakhtiyor and his sister, finally we managed to solve the issue with a professional dentist.

In Tadjikistan, we had to face a little problem at the border station where we originally wanted to enter Kyrgyzstan as the crossing was not open for foreigners. Since we had the special GBAO permit to the Pamirs, and there was no other way from Dushanbe to Kyrgyzstan, it was obvius that we will try to cycle the Pamir Highway which route ended up our most adventureus and beautiful hundreds of kms in our life. In Dushanbe we stayed with Raj, a superb CS guy from India. He managed to find a cheap jeep for us to Khorog, this way we gained some time for getting into the Pamirs before the temperature would drop under 0 Celsius degrees and having deep snow. On the “Roof of The World”, we have met 4 cyclists from the UK and we enjoyed the wonderful company of Jill, Lee, Katie and Anthony for several days and kilometers. It’s hard to write shortly about the Pamirs because we had so many extraordinary adventures there. The people live there a very simple life, they are very hospitable even if they don’t have anything by the thinking of western people.

They live in simple, little houses, usually heated by dried yak poo. After we climbed the valley of Gunt, we stayed near the natural hot springs for acclimatization in Jelandy. Then we crossed our first really high mountain pass, the 4271 meters Koi Tezek. After this we had a 100km long day about 4000m asl. on the Pamir plateau, then we descended down the Murgab in a kind of blizzard, but luckily the wind came from behind us so it wasn’t a big issue. Though a few days later, when we tried to cycle up to the the highest pass of the Pamir Highway, the 4655m high Ak Bajtal (White Horse) pass we got a cruel blizzard directly to our face, it was really serious. The only reason we continued forward was that we heard of a house with four people somewhere ahead. Finally, we found the house and survived with spending that night at 4400m asl. with a lovely Pamiri family. Next day we managed to cross the highest pass, then cycled through solid ice covered road to the lake of Karakul. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, it would be hard to describe it by words. Snow covered mountains above 7000m, deep blue water… We really enjoyed it especially because we felt that we deserved it after all the challenges of the Pamirs.

The last two passes to Kyrgysztan were covered by lot of snow so we had to hire a jeep with driver to cross these mountains. Luckily we were still in the company of six cyclists with our crazy English friends, so it did not effect our budget that much. After we stuck in Kyrgysztan for a few days of fun because the border to China was closed for a few days at that time. So we decided to cycle 260km to Kashgar and it was a good decision because we had really great time with our English fellows (a new pal, James, also from the UK joined us), the scenery was awesome and once we camped on 2000m high. By the morning not only our drinking water became frozen but our fingers too when we had to pack our stuff – we decided to camp never again above 2000m in wintertime. :) It was November this time. In Kashgar we spent 5 days with having internet connection and hot shower. We were in the lack of these things for long weeks so we appreciated it so much. Then we took a bus to Pakistan, Sost. From there we cycled the Karakorum Highway (KKH) as much as we can. We found beautiful scenery among this famous part of the Silk Road, and the people were also awesome. In Hunza, Gulmit, we’ve found so much hospitality and friendship. This is the land of glaciers and the highest mountains of the world – and of course, the Hunza people. They were very nice and friendly, well educated folks speaking fluent English. We have been introduced to the Hunza culture by Qadir and Zahid in Gulmit. This little village near the Attabad lake was a piece of Heaven on Earth, the people are “smart” like people in any other western countries, though they are still living a simple, sustainable life so close to each other and to the nature and with respect towards their surroundings. Although we had so many difficulties on the KKH (diarrhea, Árpi’s teeth problem again, road under construction) this was one of the most beautiful part of our journey. In Karimabad Árpi climbed up to Ultar Meadow to see some famous peaks and an avalanche over the Ultar glacier. Later we met Nazim and his 92 years old grandma, who is still working on her land and cooking for herself as she is absolutely healthy taking into account her age. The KKH after Hunza was even more difficult, from Dasu until Abbotabad we had police escort all the way, though there were no serious security issues there, they just wanted to keep an eye on us. We can recall only one bad thing from this part of the journey; those stupid, little kids throwing rocks on us but fortunately they were not dangerous.

We arrived to Islamabad and enjoyed a very nice environment (thanks to Nazim), we met plenty of super people in the city, we even participated in a radio show, and we looked forward the coming days whilst we were waiting for the Pakistan Visa extension and for the Indian Entry Visa. So far we cycled 7000 wonderful kilometers, and we can say it was full of wonders because of the amazing people we have met on the road.

We Wish You All Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! :)

Zita and Arpi

http://cyclingthe360.com (English, not so up-to-date, but summaries)
http://360fokbringa.hu (Hungarian, more up-to-date and detailed)
http://facebook.com/cyclingthe360 (English & Hungarian, mostly photos, interesing & actual news, almost daily)

For more photos and videos, you can visit these:
Picasa Gallery SetOnly the best photos Picasa Gallery

Youtube Channel

Other than this we ate a lot of Tavuk  Döner / Yarum Tavuk , also known as a chicken sandwich.

The one unmissable site in Istanbul is the Hagia Sophia.

It was built as a Catholic church 1500 years ago, burned down several times, then got rebuilt, had minarets added, the mosaics got plastered over.

Today it is a museum and church, it is still very beautiful and, of course, monumental.

We also visited the Basilica Cistern.

We could walk under the city in massive columned halls, underneath us fish swam.  In the past this was the city’s largest reservoir and they had huge water pipes through which they brought the water in.

We also saw the Taksim quarter by the Galata tower.

And there was a CS party!

The Grand Bazaar.

Once I have been here for the 4th race of a 5-day orienteering event.   Then it was empty because it was held in the night, every shopper was gone and every shop had packed up all its wares. Well, during the day it was rather different, sometimes fewer, sometimes more people throngred in its covered streets.

We met an old man in the Yeni Mosque.

We chatted a lot with him and he told us a lot about islam.

When we were saying good bye to him, he told me how lucky I am to have a wife like Zita and that I should look after her like a jewel, mustn’t break her (mustn’t break her heart), because once its broken, while you can pick the pieces up and put them together, it will never be the same again.

Tomorrow we’ll say good bye to Europe.

Europe was great, the balkan people are amazingly friendly and hospitable, the Turks until now, until Istanbul were even more so.

