Bucharest to Istanbul

After a very relaxing stay at the Butterfly Villa in Bucharest we headed towards Istanbul on the 15th of May. Thanks to all the girls at Butterfly for being so kind during our stay, it really was very enjoyable. I was still feeling a bit ropey from a few days with a cold so the first day was hard going. Lack of sleep caused by drunken Austrian skateboarders also added to my sore head. Huw's parents arrived on the 20th of May in Istanbul so we planned to arrive by the morning of the 21st.

Reeds used for thatching stacked to dry in the early summer sun.

The first day we covered 140km and left Romania by ferry across the Danube to Bulgaria. It was a nice ride through some beautiful arable land full of poppies and other wild flowers. Obviously spraying the fields with herbicides isn't such a popular pastime as it is in other European countries. Farming practices changed quickly upon entering Bulgaria with hardly any flowers and less insects as most farms seem to have been combined and make use of modern machinery. Much of the farm land in Romania is still tilled by hand and horse carts are common. The Black sea coast is seeing a building boom and there's obviously a fair bit of money being made. The Bulgarians also seemed less friendly than the Romanians but so far the Turks we have met are the friendliest of the lot.

Fantastic meadows of wildflowers grow through Romania and in some parts of Bulgaria. Something that has  more or less been lost in England apart from in a few nature reserves. Traditional farming techniques and lack of herbicides allow spectacular views like this to survive.

The next three days we covered 100km+ but started to think the target of reaching Istanbul by the 21st might be a bit unrealistic. After the third day my left leg became very painful and I had to resort to operating it with my left arm which resulted in painful arms as well as a painful leg. We entered Turkey on the 19th and camped not far over the border after a celebratory beer. We only covered 70km on this day leaving around 260km to get to Istanbul in a day and a half.

Quite camping in the forests of south east Europe.   Inland  Bulgaria was certainly more pleasant than the black sea coast that was and probably still is experiencing a building boom.

Huw decided to take the Bus the next day from Kirkareli and I decided to ride the rest as it would be a shame to catch a bus for the last short stretch. I covered 140km+ on the 20th and then tried to get up early on the 21 st but after a night of hard rain that continued in the morning this proved difficult to do. I did get on the road fairly early but it proved to be one of the hardest days yet with stiff head winds and plenty of rain in my face. My leg was still pretty painful but after a few hours the pain eased up and the km count slowly crept up. I got into Istanbul around 2.30 pm so was only a few hours late of the planned arrival time.

Huw fixes the first puncture of the trip which of course had to happen in the middle of town!

It was good to have a beer and a shower and consider how far we have come in the last few months. I think the km count is around 5400 now with around 65 days on the bike. I have now just to sort out the visas for central asia and then I can scoot eastwards and will hopefully be in India for September if things go well!! I can't wait to get there and get to the beach and Cauvery for some serious fishing!

Stag beetle investigates my lens cap; a sight rarely seen back home these days.

Morning fritillary

Unfortunately Huw has decided to pull out of going the rest of the way as planned so I will go on alone, possibly meeting up with other cyclists along the way. I met Enric, a spanish cyclist here who was planning to go to China but unfortunately had to go back to Catalonia at short notice. Hope alls well at home mate! So possibly by the middle of next week I will have a handful of visas, a lot less dollars and will be able to get back on the bike and make tracks with a healed leg!

Common storks feeding on the meadows in Southern Romania.  Many electricity poles through the towns sported a shabby collection of sticks put together by one of these fellows to raise its young on!

First tree frog;  Bulgaria

Part way up a rather long and winding hill which took a  good hour or two to conquer! Beautiful beech and hornbeam with fresh new leaves covered the surrounding mountainsides.

Rouzbeth and Maria from the Butterfly Hostel, Bucharest. Highly reccomended place to stay.

The long road to Istanbul.  Huw had taken the bus to Istanbul, worried he would be late to miss the arrival of his parents. I cycled on alone and managed to arrive only  a few hours after the planned time. For a few days my my leg had been hurting badly from some unseen injury.  It usually loosened up after a few hours of cycling but still sometimes I needed to help it with a free hand when the pain got bad.  I hoped with some time spent in Istanbul collecting visas would give it enough time to heal. The morning after this photo I sheltered in my tent as a big electrical storm passed by above seemingly devoid of rain. Of course that wasn't the case and soon heavy drops started to fall which kept me leaving for a fair while.

Mirjam, Kurt, Huw and Johhny in Istanbul. Mirjam was on her way to Australia, Kurt had been cycling around Europe and Morocco for the last year or so, and Johnny was had also headed down from Netherlands. From what I had read before i started on my trip the ride into Istanbul was one of the most dangerous parts of my journey. Many cyclists would simply take the train or a bus to avoid the busy roads and some had been knocked down and even killed. Maybe I was lucky for I passed through remarkably easy. The only incident came from an impatient taxi driver who thought driving into the back of my bike would make the traffic move faster but all that happened was him getting some abuse.