Goodbye Bulgaria - Hello Serbia

Fredag d. 05. januar 2018 - 07. januar 2018                    (Update 12. april 2018)

Moskovets - En mark 65 km
En mark - Sofia 70 km
Sofia - Zeljusa (Serbien) 71 km

Hvordan kunne vi blive ved med at have perfect vejr? Det var jo januar og normal ville der ligge masse af sne og mindst 10 minus garder på disse kanter. Da vi var i Shipka, havde Tosha fortalt os, at sidste vinter havde de haft en hel måned hvor temperaturen ikke var kommet over 0 og en masse sne.
Natten var kold og under 0 grader, men i løbet af dagen fik solen magt og kom nogen gang helt op på 16 - 18 grader og det var det samme denne dag.
Vi cyklede afsted fra vores skjul lidt efter 09:00 og cyklede imod sneklædte bjerge. Vi var klar over at vi skulle cykle en del opad idag, men hvor højt vi skulle op var vi ikke klar over. Vi måtte tage dagen step by step.
Vi cyklede igennem flere små landsbyer, her sad folk udenfor cafe´er og nød deres kaffe og solens stråler. Det var livagtigt og dejligt at se på.
Et andet sted var to mænd igang med at klippe grene af træerne langs med vejen.
Så startede dagens stigning. Den går stille og roligt opad. Første del var ikke hård. Efter de første 6 km fandt vi et dejligt sted lige i solen og med udsigt ned til en lille by. Her sad vi og nød vores frokost med solen bagende lige i ansigtet. Vi blev siddende i lang tid inden vi skulle tage de sidste 5 kilometer opad. Nu blev det noget mere stejlt. Jo, længere vi kom op jo mere sne begyndte der at ligge. Vi kunne regene ud at snegrænsen måtte være i 900 meters højde, for her var bjergskråningerne dækket af sne.
Det var så smukt med grønne grantræer og det hvide sne.
Toppen af passet lå i 1100 meters højde og heroppe lå sneen tungt mellem træerne. Vi forsøgte at lave nogel billeder inden vi skulle køre ned deroppe fra. Vi tog også lidt mere tøj på igen, hvilket var en god ide´ da ruten ned på den anden side forgik i skygge fra solen. Vi måtte også holde øje med vejens underlag, da der godt kunne være is på vejen, hvor solen ikke havde ramt.
Det var somom at vi cyklede ned i et køleskab på den anden side af passet. Vi kunne mærke en betydelig temperatur forskel. Byen vi nåede ned til bar tydelig tegn på at her var koldere, for sneen var ikke smeltet på tagene. Så efter vi havde købt lidt til aftensmaden ved en lille købmand, fortsatte vi længere ned og håbede på at det ville blive varmere længerre nede.
Sådan et besøg ved en købmand var altid en oplevelse. De har næsten alt presset ind i en lille bitte butik på 10 m2 og når man handler foregår det ved at bede om tingene. Sådan som jeg kan huske fra min barndom.
For vores vedkommende blev det meget med at pege og forsøge med nogle russiske ord eller tysk måske lidt engelsk. For det meste kunne folkene i butikkerne kun bulgarsk. Men hver gang lykkedes det os at gøre os forståelig og få de ting vi gerne ville have.
Da vi skulle finde et sted at sove denne nat, blev det op af en markvej på et lille stykke hvor græsset var lagt ned og vi havde udsigt ned over en dal og når vi kiggede op mod bjergene kunne vi se en stor fabrik som lå cirka 1 kilometer, fra hvor vi var.
Marianne fik sagt:  her skal nok blive stille i nat. Vi fik lavet dejlig aftensmad og derefter telt hygge. Så var det sengetid og ligesom vi var ved at falde i søvn, begyndte den mest mærkelig vislende høje lyd. Vildt højt og nok kun 50 meter fra telltet. Hvad var det??? Vi lå helt stille. Jeg tænkte at det var et gasrør der var gået hul på og inden længe ville et eller andet nok eksplodere. Men hvad var det??? Skulle vi pakke sammen og søge i ly et andet sted???? Her lå vi i godt 30 minutter uden egentlig at gøre noget. Måske kom der nogen fra fabrikken, som vidste at et eller andet var galt.