We would like to say thanks to every Couchsurfer whom we met in Istanbul, especially to  Kivanc and Ali, who gave us their time and place in their life and home, thus creating a home for us in this enormous metropolis.

We said good bye to Dani, our faithful companion, whom we would like to thank for accompanying us this far!

Find our home in Istanbul – not easy…

Arriving to Istanbul was not that hard that we thought. The traffic is acceptable, the only thing you need is to flow with others. This is the key element of driving in Asia I can say. So do not be bothered by nothing, even if you see a burning car.
(watch your video about arriving to Istanbul here!)

Our last minute host were Kivanc and his girlfriend in a lovely flat, at floor -2. :) Big thank you for them for hosting us, since find a CS host in Istanbul was literally impossible for us!

At the morning we successfully overslept, so we had to take a taxi to Sultanahmed, to the Iranian Embassy for applying our visas before the Embassy closes down. Unfortunately missed the Embassy, because the closing times is not 12:30 as we know it from Lonely Planet forums, but 11:30, so we have no other chances than try our luck at Monday.

Friends from Nigeria – At the Blue Mosque and the seaside

We get two really kind new friend, Thomas and his mother at a park, where we tried to use Public free wifi.

Since Thomas mother was never been in a sea before, I grabbed her hand, and “forced” her to put our feet into the water. She liked it!

At Mavi Guesthouse, following the paths of the Blazing Saddles

We still had no idea, where will we sleep, since no CS accepted us so far.

We get a tip in a hostel that we should try the Mavi Guesthouse. This is a classical backpackers hostels with a big and crowded dormitory at the up-most story. (Small rooms were expensive for us.)

We were so happy, when we accidentally found The Blazing Saddles fliers on the wall. These guys lived at Arpi’s place in Budapest, and now here, we sleep at the same place.

“The Boat That Rocked”– Couchsurfing party on the Bosporus

In these days were one of the biggest CS party of Istanbul, a boat party with 400 CS members on the Bosporus between Europe and Asia – this is something what we can not miss!

A good news: we get a host, Ali, and he said we can meet on the boat. OK…. :)

To show, what kind of man we get at the last minute, here you are some short lines from his CS profile: „I’m a deeply disturbed, horny, drunk egocentric pervert with violent intentions and no brains or sense of humour. I’m xenophobic, homophobic, and I use CS solely to satisfy my sexual needs and to practice my axe-wielding/chopping skills. I’m very short tempered when I’m hungry, I smoke like a chimney, I can’t socialize when I’m sober, and I have no idea why people write me positive refs.„ – by the way he has just 80 positive references…

Home Sweet Home – with our Ali

Dani and Arpi with our crazy Ali

The rest of the days we spent at Ali’s place, not moving anywhere. Well, the  only thing we had to arrange was the visa for Iran.

Farewell from Ali

We left Edirne in the morning. Ali joined us for the first 25kms before we stopped in a village for a tea.

The locals were sitting at the tables, were playing cards and drinking tea. It was half lira so we had some too and also bought a large box of ice cream for 3 liras. During the break we cleaned the chains cause it was due despite they were still in working order. We said good bye form Ali, we had a good time with him, it was a nice change before three of us hit the road again.

The road was still undulating; we planned to go till Kirklareli, 60kms from Edirne, but the hills tired us out so we arrived there only in dinner time. Zita and Dani went shopping to the local BIM while I looked after the bikes. It turned out that we put the bikes in the police parking slot, the police captain warned me about it but we could stay there.

During this time I found a suitable place to cook. Along the road we saw plenty spots with chairs and tables outside where people could sit and have tea. There was one like this just behind the police station. We tried to emulate the home flavors but it wasn’t even close. We better get use to it as the farther we go the different the tastes going to be.

Hotel Petrol*** – Kizilcikdere

After the dinner the washing up was my duty. I wasn’t impressed at all and said never again. I’d rather put everything away as it is… The hygiene in the toilet of a restaurant was terrible. It was filthy. Next time I do it in the bushes using our Oertlieb bag. But we have survived that too, and decided to ride a few more miles before sunset.

We reached Kizilcikdere where the locals advised the petrol station for camping. The same place Ali mentioned us. The guy there was very kind and he even invited us to sleep in a place we could lock surrounded by walls and fences. It must have been a storage space. The place was almost perfect due to the tractors going all night long.

Rollercoaster road

We packed uor things quickly then we only stopped to have a break after 20 kms, at a petrol station again. The cheapest ice cream is half lira in Turkey so I can treat my Zita with one and a foot massage every time. We stopped in the village to eat a lahmacun for breakfast and to get wifi as we didn’t have a host in Istambul yet.

The undulating road was very tiring, physically and mentally too. At some point we stopped at a local religious building where Zita found a tap, she took the time to wash her hair. Over here we attracted a large group of kids who we befriended quickly by showing them the reflective bands they really fancied.

After some more hills we stopped again and as soon as we settled a lorry driver came to us with a 2.5l Coke in his hand. He only stopped to give us some refreshment, we are greatful for it. It’s unbelievable what kind of people we meet in Turkey.

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After the break we were flying to the next town thanks to the long downhill. We stopped at a cafeteria where we found a wifi so we could check our mails. Unfortunately there was still no answer regarding the couches… To forget the sorrow we checked your comments. You can’t imagine how much inspiration you can give us. :) It’s great you like what we do and how we do it. Its even better to know that others try to follow the example.

There was another surprise here too, the lorry driver found us, this time he invited us for a tea. We had a little chat, got to know each other a bit more. From the money he left on the table we could have a kebab doner each before we continued the journey.

Edirne’s roundel made by Dani

Recently I finished when we arrived to Ali in Edirne, who was very nice with us; we spoke all night and he told us a lot about Turkey. He gave us not just good advices but also his flat key. Next day he had learning lessons as he is studying chemistry, but I think we already said this. During Ali’s lessons about the medicines, we slept until early afternoon. When we woke up to eat something we just find that water melon which was carried on by Dani in the last 170 km. We made a lunch from the rest edibles. Dani blended the roundel cake from the rest flour bought in Temesvar and I cooked it while wrote this entry. Hurry we just drop up the pancake in the air so didn’t scratch Ali’s pan. For stuffing Dani made bulgur, which is a type of Turkish rice (boiled Turkish wheat): spiced with everything and cut a lemon in that + vegetables and cream cheese. We made such a big portion food that everybody was eating this also in the night. Somebody asked the roundel’s recipe. So here it is (I’s very simple): water, flour, spices. You have to make a pan cake and to sauce (we used to use the followings): pepper, garlic, sage, balm, mint. But you can use also ramsons (bear’s garlic), the taste will be genius.

