Day 77 - Haskovo to Svilengrad

73.8 km - Total so far 4,118.7 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 77                        380 Left to pedal

We are safe and secure in Svilengrad, Bulgaria.

Because it was going to be a long ride we had planned to get an early start but we couldn’t get breakfast until 8 am. 

It was relatively easy to get through Haskovo and we realized that there was more to the city than we had seen. I guess that would not be an issue if we were 30 years younger.

Haskavo pedestrian street

We also rode by the village of Rodopi (same name as our hotel). We did not ride through many villages today and the few that we did, did not have much of a stork population. I only remember Hélène pointing out one nest to me.

Today was all about scenery. The route took us off the main road twice. At the first opportunity, we did about 100 meters an decided that a sandy trail was not for us to do today. At the second one, the route was paved. As we were going up a climb, a local stopped and got out of his car. After a lot of gesturing by both of us, I guessed that his concern was that the road we were on did not go to Istanbul and we should turn around and take the highway. I think I got through to him that we were on that road to take in the spectacular scenery and that Bulgaria was a beautiful country. That got me a big smile and a pat on the back. He got back in his car and I back to slowly pedal up the hill to rejoin Hélène. We were now in the hills that we had looked at most of the afternoon. That extra effort was well worth it. We got views that most people driving on the highway will never see.  

Tonight is our last night in Bulgaria. Much of our time here was nothing short of tremendous. Friendly people, a lot of history and an appreciation for a people that have not always had an easy time, often under the hand of a foreign occupation.

We have also experienced something that very few people have had to do and that is to “bicycle into Sofia”. Our friend Henri wrote to us about his experience cycling into Istanbul. We have read that cycling into Istanbul is not a pleasant experience. Henri summed up his experience this way: “L'arrivée sur Istanbul se fait relativement bien, elle est plus facile que sur Sofia.” (The arrival in Istanbul is relatively smooth, it is easier than in Sofia.) 

Tomorrow we cross the borders of Bulgaria, Greece and finally Turkey.