Serbia.

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Sunday March 4.
What a difference a day makes! I didn't start until 8 am but the roads were flat and in reasonable condition. The wind was behind me and I ate up the kilometres at 25 - 30 kms/hr. I was in Belgrade by 10 am and made for Smerderov. At this point the road is confusing passing through steel mills and other heavy industry. I was given some good directions and headed for Velika Plana. After 120 kms I began looking for somewhere to stay but without success so I pressed on finally finding a motel in Lapovo just as it was getting dark. I was the only guest.
I had covered jst over 150 kms.

Monday March 5.
The road runs next to the motorway and has not been repaired in decades. It also goes up and down pointless hills whereas the motorway runs along the flat valley floor. I got into Nis at 4.30 pm and booked into a 15 storey communist era hotel. The lady receptionist was very helpful and as so often spoke good English. I wandered around the town that evening and had a good meal at MacDonalds - a salad and chicken bun.

Tuesday March 6.
I set of from Nis to climb up to the mountain range which is the border with Bulgaria. The road rises steadily and of course it gets colder the higher I went. The road and the railway run close together up through steep sided valleys, almost ravines with frequent tunnels. The wind was unfortunately agaist me but sometimes I was shielded against it and on other occasions the valley channelled it with more force.
The border is at Dimitrovgrad surrounded by snow clad mountains.
By Dragoman I had had enough and tried to find a hotel. I asked the owner of a restaurant and he said that there were none but that i could camp.
Camping turned out to be a great mistake. It was a bitterly cold night and my sleeping bag was completely inadequate. I was seriously frozen when I got up at dawn having had little sleep.

Wednesday March 7.
I started cycling but my lowerlegs and hands never warmed up. My thumbs have split. I arrived in Sofia at 10.30 am and checked into Sofiabackpackers, a place I knew of from the internet. In the shower irt took 30 minutes for the blood to return to my extremities especially my left leg (painful!).
It's almost the same as happened on Mont Blanc in 1973; same leg.

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Photos

Rubbish at the roadside.
Throughout Eastern Europe people dump vast amounts of domestic rubbish by the side of the road. Don't they have acollection service?

Memorials most after 1990.
These roadside memorials are strong feature of these countries. In some areas they are every 50-100 metres and nearly all of young people. Very sad.

Road up to the Serbian border at Dimitrovgrad.
I became very cold cycling up the road through the mountains into Bulgaria where I camped in Dragomans.