A Turkish wedding at the building estate

At the afternoon we went out to see Edirne’s sights but just get a sight of a turkish wedding among the panel houses. We stopped and the childrens came to us and also the adults asked us to go with them for dance.
It was incredible: among 4 panel houses, the Turkish music is on, the Turkish people are dancing in a big cycle: with expanded arms they are chucking and stepping and they are enjoying it very much.
After the dance they invited us to also eat with them: the place was very close, not a restaurant just a cellar of a closer panel house, among the store house and boiler room. We went down in a rickety wood plank to sit in plastic chairs and tables for lunch. We got some white soup and stew with potato in a throwaway trays. And also Ayran. All this with a lot Turkish people, who were very kind and curious.

Outwardly this could be very scary that we left the bicycles outside and went with strange Turkish people in a boiling room of a panel house, but this wasn’t scary at all. These guys knew each other and they didn’t let anybody to touch our bicycles. The big surprise was Ali who just appeared. He just came home with his bicycle from the university and saw our bicycles so asked where we are and came to see us.

We had to dance a bit more, got again some sweets, the half of wedding guest made photos with us so at the end we could leave the weeding place. They were so nice and kind; in my opinion we never met so many kind Turkish people. They were happy for us, but at the end I get so flurried because a few of them were curious about us and not the married couple, this wasn’t our scope just wanted to peep them; but they got more curiosity about us and we were compassed. This Turkish wedding was very interesting for all of us.

Tea in Edirne’s centre

Four of us, together with Ali we went to the city centre and find again an expensive place where Ali find the cheapest item at the page which was the cay; this is a tea and was 3 lira, which is about 340 Hungarian forint. The other drinks were more than 1000 Hungarian forint which was very scary but we didn’t have to be disappointed in Ali again. We had a nice talk along the tea and then went “home”. On the way we met some guy with bicycle (Ali knows them) who were very curious about the reku bike so they

followed us until Ali’s flat and they tried these bicycles in the parking place. After this we had a long talk with Ali in the night, I can’t really circumscribe but I think this couch surfing is a real miracle. People meet each other, talking, exchange of view, raising new ideas in the other one, or just find a common ideas. One of them is at home who is dining the other one; they never met before but the ghost of couch surfing is also in all of them. This is very gorgeous and is good to notice again and again. Ali went to sleep and with Dani’s offer we watched a film, called ˇ”The Way Back Home”. As was very enjoyable, we are offering for everybody.

Sms fromTamás about Edirne – Thanks for the Rudas bath Sinan! :)

Ali detained us to stay longer and we didn’t see yet Edirne, decided to stay 1 more day. We got a perfect guide in sms from Tamás Hujber (Thanks very much for that!). I have to show you this long and particular guide:

“As I can see you arrived to Edirne. I know that Turkey is big, but this is just the entry. You can find already an extra here! From 1362, over 91 years, was the direct city too of the young Ottoman empire (from the Hungarian history known as Drinápoly). Many people thinks that here can be find the most beautiful mosque in the world, which was built by Mimar Koca Sinan (Mimár Kodzsa Szinán) during 6 years. The build was started in 1569 when he was 80 years old (he leaved 98 years), his statue can be found on front of the mosque. He also reckoned this mosque for his classic even he built further 123 mosques, 50 colleges, 31 baths, 27 palaces, 18 türbes, 18 khans, 17 poorhouses, 7 libraries, 7 bridges, 6 hospitals and etc. (In Budapest he build the Rudas bath.) Four, one by one 70 m high, three-balcony minaret stands in the corner of the building; the prime bell start in 43 m, diameter 31 m (bigger than Hagia Sophia’s in Istanbul). – Tamás –“

What can we say for this perfect guide? Thank you so much!
And of course after this text message we couldn’t just pass before to see this mosque.
But before all of this, while Ali was at the university, we went to RIM to shop. Ali offered us, he said this is the most cheapest shopping centre in Turkey. And yes, we checked and is really cheap, like Penny in Hungary: not so many products like in shopping centers, but enough. Everything was in boxes, very frugal but good price. We were very happy; most products were unknown for us. :)

Circumcision party in the park

We just got home; Ali arrived as well so we could go out together for a walk. In the park next to Ali’s home we saw several interesting thing: once we saw an outdoor trainer…it was like a gym; everywhere engines and we could try them. The place was beautiful: at the long hill was a nice park with running track and kinder garden, a nice lake with bridges, ducks and swans. I think this park was built by a grave estate contractor, so he could sell the flats nearby for a higher price, but maybe the government was asking it from the contractor.
The third thing was the most funniest for us: this was a ceremony. Many people came with noisy and decorated cars; two of them were making music with dram and wind instrument. The people started to dance, in the circle a 7-8 years old boy was dancing, who was wearing a gold-white fancy cloth and wasn’t expansive at all. We are describing: this was a circumcision party. This is also a rule for religious Islam Turkish people. They start with this ceremony and then they go to a hospital where a doctor does the operation. Ali describes us the circumcision so now we understand it, the question is why they need to do this like that and for so young boys? For us this is a nice experience but for those kids it is absolutely negative.