Jeg havde set en brønd da vi havde kigget efter et sted at slå vores telt op og jeg var mere eller mindre sikker på at lyden kom derfra. Men vi turde ikke gå ud og kigge. Lieg så pludselig som lyden var kommet lige så pludselig holdt den, bare med en hvilsende lyd som om noget forsvandt igennem nogle rør.
Vi kiggede på hindnaden og sagde, det var da godt nok en mærkelig lyd og lage os til at sove. Næste morgen gik vi over og kiggede ned i brønden. Der var ikke noget at se og vi fik aldrig en forklaring på havd det havde været. Vi kunne bare blive enige om at det havde været en meget mystisk lyd.og at vi nok ikke havde sovet så godt.
Noget af det vi så på vores vej igennem Bulgarien var fattigdom. Vi syntes at det er vildt at vi ikke skal langt fra Danmark inden der findes utrolig fattigdom. Et af stedrne vi så, var en hel landsby som var i forfald. Små intermistiske huse: Husene er lappet med plastik og gamle tagplader. Hele området omkring landsbyen var dækket i affald. plastik, papir, ting og sager lå overalt. Her kunne der gå heste, køer og gerder rundt. Alle dyrene så ud til at være på sulte grænsen. Et meget trist syn og fuldstændig umuligt at tænke at der bor mennesker sådan et sted. 
Da vi forlod stedet med den mærkelige ly, satte vi kursen mod Bulgariens hovedstad Sofia. Vi skulle over et lille pass og cyklede af en smuk vej der snoede sig op igennem en skov. Halvvejs oppe var der et udsigtspunkt ned over byen Bunovo. Her var et kæmpe mindesmærke for Vasil Levski, som har været en helt for Bulgariens befolkning. Han er også blevet kaldt Apostle of Freedom. Han dannede den revolutionære bevægelse, som var med til at befri Bulgarien fra Ottoman herskerne.
Selv Bulgariens anden største stadium i Sofia er opkaldt efter ham. Fra mindesmærket var der udsigt ned over byen Bunovo og den smukke tog viadukt som føre igennem Galabets tunnel. Hvis men køre med tog fra Sofia til Karlovo ville man køre over broen.
Alt imens vi stod og nød usigten og det dejlige vejr, var der et kæreste per som kom over for at snakke med os. Han hed Alexander og hun hed Sylvia. De var simpelthen så søde. Vi snakkede om udsigts punktet og de fortalte at det var et af deres ynglingssteder. Vi snakkede om vejret, som var super godt. De sagde at sidste år havde det været meget mere sne og frost og utroilt koldt. Det vejr der var nu, var slet ikke normalt. 
Alexander anbefalede endda hostel Mostel i Sofia til os. Han havde hørt fra flere at det var et fedt sted.
Inden vi fortsatte, tog vi billeder samen med dem og Sylvia kom med hjemmelavede småkager til os.
En dejlig oplevelse, som gav os ekstra energi så vi kom over toppen og susede ned igennem en smuk skov og nogle gode sving inden vi endte i landsbyen Dolno Kamartsi. Her satte vi os på det lille torv i byen med solen imod os i et busskur. Atter kunne vi nyde solens varme alt imens vi spiste vores frokost.Marianne havde ingen energi og var meget træt og hun synte ikke vi kom nogen steder. Det hjalp heller ikke meget at skiltene som viste mod Sofia var fuldstænding forkerte. Et sted stod der 50 km til Sofia, det næste viste 60 Kilometer og et andet 35 kilometer. Faktisk var det noget vi havde set flere steder i Bulgarien. Sådan lidt somom at dem der havde sat skiltene op havde drukket for meget vodka og tænkt: det går nok alt sammen.
Heidi gav mig læ, så jeg kunne spare på energien alt imens vi tog den ene kilometer efter den anden. Vi kunne virkelig se at folk var ude at nyde det gode vejr og vi mødte mange på cykel.
Vi nåede ind til Sofia, som er bulgariens største by med 1,2 millioner indbyggere. Selvom det er en storby, var det ikke slemt at finde ind til centrum og vi fandt vejen hvor Hostel Mostel skulle ligge. Det var så lidt svære at finde. Vi har bemærket at mange hotels ikke ligefrem slår deres skilte op stort, så tit må vi kigge meget minitaøst for at til sidst at finde steder og det var altså ikke anderledes med Hostel Mostel. Men vi fandt stedet og blev lukket ind af en dør, som førte ind i en stor baggård og ind til et virkeligt hyggeligt hostel.
