July 11, Ruse to Shuman, Bulgaria, 134 km

Hilly, Hot, Hard

This was a tough ride day with 5000 feet of climbing country roads. I got a good look at Bulgarian farming and found it to be a huge change from Romania. Here, the farms are Mid-West USA size with modern US farm machinery. From horizon to horizon, we rode past large fields of wheat being harvested and sunflowers tracking the sun. The small farm villages did have some peasant farmers with donkey drawn carts, but these villages were mostly deserted. Apparently, the rural population is leaving the country side and moving into the cities. The other big change from Romania is there are fewer stray dogs, and all those have been friendly. The roads are a marked improvement over Romania too, so I can travel faster and look at the country side instead of threading around potholes.

Tonight we are in a hotel again, because the campsites are reported to be primitive. The Shuman hotel is relatively modern…especially by the old Soviet standard. I did note the bathroom had a pale of water by the toilet, so there must be a problem with water pressure.

Another big change in Bulgaria is the writing in Cyrillic, which is noticeably different from the English alphabet. Most of the riders rode right past our hotel because they couldn’t read its name, which was given to us in English and posted in Cyrillic. Many, but not all, of the road signs are in both Cyrillic and English. Most of the young people have studied English, so the country is quite English friendly. Food and drink are excellent and cheap!