Jim

Jim
Let the Adventure Begin

About Me

Las Vegas, NV, United States
This is my 2008 grand adventure...riding a bicycle with 35 international bikers across Europe, following the Danube River along the Orent Express route through eleven countries. The ride is 4000km over 50 days of which 39 are ride days with camping and 11 are rest days in hotels. Our tour group, TourdAfrique, provides a tour leader that provides directions and transposts our luggage, a mechanic, and a chef who promises gourmet local cuisines. We start out in Paris on June 1 and travel through France to Germany, where we pick up the Danube river. We then follow the Danube through Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. Then we ride cross country through Romania, Bulgaria, and finally Turkey, where we finish in Istanbul on July 20.

Jul 13, 2008

July 10, Buchorest to Ruse, Bulgaria, 104 km







Goodbye Romania, Hello Bulgaria…Almost Camped in Brothel

We got our much appreciated police escort out of this bustling city during rush hour. Three hours later, we were at the Danube River, for the last time, and across into Bulgaria, where my passport was checked and stamped. Ruse is a river port city and appeared to be a dumpy place, dominated by rundown Soviet era apartment flats. However, I went into town to get money exchanged and found the city center is had a wonderful park and walking mall…another city in slow transition.

Today we were scheduled to camp on the grounds of a motel and restaurant about 8 km out of town. The staff said it was OK for us, but had us wait until the owner arrived after noon, before setting up. Well, the owner arrived and said this would not work out. The motel rooms had been rented to road construction crews and they were followed by prostitutes (some of which were already there). When the sun went down, the guys liked to get drunk and fight, so he didn’t want a bunch of camping bikers in the middle of it. Rats!

So off we went to a lake side park about 15 km down the road. This was bush camping, with no showers and a primitive hole in the floor toilet. I managed to find a spring and got a sponge bath, so it worked out. Another adventure.

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