A flavour of the Orient
Rai & Stephie in Asia

Somehow Raimon manages to wake up for sunrise (5h15) while Stephie stays nicely under the blankets. In our nice waterfront studio flat we defrost a 4 cheese pizza for breakfast and we are off for another sunny day of cycling along the Danube. We arrive at Ram village after 39 km of pedaling to find out that our ferry across the Danube is leaving 2 1/2 hours later. Oooh well we prepare and eat some tasty cheese - juicy tomato sandwiches, take a siesta, grab a coffee and by mid afternoon we are on the ferry with only a couple of other cyclists, heading for the first time to the opposite bank of the Danube (still in Serbia). The ferry basically consists of a barge pulled by a much smaller boat...it takes 25 nice minutes to be on dry land again. We then get chased by agitated dogs while we cycle on a 24 km dike next to the Danube. Stephie the champion also rescues Rai's parked bike from falling into a huge ditch..... Thank you ! Eventually with tired limbs we make it to Kovin town. Our entertaining outdoor dinner involved Rai finding some restaurant table cloths to wrap around his hairy legs and bald head....the ferocious mosquitoes were on the attack !

The stats for day 5 are:

Cycled 83.4  km.
Time:  5hrs  33min.
Max speed:  36.7 km/h.
Avg speed:  15 km/h.
Odo (total distance travelled so far): 369 km
Mid afternoon Temp: 27 degrees C.
Wildlife spotted: Lots of ducks and birds!

Our favourite day so far on this cycle trip. Serbian style croissants for breakfast and strong coffee gave us all the energy we needed to tackle our first sizeable hill of the day 15 km into the ride. Great views of the Danube River below. 

The views got even better when we decided to take the more difficult and alternative pot holed route up into the green hills 5 km further. This 17 km long road used to be part of the Danube highway till 1986. Now there is no traffic, the place feels completely deserted with just a couple of farmers working on the fields. The stunning 6 km steep climb took us 500 metres above the  Danube past fields filled with colourful flowers, vineyards and cherry trees. Pure countryside bliss! The 11km cycle down was amazing too as we travelled through a dense birch tree forest filled with woodpeckers back to the main road. 

After all that exercise a compulsory stop for lunch was necessary at Dobra village....noodle soup, juicy steak, mashed potatoes and salad...yummy yum yum. All we had to do then was cycle for a couple of more hours past the impressive fortress of Golubac. With lightning suddenly appearing over the mountains we quickly made our way to Golubac village. We just missed the rain and the dark angry clouds soon gave way to a very impressive sunset over the Danube. Perfect end to a perfect day made even more perfect by the Serbian red we had over dinner.

Stats for Day 4:
Cycled: 64.3 km.
Time: 5hrs 29 min.
Max speed: 41.9  km/h.
Avg speed: 11.7 km/h.
Odo (total distance travelled so far): 285km.
Temp: 33 degrees C. 
Wildlife spotted: eagles, green-blue lizards, woodpecker (heard), noisy frogs.

The tent needed packing and then we were off towards the Danube gorge in the Djerdap National Park, part of the Euro velo 6, the cycling route that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea. 15 km into the ride we stopped in Tekija village for a much needed breakfast...nice fried eggs, green peppers, bread washed down with grainy black coffee... No cycle power without food! And then it was a hard 3km 10 degree uphill section with a strong headwind.....but luckily we were rewarded with a fantastic view of the Danube gorge and all roads that go up must come down! Soooooo we went zooooming down (but not tooo fast as the scenery was spectacular) through a number of dark tunnels to Donji Milanovac where our efforts were rewarded with a delicious 1kg cat fish and some dry white wine. Cycling combined with eating does not get much better than this!

Stats for day 3:
Cycled: 57 km.
Time: 4 hrs 16 min.
Max speed: 31.7 km/h.
Avg speed: 13.3km/h.
Temp: 24 degrees C. 
Wildlife spotted: 1 dead snake, caterpillars, cormorant duck, baby tortoise (see first photo) and many birds.

We spot the Danube river 30 minutes into the ride. Very slow flowing and peaceful . The trail was a much muddier affair after the rains of last night. Lots of tractors, fishermen and excited dogs. After a long day of beautiful riding following the Danube  upstream we find a nice campsite with a couple of local serbian drunks. Entry into Romania lies on the other side of the dam but we will stick to the Serbian side which has far less traffic and is apparently more scenic.

Stats for Day 2:
Cycled 97.8 km.
Time: 6 hrs 37 min.
Max speed: 44 km/h.
Avg speed: 14.8 km/h.
Temp: 27 degrees C.
Wildlife spotted: 1 water snake, lots of frogs.

He really was an idiot. The bus steward who was supposed to help us with getting our bicycles on the night bus from Istanbul to Sofia (Bulgaria) was acting more like a franctic monkey...he wanted his cargo loaded on the bus at lightning speed even with two hours to spare. We  hurridely put some bubble wrap around our new bicycles, had to take out the front wheels and brakes and crossed our fingers they would survive the journey. As we travelled from Istanbul  into Bulgaria the bus was full of smuggled cheap cigarettes and booze. The custom officials, after receiving a bribe, just smiled and waved us goodbye. Things got easier when we got to Sofia at the unsociable hour of 4am. We found a train at 7:30 AM to Vidin in NW Bulgaria which required no bicycle dismantling. After a journey of 5 hrs then it was time to test out the bicycles! The route was a brilliant start to our cycle trip with lots of rolling green hills, villages lost in time and virtually no traffic.  

Here is a summary of our cycle stats from  Vidin, Bulgaria to Negotin in Serbia:
Total km travelled: 56.7 km in 3 hrs, 35 min (cycle time).
Avg speed 15.8 km/h.
Max speed 46.8 km/h.  
Nice temperatures: 17-21 degrees.
Number of dog attacks: 0 ! Wildlife spotting: 1 fox !

We are no Armstrong or Indurain but we are having a great time! Stay tuned.

Photo 1 and 2: leaving the comfort of our hostel in Istanbul.
Photo 3: waiting time in Sofia for our train.  
Photo 5: bicycles on train.
Other photos: the great cycle ride to Negotin via the Serbian border.