From the park we went to the town by bus and walked through a bazaar (Zita was very happy for that), in some old streets, 2 mosques (the second was the Selimiye one, which was mentioned by Tamás. Was beautiful and monumental also from inside and outside)

The lunacy of Islam and other culture’s, how I see…

Few words about islam, how I see as an outside viewer. They pray 5 times a day, those times are different in every day of the year; recur yearly and are counting from the standing of the stars. When this time comes – 5 times/day – the Müezzin’s voice is audible from the horns of the mosque tower’s. This is very brutal when you hear at the first time. On Ali’s opinion this is like “God is great”, but the sound is very sedate. For our ears this song is very loud and un-understandable. Before the prayer, the believers are washing their hands, legs and faces in the water of wells founded on front of the mosque (we, tourists have to do this also before the entry of a mosque). They go into the church, where cannot find any benches (like in our churches) but a big carpet which covers everything. Is painted a equal model on the carpet for everybody, where can kneel down and lean towards Mekka while the pope (or I don’t know how is called in islam religion) is speaking, singing, standing back of the believers also leans towards Mekka. While we were kneeling on the carpet in Selimiye mosque, just spoke to Dani, that we should write a Müezzin program for mobiles which remember us for the prayer 5 times a day with the melody, shows the relevant prayer, moreover if the mobile has GPS, it could show also the way to Mekka. The only problem is that probable somebody already did this and gets reach. Never mind! We have the 5 euro/day party and low budget – high fun bicycle tour. Which is also interesting, that in effect women are properties – like jewels – this is why her faces and everything are hided. The way like this any other man can’t get closer to them and can’t seduced, can’t see them just their husband, because they are their properties, just theirs. This is a bit brutal but Dani just explained us: when they marry they get a flat from the parents of the husband. In the wife side, her parents help to buy the furniture. So it’s like they bought the women, but this is very weird.
We never saw boys and girls group together, in the pubs there are only men drinking tea (nobody is drinking alcohol); the women’s place is at home washing, cooking, making clean and raising children. Or don’t know what they do, even cannot see them, they are praying in a different place even in the church. So islam religion is very weird for us, like our can be for others. For example: why we spend our more month salary at the end of the year to buy more expensive products to our family, which will be throwing away a few years later as they are going wrong, obsolescence or because the neighbors have nicer or more expensive. This is stupid! This is why I’m working all year? Or just to buy a car so I can get 30 minutes quicker to work, where I can work for the petrol which needs the car and also for the taxes. And if I have luck, maybe I can buy the plasma TV at the end of the year. Oh no, this is already obsolesce, the LCD is the hip now. But enough, I went far away.

In the next part you will know how we could get from Edirne to Istambul. 4 days with lots of adventures, it is good to remember…

Vratsa – Getting up in the Canyon and breakfast from CBA

Dani as usual had got up by the time we got out of our tent near Vratsa, under the huge rocks. It was the first time we had seen the canyon in daylight, it was really wonderful, just as we had suspected at night, at the light of the stars. Dani had been sleeping just next to a board commemorating a young guys motor crash. The only fact that made it clear it was not his grave was that the Bulgarians do not bury people in such places. However, it was still a little bit morbid that Dani had been sleeping there. Of course, it did not disturb us at night, we found a place here, Dani found two trees, so we stayed here. There were huge rocks above our tents, and it was a real experience to start from this place we only had to roll down in the Canyon, back among the rocks to Vratsa.

We purchased the breakfast in a CBA, yes, the Hungarian Shop Network in Bulgaria. Opposite the shop we found a grass-covered area, so we settled there to have breakfast. Dani had eaten so well that he even got down while we were gathering our stuff and bought some fizzy tablets in the pharmacy.

Arriving in the Iskar Valley

After Vratsa we followed a road that was indicated as a highway on the map, but do not be afraid, only the two lanes were true of this, anybody could ride on it, a chariot, a bike or a dog… Until Mezdra we were only rolling, except for a shorter climb. As we turned South, we arrived in the Iskar Valley. Here we got frightened a bit, since the trucks were just as numerous as earlier, but now only on one lane, which was not pleasant at all. But as we left the main road Nr 1, circulation diminished considerably, and we felt completely differently on the asphalt. For some reason I did not remember we would have to leave the main road there, I was a bit frightened seeing the great traffic, I would not have fancied riding to Sofia an such a busy road. The first village was very nice on this small side road. We missed the rural atmosphere, after Montana we were riding along busy roads that did not go through small villages. The Iskar valley also contributed to the beautiful landscape, we were surrounded by mountains, on the right we recognized a really strange rock formation, first it looked like the Great China Wall, but getting closer we could see it was created by Nature.

With one leg to Negotin

Last time I ended up at our arrival in Negotin, the last town before the Serbian Bulgarian border. This day, Zita lost from her shoe a screw that held her SPD cleat. We removed the cleat so that it should not fall because of being held only by one screw then we changed shoes. So, I was riding to Negotin with one foot.

Just as we entered the city, we caught sight of a bike shop, I showed the cleat and explained that we needed a screw. The guy was very helpful, but he did not have kind of screw, only longer. He showed me to wait because a huge guy started to bargain for a motorbike. As I saw the situation, without understanding what they were talking about, it seemed to me tha guy wanted to buy a motorbike for the price of a croissant on credit. And he seemed stupid. Or it was only me who was angry with him, because he was just taking up the seller’s time and mine as well, just when I was very hungry. Of course, as I had thought, I was waiting in vain, the seller could only advise me a mechanical shop some corners away, along the main road.

We were however so hungry, that I really needed to look for something to eat. At the end of the main road, the kebab seller had already shut down, so we were looking for a pekara, that is to say a bakery shop. At this point I felt so hungry that I nearly fell off the recu. Int he pekara we had a good snack of the mini pizzas and the nature yoghurt, which made me feel somewhat better, but I still needed something. Some good rest at some good place and a screw for the shoe. We fancied the park at the end of the main road for a siesta, but we wanted to find a shop first. We realized a shop called Diskont Pića, which made us laugh. Dani had just said a few minutes before he did not like the place and wanted to go to the ass, so there we were. (In Hungarian, picsa is an ugly word for bottom.)

The shop itself was a discount shop for drinks, we even met the boss and took a common photo with him. We bought a lot of cola and beer and sat down in the park on a bench. Near the shop I found a bike service, but unfortunately it was closed so I knocked in vain. We opened the cola but did not feel any better. To make things worse, some gipsy kids arrived. After having chased them away, one of them stayed with us and almost managed to steal Dani’s sunglasses. We realized it just in time.

