We checked out of our comfortable airbnb accommodation in Burgas , discovering from our hostess, via her son as translator, that we were their first airbnb guests! Bet they won’t have anyone else arriving by tandem!
The way out of Burgas was quite protracted, since it is quite a big city. Fortunately, most of the way was via an EU funded cyclepath which avoided the busy dual carriageway out of the city. It was fairly well used by local cyclists, but it seems that cyclepaths in Bulgaria are a relatively new phenomenon since we frequently found our way blocked by people repairing cars, setting up stalls or people just parking slap bang in the middle of the path!
We passed the wildfowl reserve we had visited previously, then discovered that the cycle path stopped dead and on the wrong side of a dual carriageway for where we were headed. Fortunately our trusty Orux maps app with our downloaded maps showed us there was a minor road very close to where we were and we found our way onto the road needed, on the correct side of the road.
Our road to Malko Tarnova, although a primary route, had little traffic and the surface was good – and although we were beginning to climb into the hills the gradients were modest.
This was a day of climbs, downhill runs and climbs again… most of the height was between 300 and 400 mtrs, but we started at (Black) Sea level!
Again, we saw notices that the route had been funded by the EU Development Fund, and since we were under pedal power we were glad that the new road had slighter gradients, and the occasional bridge crossing deep valleys.
We could see the old road occasionally, now relegated to a local road, which twisted down valleys and back up again, to meet the new road… phew!
The day was hot and we drank 7 litres of water, one apple juice and a can of beer during our exertions, reaching Malko Tarnova at around 6pm. Having researched possible places to stay whilst we were in Burgas we easily found the Guest House in this small border town. It even had a small swimming pool…. but our shower was enough. You have to experience a sweaty day of exertion to appreciate the cleansing shower at the end of the day!
We saw our first road sign directing us to Istanbul, no kilometers yet. We must be getting near!
Malko Tarnova is around 9km from the Turkish border, which we will cross tomorrow
Nerd’s Corner
Burgas to Malko Tarnova: 48 miles.
Total distance travelled so far: 2716 miles.
Total climb today: 955 mtrs.
We also visited Nessebur, the old town near Sunny Beach, which pre-dated the tourist development.
A school group visiting at the same time had a fine time trying out the array of cow / goat bells.
We cycled along a new cycle path to the end of a long and narrow isthmus. Here the sand was black and we watched several kite surfers whipping along and jumping into the air. Fun to watch.
It was once the centre of a large city. Over the centuries it had been destroyed during conflict, then rebuilt several times. It was razed to the ground by the Crusaders and then not used for a few hundred years until rebuilt by the Ottomans in the 17th century.
In a reconstruction of a bath house, there was an interesting multimedia show, projected onto the ceiling, telling the story it’s history. Legend has it there were 3 beautiful nymphs that looked after the springs. But they fell in love and were turned to stone by the gods because they were no longer looking after the healing springs.
Burgas is lovely, but we really want to be moving on!
The road to the coast was quite busy and a dual carriageway to boot, so we were glad that it was a relatively short distance to Burgas. We spied a cycle path once we got into the built up area, so we took the opportunity to join it, only to discover that it was like one or two british cyclepaths in that it suddenly stopped and dumped you into the road again, without the benefit of a dropped kerb.
After a refreshing drink at one of the bars in the “Sea Park” we met up with our hosts and settled in to our temporary home.
This next stage essentially followed a river valley through steep hills, the road being mostly level with small ups and downs gradually gaining height as we went up the river valley .
The surface of the road on our way wasn’t brilliant, but with lots of twists and turns, it kept the speed of traffic down. The scenery was very attractive, and we were thankful we were following a watercourse between the hills.
After a very pleasant stay in the family hotel we found in Razgrad we loaded up and set off on a hot and sunny morning. Just down the road we were interested to see our first minaret attached to a small mosque… indicating a muslim presence in the town. The mosque had a very pretty garden beside with its usual washing area for those coming to pray.
Our route out of town was along a newly painted narrow cycle path beside the dual carriageway…. which suddenly stopped with no dropped kerb to the carriageway… we then rejoined the E70 road we were travelling the day before. Decent surface, wide road and not too much traffic, although what there was went fast.
Our ‘banana and water’ stop was at a picnic area beside the road with a nice little seating area under cover from the sun. We took the opportunity to call our friends at JD Tandems in Yorkshire to confirm and pay for our order of our Schwalbe Super Marathon tyres to be sent to where we will be staying in Burgas on the Black Sea coast.
Beside the little shelter there were a couple of workmen cutting the long grass and clearing away rubbish. The fellow using his scythe to cut the grass said (by sign language) driving a car from UK was much better!
We managed to find accommodation through Booking.com at a small village called Nevsha. The map showed a small road leading from the main road to the village, but on arriving at said road it turned out to be an overgrown grassy track…. further consultation with the map indicated a similar “white” road about 3km further on, so keeping our fingers crossed we pedalled on up yet another hill to get to it.
We packed our tent up from the lawn of the “English Guest House” in Ruse where we had been staying, taking advantage of the warm and mostly sunny morning to dry the fabric after last night’s torrential rain. We said our goodbyes to Magdelaine and hotel manager, Vaselska both of whom had been very kind and helpful during our stay.
Our route out of Ruse unexpectedly was along a cycle path – a rarity in these parts. It helped us negotiate the busy route out of town avoiding the heavy, fast traffic on the wide main road.
A visit to the tourist information alerted us to some sand sculptures by the river. So we pedaled down to have a look.
We were almost back in Ruse with some rain when the heavens opened, so we sheltered and just watched the rain as the thunder and lightning flashed and crashed around us.