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Published: September 5th 2008
Well we have finally made it to the Med. Along the way we have had blood with the little tumbles on the bikes, sweat as we battled with the hill of Bulgaria and finally tears of emotion as we saw the Med for the first time. We both can't believe we have come so far. A lot has happened since our last entry. As Dave kindly put it in one of his comments I've lost more of my winter body and there is defenately more room in the tent.
We were glad to leave Hungary. Three things happened on our last day that was the final straw. First after I left the internet cafe I decided to get a hair cut. The hairdresser didn't speak English so I indicated I just wanted a trim. She nodded her head as if to understand then proceded to shave my head. Secondly, when we got to the campsite the owner was not there. His assistant told us we could set up the tent and pay later. He told us that the cost would be 14 Euros. When I went to pay later the price had gone up to 20 Euros. Finally that evening a
waiter tried to rip us off. We found Hungary one big rip off. It's expensive, they charge Western European prices for an inferior and poor quality services. On the other hand Romainia was good. Much cheaper and the people were very friendly. We felt like we were on the Tour de France as people cheered on as we passed through the villages. One day we stopped at a little fruit stall little old ladies set up outside their houses. I sellected some peaches and plums but she would not take any payment. We also got stuck one night with accommodation. We had already covered 50 miles and we were both very tired. We were told that there was accommodation at the next town but when we got there there was none. A Romainian family took us in and made us feel very welcome. They shared their meal with us and gave us their bed. Again they would not accept any payment and sent us off the next morning with a packed lunch. We will always remember the kind hospitality of the Romainian people but on the down side we will always remember the poor condition of the roads. By far
they were the worst we have encountered so far. The strain of constantly watching for potholes was quite tiring. This, along with the strong headwinds we encountered most of the way, bad drivers and the wild dogs made riding very hard work.
Bulgaria was great. Very cheap and the food was great after the bland meals in Hungary and Romainia. Hotels/Motels were only about 20 Euros for a room and beer about 40p a pint. The roads were good and the drivers very considerate. However, Bulgaria is a mountainous country. Our route was flanked by 3000m peaks along the way which made an interesting change. By now hills don't phase us out anymore. We both feel fit enough to tackle anything and actually look forward to the challange of the hills.
The first night in Greece we stayed in a town called Seres. On the map it looked large enough to have accommodation. When we got there we found all the hotels booked up for a 50km radius of the town due to an international Motor Enduro Competition taking place. Fortunately someone again came to our rescue and took us the race track where they had set up a temporary
campsite. We had a great time that night with thousands of bikers and their supporters. They thought we were mad to have cycled from England but also admired our achievement. Anyway now we are in Kavala. We are taking a week off for a bit of R&R before setting off to Turkey.
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Sparky Martland
non-member comment
greetings from Sparky
Steve, Joy You are doing wonderfully and what an adventure. soooo jealous. You are both looking extremely well and althoough emotional at times it seems you are having the best time. the weather looks so much better than the UK. i am sure you have been kept up to date with the flooding and generally lousy summer we have been having. Great photo's; keep them comming. I look forward to hearing aboouth the next phase of your adventure. All teh best Sparky