After all this we thought we had better leave Negotin, this town was not suitable for an afternoon siesta. Just leaving the town, we found a screw shop, where we found the right screw, but not with an allen head. We purchased three spare screws and Dani bought a lot of duck tape. Such things may come handy on a bike tour. On the outskirts of the town we found a deserted industrial area where there were some rusty tanks. This place, I do not understand why, really fascinated Dani, we did not only stop there to piss and brush our teeth but also to take some photos. I laughed well at what places Dani wanted to be photographed. Well, he is not the typical mass tourist, that’s sure. While other people want to be photographed in front of famous sights, he asks me here, very enthusiastically to take some photos about him. He even asked me to do it in a way so that the rusty tanks be visible.

After Negotin there was only one more village before the border. At the edge of it there was a cemetery, which was really different from the ones at home. There was no fence around, the graves were right by the road, the majority in marble, with the photos of the deceased person and with plenty of artificial flowers. In the village we spent the remainder of our Serbian money on food and set off towards Bulgaria.

We quickly reached the border where we got through without any difficulties. Bulgaria was a completely unknown country for all of us, Zita was here at the age of 1 or 2, but she does not have any memories, she was only told stories about it.

We arrived in Bulgaria

We really fancied Bulgaria at the first impressions, at the petrol station we managed to fill up our horns with air and the restroom had high standards, although it was in the Balkan style. The road from the first village was wide and of good quality. We chose Vidin as our destination for this day, but already halfway we went off the road at Gamzovo to try our luck. We asked a lady for water, then tried to ask some local people at the main square where we could put up our tents, but we did not manage to make ourselves understood in any language. Otherwise the whole village was just like one in a Kusturica film, which we really liked. We did not find any site for our tents, however we made the local youths very interested. It wa here that we started the unga-bunga, I tried to take a photo of three kids, but they were just standing there very stupid, the elder took the younger by the hand, they were just looking at me, as if I had come from another planet. I thought “csíííz” would not work here so an “Unga-bunga” came on my lips, which had great success, the kids laughed at once. Some teenagers followed un as far as the end of the village, that is the top of the great hill. One of them, the most talented one was riding by us sitting on the handle bar of the bike, looking backwards and riding forward, which was in fact backwards for him. All this on a steep climb uphill. He looked a really talented guy, was very interested, but we could not talk to him in any languages. While riding by him, Zita and I were thinking of the fact that he looked really talented, would he succeed in life starting from this small Kusturica village? Would he become an important person orr would he live all his life in this village as supposedly his parents did? It was slightly sad to think that no matter how talented and hard-working this guy looked all he could succeed in was to ride on one wheel and ride backwards without grabbing the handle bar. This guy accompanied us almost as far as Vidin. After the long uphill there came a long descent, at the end of which he disappeared from our eyes from in a moment. We wanted to give him a reflective stripe, on the one hand to have some gift from us, on the other hand for him to be visible on the way back to his village, because it was really getting dark then.

Parish Hotel*****, Vidin

We were driven by the stimulus, so we decided to ride as far as Vidin, although it was already really dark. At the diversion we were also driven away, so we could not ride straight on, we had to turn one avenue later. However, right on this way we found a church with a garden at high standards and a parish behind. Zita knocked and soon we were invited in, not only in the garden, but we were given a whole room in the house, we slept on the carpet of the dining room. We were even given a shower, a restroom and a kitchen, we were wild with joy. Dani lay down on the carpet, I connected all our gadgets, Zita made a good lemonade (we had al least a kilo of lemons) then we took a shower one after the other, then we collapsed in our sleeping bags. It was a long and tiring day, we all were very pleased to have ended in such a good place under a roof..

The following morning we found the priests nowhere when we left. We hung a letter of thanks on the door handle with some vanilla roods. In Vidin we saw another rider on a recu, but unfortunately he did not catch sight of us, so we could not talk, although we would have fancied. We did not think we would meet other riders on a recu here. We exchanged money then sat in a place to use the net and sent the Couch Surfing requests to Sofia, since we did not know where and how we would put un in the capital of Bulgaria.

Siesta with Stephanie, good-bye frisbee, good-bye Danube! :)

We left Vidin in the direction of south at noon. We were riding along the Danube. In the beginning, the landscape was not to our taste, we did not even see the river and we had to climb a hill with our tired muscles, then to go round the machines at a construction site with half the road closed. Right when this stage was over, we met Stephanie, who is a rider having travelled to Australia and India, all alone. We had a great talk by the road, she examined our lying bikes and we listened her with great enthusiasm as for what she had gone through and how many places she had been to by bike. In fact she is approaching the end of her two year long trip and if we look at it on a world scale, after Australia, Germany is really near, almost in the neighbourhood. We managed to persuade Stephanie to turn back and come a few kilometres with us, to have lunch together and to swim together in the Danube. This was how she greeted and how we said farewell to the Danube, since we were riding in the opposite direction. Stefanie was right coming from where we were going so she could tell us what landscape to expect as far as Montana. While the spicy-tuna pasta was cooking, she told us about Australia and India and about her journey. Being a German, she could get a visa very easily, so she could travel spontaneously, just going where and when she wanted to. It was only in Pakistan where she was refused the visa. Despite all this, we would give everything to get a visa so easily. She also told us about Iran and she also started the sentence like this: “The best country in the
World…”, so we are really curious. With all this, she made even Dani very interested in Iran, he even thought over whether to come with us after Istanbul. :) Lunch was followed by swimming in the Danube and we played with Dani’s huge and world record breaking Frisbee. Only until the first shot, since it sank in the Danube. :) Stefanie was the doer, although she could not know the Frisbee was not floating on the surface of water, not it is all the same, we had a good laugh, we have a Frisbee in the Danube and Dani would have a date with Stephanie somewhere for playing Frisbee, at least this is what they agreed on.

A rewarding slope after a tough climb

After swimming we said farewell to Stephanie, we continued our road along the road, then southward among the hills. We stopped to look around in another Kusturica village where practically all the inhabitants were in the street, we remarked they probably did not leave their social life on Facebook. Which is not a problem, on the contrary! We entered the village because of the church, but we could see it was in vain, it was fenced around, the door closed and surrounded by weed. We found however an OTP Bank and we took a photo of it. We cannot even think what the local people could think of us. Three extraterrestrial creatures on strange vehicles taking a photo of the local bank…. :)

As we left the Danube, the landscape became steep and we faced a really long, 10%-os climb. It was really tough even in the smallest gear but we got on top of it in 20-30 minutes after some breaks. On top we waited for each other then came the reward downhill ride, since on the other side it was a slope, not that steep, instead longer so that we could enjoy it for a long time.

