106km (1,047m vertical)
Another convoy leaving Bucharest. We rode past the People's Palace, which is a large government building on a hill. It was impressive, but seemed a bit deserted. We also rode down a grand boulevard with fountains all along the median and a large fountain in the roundabout. Lovely. That is the only feature in Budapest that really impressed me.
Had lunch at the side of a road in another sunflower field. There were several of these today, although the flowers are now heavy with seeds and bowing their heads. Theresa took a bunch of group photos of people standing in the sunflowers that will probably show up on the Tour d'Afrique website.
At 70km we cross the border into Bulgaria. In a fitting moment, a group of six dogs chased several riders right up to the customs booth. We'll all be glad to leave the threat of Romania dogs behind.
The border straddles the Danube. It will be the last time we see it on this trip, after spending several weeks cycling along it. We got nice views from a high bridge over looking the industrial port and power plants of Ruse in Bulgaria.
No troubles at the border. I've managed to keep my last 3 blank passport pages empty, in order to have room for my Turkey, Turkmenistan and China visas.
Bulgaria feels like a very different country, mostly because of its different alphabet. Even though I didn't speak other European languages, it was always possible to sound out a town name when talking to other riders. That will be more difficult now.
There was some confusion regarding tonight's campsite. At the lunch stop, they gave people revised directions to new camp. When we arrived, they said that camp wouldn't work because the owner said some construction workers would be staying there that night who would undoubtedly get drunk and pick fights with each other and us. Instead, we rode an additional 14 hilly km to get to a “pubic campsite” - some grass beside a lack. No showers. Washrooms at a restaurant about 700m down the road. Not really ideal, but I imagine we'll see worse before the trip is done.
Photos from today:
Passing the "People's Palace" in the convoy out of Bucharest.
Bridge into Bulgaria.
The blue sign says "Bulgaria" in Cyrillic characters.
Looking for the campsite, we crossed this bridge that was still under construction.
Camping beside a lake.
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