Hay Hotel** – Smirnenski

We ended up in a village called Smirnenski. We asked for water in a house and asked where we could find a site for our tents, the latter by gestures. We let our guy think, soon he understood so we went to the local “stadium”. The latter turned out to be a meadow used as a football pitch at the end of the village. At the end of the gravelled road we turned left and there we were. There was an old building in ruins there, it might have been a changing room now it was used for hay storage. We chose it, but in the meantime the guys with the trumpets arrived from the village. It was a gipsy family, they were kind and reserved, they did not touch the bikes, they were just interested their eyes were shining. The grandfather explained that the small girls was his granddaughter, they were talking about a lot of things that we did not understand and told us to go to them if we were hungry. After all this we took it easy, especially that our man told us morgen, magazin, kafé, – that is to say the following morning we could buy coffee and breakfast in his shop. Should we have any problem, we just could go to him.
Our greatest problem was how to stretch Dani’s hammock under the roof, but we managed to solve it. We did not even take off the bags from the bikes, we put them in a rear room where one could only go by climbing over the three of us. We made a tea, wrote the NRE then went to sleep.

The next morning we were woken up by a horse neighing, I had never seen Zita wake up so happy, I even thought I should learn to neigh. A local man brought hay on a chariot to put under the roof and he found us there but we did not have any problems of this. We did our bags and went to the shop along the main road, bought tasty bakery products and coffee for Zita. The locals looked at us carefully. The shopkeeper gave us some wheat drink or I do not know how to call it. It was some interesting liquid, at first sight it reminded of cocoa, until one tasted it. It had a really wild flavour, we had never drunk anything similar.

Doktor Yosifovo – The man with the honey and of course Tim and Mat, who ride to Kenya daily 200kms

Still in Smirnenski we found a post office but they did not have any postcards, so we only used their restroom. Two villages and two hills later we arrived in Doktor
Yosifovo. I chose this place for its name the previous day, but we reached it only then. We even have a story for this funny name, since we stopped there to ask for water after a tough climb. We could see a man work in his garden, we talked to him and to our surprise, he talked a bit in English. We did not even get water, but he showed us around in his garden and showed us the vineyard, the fruit trees and his bees. In the end he gave us a jar pf honey. We took our bread and started to eat bread and honey.
In the meantime he told us that it was only the summer hut, otherwise they live in Montana, the next town where we were heading to.

While we were having a siesta, two guys appeared on a huge tandem bike. We rushed out and greeted them. We met Tim and Mat in Doktor Yosifovo. They are doing a Charity Adventure Race from the UK to Kenya. We call it a race, because they have to cover 200kms a day to get there in time. 200kms a day are much even on a one day trip, not in Africa for several months! So all our appreciation for the guys, we hope and wish them to succeed with their plan, which will be a great sporting performance. We tested each other’s bikes, but it was not easy for us. Zita and I had great difficulties to sit on their bike, we somehow did not find the balance, so we did not try for a long time. We knew that with 200kms to cover a day they did not have much time to waste, so we let them go, wishing then back wind and great luck.

Shopping in Montana – Parajlibatop extract

Our next stop was in Montana.
We went in the local Kauflandba to do some shoppint. Looking back, I must admit that seeing the low prices we purchased awfully lot. For instance the two packets of half a kilo pasta were completely unnecessary, I do not know what we thought. Di d we think maybe there would be no more shops that we bought two at once? Not to talk about the two likos of onion. As for the ayran, the adulterated salty youghurt, we came to like it, just like the halva, which is different from the one at home, less sweet, contains more sunflower seeds, very tasty, easier to store, does not go off, healthy and is full of calories. In one word an ideal food for bikers like us. However, we discovered something interesting on the packaging of the halva purchased in Montana. The ingredients were also written in Hungarian, (betűvel) among others the parajlibatop extract. As for what it can be, we do not have the ffaintest idea. :)

After shopping, we stopped at the edge of the town to take a siesta during the warm afternoon hours, we used the net in an inn, we tasted the really tasty draught beer and Zita drank a coffee. We got an answer from a certain Milos form the CS from Sophia, he said he would not be at home but his girlfriend would let us in and would give us a key to the flat. We burst out in joy how someone can be so kind.

Camping Canyon** – The Vratsa Mountains
(Vracanska Planina)

The landscape changed after Montana we followed a superior road to the South-East and we had to cover a 600 – 800 level difference. We were going up and down. On our right we had the Vratsa Mountains (Vracanska Planina) with their rocks, making it clear to us that in the following days we would have to climb an awfully lot. We arrived in Vratsa after dusk we had to climb at a height of almost 850 metres. We filled water at a petrol station then asked for help from the children around us in order to find a site for our tents. None of them spoke any foreign language, only Bulgarian, but in the end we managed to make ourselves understood, so one of them led us to a place. We had ridden almost as high as 900m, to the canyon to the south of the town. It was already dark, but it was clearly visible that we were in a marvellous place, among lovely rocks. We thanked for the help, then put up our tents. We had some slices of bread, took a bath in the creek then went to sleep after this long and tiring day.

Alexander, Lubomir and the story of the 100 km watermelon

The starting from the church garden wasn’t so easy that we thought.
Dani woke me up and I started to pack, leaved Zita to sleep. I packed the tent, so she was just lying down in a little blanket; only the outside sheet was there when she woke up. We had our breakfast in the park between the church and shop, the menu was bred with margarine and honey.
After the first hardest 10 km (when we are in the sleeping-bag yet in mind and our muscle are stinging) was everything quicker. Before the first top of hump, we met a pair with country bike and not so much pack, just one of them had a backpack. We started to talk with each other: they were Alexander and Lubomir, father and son, who were bicycling for 5 days from Sofia to Burgos and back. They are reeling 200 km per day which is very hard, even if they are doing this “just” for 5 days. We were talking just for few minutes, didn’t want to retard them so everybody can go further to reach their goal. At the hump we started to laugh very much as just remembered that we are carrying a gift watermelon more than 100 km. We made also a video from this but as our camera is so new and made in HD version which is so big (more mega) – we cannot upload or play or to just over code with our notebook. The solution will be the following: we will use the old, spare camera for making videos. One of us will make the videos, the other one the photos.
:)

Way to the Turkish border – the kilometer cavalryman and his kilometers

After the hump we arrived with crunching wheels to one Lidl. This is the last chance to buy cheap and junk, western products. We didn’t buy any competent thing: chocolate, ice cream, sweets, hazel fritter. Dani was tired; Zita wanted to wash so started to find a right place: somewhere where Dani could sleep (anywhere) and somewhere where Zita could wash (where can be found water) and where I can have an internet connection. The last would be the hardest work, but after 100 meters just find a free net connection. (we used to do the following: I’m going on front with my mobile to try to find the wifi and if we have luck, we just stop).

We just stopped in a restaurant near to a camping: we ordered a bear with Arpi, Zita went to wash and I started to use the net. The bicycle pair from the morning and Arman said as well that the road between Svilengrad (Bulgaria) and Edirne (the first town in Turkey) can be done by bicycle but I wanted to double-check. The first website shown by Google was Sofa’s and Felix’s blog. Zsófi és Félix They were here last year and choose the Greek side to Edime but find motorway. But just read that they choose the couch-surfing to Edirne. Why we didn’t thing for that until this? I just wrote for few guys who were online not so long, maybe I can have some answer for the last minute couch request. Last minute, maybe we can arrive today evening to Edirne. As I knew that I can be online for a one more hour at least, I left time for the answer. I spend this hour to upload pictures and at the end, I got answer from Ali on coach-surfing: he is waiting for us in Edirne. Joy and happiness, I wake up Dani and Zita is coming back as well so we can decide: bicycle to Edirne and sleep in house. We were very happy for good news, we merit it.

Ali is waiting for us in Turkey and to arrive in a new country like this, will be a good feeling. Even so when I crossed the beach going to toilet and saw the pools, I was thinking to stay and take a rest, swim and write our memoir. I knew, Zita would love it and the cavalryman would excuse for his kilometers. If we would stay longer would cost 7 euro/person so we decided to go further, this will be better also for Ali. Was a good idea to carry on because later started to rain as well when we across Harmanli. Started mildly but at the end we had to take on our rain jackets, we were happy that didn’t straw it away 7 euro/person for this weather.

Rainbow-gate to Turkey

As we could carry on with 30 km/h, the rain didn’t disturb us too much. In Svilengrad we stopped to take a rest and to dry. Now Zita ordered a café for 0,8 Lave (about 100 Hungarian forint), we wrote some letter to Ali double checked the meeting place with him and carry on: go to the border. We stopped once more to change money. The border was monumental like a flight terminal. In a gas station Dani just stopped to upload his horn with bar and we outrun him. We thought that he already passed the border so we were “running” and we showed our passports and passed the first gates. We just went under the terminal terrace before the rain when Dani wrote us a sms that he is in Bulgaria yet and looking for us. We answered him and about 20 minutes later he arrived and got back our loyal itinerary mate. Before Dani’s eyes happened the guard changing, this is why he was late. At the Turkish gate we asked the Turkish visa for 90 day, it was 15 euro/person. After this we showed our passports twice at the Turkish gates when the immigration officer asked the bicycle’s papers. We said to him, that it doesn’t have engine so we could pass. We just started to go into the middle of rainbow, into Turkey. Because main time from Bulgaria the sun just woke up and made a big, full and from one side a double rainbow. It was beautiful and we had to pass this to get to Turkey.

Ali in Edirne, who knows exactly what we need

We felt the culture shock even at the border: huge mosques next to the gate, the Turkish songs are audible at the terminal; you can read the text about Turkey in LCD TV’s. We had 15 km more to Edirne. We were carrying on in the turn-out because the way it looks like a motorway without any overpass, we could turn it left just with lamp from the interior zone and wasn’t rare the 30,40 km/h tables as well. In a word, there was a 2 meters bicycle zone at the edge of the road. Once we met 4-5 big, white dogs who were barking and chasing us. Wasn’t nice t all! At the next gas station we stopped but felt the adrenalin yet. We didn’t use the Dazer dog alarming until this, but after this Zita got it as her bicycle horn wasn’t working. At the gas station we had a fight with the mosquitos so we carried on fast. We had to pass all Edirne until we met Ali and his friend at the meeting place. At this hurry I was very stressed, we were late, had to write sms, had to run, and were also traffic, slopes, and as the rain was very warm but didn’t want to stop as we didn’t want to be so late from Ali.

Ali and his friend were also by bicycle so we could go further together to Ali’s flat, which was a 100 foursquare flat at the 3rd floor. We put the Ortlieb bags into the shower and washed the mud from it. Ali was very helpful and as he is also a big bicycle man, he knows exactly what we need. We went together into a close restaurant and had dinner. After it we had showered, Zita went to sleep and we were talking a bit with Ali. It was very nice, this couch surfing is incredible. 1400 km away from home, you arrive in a nice place with a local guy who knows your problems, is good to speak with him and is very helpful. He posted about us in a Turkish bicycle forum, , helped us in the itinerary managing until Istambul, he narrowed a lot about Turkey: he said that if we would like to use our tent, we have to find a Apec gas station, as they have a grassy garden and usually they let people stay there, they are open all day which means that we can use the nice and clean toilets as well.

Ali offered us that we can stay longer if we would like and we decided to stay: we deserve a rest, to upload ourselves with energy, have time to write our itinerary report, wash our clothes, cook and eat a good and also to see better Edirne. Ali narrowed a lot from the city and at evening also got a correct guide in sms from Tamás Huber, thanks him very much for that. Ali said that he knows that dogs who were chasing us, once he had the same and he also felt with the bicycle, but thanks for luck, the dogs stopped yipping and left him. He thinks that dogs get angry because of the moving of the wheels, and he also has that Dazer dog alarm which is very good, so he was salving us in the dog thing and also in Kurds. I showed him where we would like to go across in Turkey and he said that on that way won’t be any problem with Kurds. End of soothing section for parents!

Ali left us alone in the flat as he has learning hours all day (he is a 5th year medical student, will be a chemist so he is a grave guy). Zita already switched on the washing machine, went down to the shop for some food, Dani blended the roundel cake from the rest flour bought in Temesvar and I cooked it while wrote this entry. Now we will eat and go to Edirne, at evening I will try to recover the behindhand entry about the Serb boarder and Sofia.

Lunch with Petya

On our rest day in Plovdiv we woke up around 9:30 when Petya was already at work, the rest of the family just woke up too and finally his little 4 year old son befriended us. .
Stanimir couldn’t make to be our guide but we arranged a meeting at lunch with Petya. We sat in a restaurant next to a tiny park and it turned out to be the jackpot. The place was very friendly and cheap and even the toilet was fascinating, we liked the design so much Zita and I agreed to make our future bathroom like this. We had a good time with Petya despite the short time.

He’s an ex-collagegue of Magdi, who I went to College together, and she asked him to translate our 10 key sentences to Bulgarian. He also offered his hospitality straight away, even though he already knew he’ll have a busy week this time around. He told us how glad they moved to the village 3 years ago, because the life is so much better, it feels like they are part of a big family. We also told about our journey and our silliness yesterday. Of course Petya told us he could have given detailed description, but we told it was better this way as we will learn our lesson. We’re happy we met Petya in person too; he turned out to be the cool guy we imagined through his e-mails. It would have been shame if we missed the opportunity to see each other. Thank you very much for the hospitality, you made our stay in Plovdiv brilliant.

You WON – in Plovdiv

After lunch we went to town to do some things then we cycled up to the old town on the top of the hill. We had a look at the ancient theatre then strolled back to the center on a bumpy road thanks to the macadam road. The old town is the best district in Plovdiv for sure, the inner town is nowhere near that. We could spend days here with a guide like Stanimir and a good camera. A lot of people did this way. The nice weather attracted more tourist than before, so we had even more admirers, curious people around which was not bad at all. So far we handle them very well, we have a few words with everyone who comes to us. Sometimes it feels strange having many people taking photos of us. :) But it isn’t a problem, we knew this will happen. In the old town we met a Hungarian family too and Zita gave them a Sportszelet chocolate bar packaging. It was a “winner” paper that could be exchanged for another bar. We got that from a friend in Hungary, but had no time to exchange it so we passed on. :)

Camping Riverside Bugville*

It’s good to be away from the busy towns and be out in the nature, we set our camp up 10kms away from Plovdiv along the river. We invited Dani it our tent as ha couldn’t find a suitable place for his hammock, plus there were way too many bugs, mosquitoes around. While moving the bags out from the back of our tent so all of us could fit in, I left the door open accidentally. This resulted an unwanted guest, a huge spider we’ve never encountered before in the wild. After the surprise we evicted the spider and burst into laughter as we moved Dani in from the bugs and spiders. Finally I could write without struggling, hopefully I will have more time to write from now on. There’s a lot to catch up on. I hope we’ll catch up with the miles tomorrow, we made a 65km loss today according to the plan… The landscape doesn’t look too exciting but we’ll see. I’m not worried about the schedule, we’ll get the invitation letter for the Iran visa when it arrives. Till then we’ll discover Istambul, then play catch up with the lost time.

Breakfast with a group of kids

On the 20th day of the journey we woke up relatively late and by 8:45am we were on the road. Dani woke up hours earlier and was walking around, met some local fishermen as he was waiting for us. We told him to wake us up next time – he wakes up around 5am. We stopped at a shope in the first village where we met a group of kids, who clearly enjoyed our bikes. They escorted us on the way out with loud cheers. I noticed here that I left my military cutlery at the shop. Hopefully the shopkeeper lady found it because she gave us watermelon before we left. I’m sad for the cutlery set as I have nice memories about it.

Lunch with Arman

After breakfast we hit the road. Shortly after we lost Dani. He had some gear problems, so we stopped regularly to wait for him. At one point he appeared with a companion. We met Arman, a French-Turkish lad who was having the same Ortleib bags on his trekking bike as we have. We stopped at the next marketplace along the road and started chatting. Arman was born in South Turkey but grew up in France. He studies to become a geography-history teacher, but he had a gap year when he worked to have enough money to have a 3 month trip back home to Turkey. He told his story in a restaurant at lunch. We was excited to get home and was riding a much faster tempo than us, so we parted ways.

A carriage and a BMW on the same road

The miles gone faster than in the morning. The landscape was nice but not as exciting as on a lower graded road where we could meet more people and see more villages. We passed a happy man on a horse carriage, who we passed 3 times because we stopped to take photos. We waved each other every time and he responded with a smile. I wonder how it feels like to be on a carriage when he sees expensive cars with people with different lifestyle in them passing by. Does he envy them? Who’s happier? One thing for sure, it’s less likely to get to know the driver who locks him in a black box and goes 70-80km/h.At a petrol station we had a break where we fixed Dani’s bike while Zita enjoyed the Kindle.

Camping Church garden**

We finished the day in Podkrepa. When we left the nr. 8 road we spotted a church in the middle of a village. We found it’s yard and got permission after we showed our Bulgarian travel certificate (thank you Magdi and Petya for it). We had a lagre group of kids who we got rid of by the help of some local adults, then we cooked dinner: spaghetti carbonara, with local goat cheese and wine, then we had shower; this was the first time we used our 10l Oertlieb water carrier with the shower head. It was brilliant, Dani even decided to get the 4l version for himself. We spent a bit more than planned, 3683HUF, but that included the lunch and dinner. We could send less if we paid attention at the shopping. It happened a few times that we bought too much goat cheese (300HUF/kg) and had to throw out cause it’s gone out. Or some other cheap food came along we couldn’t resist. Also we carry lot of food for hundreds of kilometers. We figured we should only buy veggies at a grocery store and not in a supermarket. To sum it up, we have to improve our Food Management.
It was interesting when I torn my shorts – as always – and thought about what to do. Should I throw it away and buy a new one that costs time and money, or sew it, but then had the winning thought. Tear it. It looks funny but still the best solution. If this wasn’t a road trip but a normal every day with work, it would not look well. :)

In the next post you’ll know how we got to Turkey.