Vi checkede ind på en sovesal, hvor der var plads til 8 personer og betalte 44 LEV pr. person, som var incl. lækker aftensmad og god morgenmad.
Sofia var helt sikkert en spændende by, men vi må tilstå at vi var ved at være mætte med oplevelser, så vi blev på stedet om aftenen, da vi ikke orkede at gå ud.
Da vi cyklede ud af Sofia næste dag, var vi spændte på om vi nåede til Serbien og hvad landet havde at byde på. Men der var stadig en del kilometer inden vi nåede til grænsen. 
Undervejs ud af byen så vi hvordan kvinder gik rundt og fejede gaderne, for at holde dem pæne og rene. Vi så hvordan skraldemænd knoklede. Her var ingen fancy skraldebiler, nej. hver skraldespand, stor som lille skulle løftes op og tømmes bag i lastbilen, altsammen med rå kropskraft. Den var ikke gået i Danmark.
Sikke en kontrast til hvad nomer er i de forskellige lande.
Indtil vi nåede byen Slivnitsa havde vejen og landskabet ikke været noget særligt. Vi valgte at cykle ind til byen af en lille vej der førte os forbi en gammel fabirk der var lukket og igennem den mindre pæne del af byen. Her så vi hvordan en mand gik og ledte efter brænde. Han havde bygget sig en lille vogn af nogle genbrugs ting, når han fandt et stykke træ der så godt nok ud, læssede han det på den lille vogn. Atter en oplevelse, som sætter sig på ens hukommelse. Uhyggeligt at tænke, at der findes mennesker der må gå ud og lede efter brænde hver dag for at kunne varme deres "hus" op. Når han havde fyldt den op, trak han vogen efter sig stille og roligt, men kurs mod hans hjem.
Vi så det hele, da vi måtte holde for at tisse og manden gik forbi os på hans vej hjem.
Efter Slivnitsa blev naturen helt anderledes. For det første skulle vi op i 750 meters højde og på vej opad rejste grantræerne på skråningerne på begge sider af vejen alt imens vi nød solens stråler. Vi kom til et sted, hvor der havde været en stor rasteplads for lastbiler. Her havde der været en kæmpe restaurant, men alt var lukke nu. Vi satte os foran stedet og snakkede om hvad vi havde oplevet i Bulgarien og snakkede om hvor heldige vi havde været med vejret. Hvor var vi taknemmelige for at vi ikke havde været her i vinteren 2017. Det havde været vildt med sneen og kulden. Imens vi sad der, havde vi selskab af en herreløs fredelig hund. Den lå og håbede på at vi ville give den noget at spise. Det gjorde vi ikke, da den ikke så ud til at lide nød.
Efter pausen fortsatte vi ned igennem en smuk slugt indtil vi nåede et skilt hvorpå der stod: Serbia 1 kilometer. Det skulle foreviges på et billede og derefter fortsatte vi til en tankstation 500 m længere fremme. Her brugte vi vores sidste Bulgarske penge. Da vi stod udenfor butikken, kunne vi høre musik fra en højtaler. Det sjove ved musikken var, at det var Pet Shop Boys der sang Go West. Meget a pro pro for vi cyklede stig vest.
Inden vi kryssede grænsen, sendte vi en mail til vores forældre og fortalte at vi nu kryssede grænsen til Serbien. Det var jo med at bruge vores data på vores bulgarske SIM kort. Når vi kryssede grænsen til Serbien, vidste vi ikke hvornår vi ville være online igen.
Det tog ingen tid at komme over grænserne. Selvom der var en lang kø, blev vi vinket frem i køen og kort tid efter cyklede vi ind i Serbien.
Vi handlede ind i en lille butik i Dimitovgrad og begyndte at kigge efter et sted at sove efter byen. Vi nåede til Zeljusa og fandt et skjul lidt fra vejen under nogle frugt marker. Godt nok gøede hundene fra alle verdens hjørner, men sådan har det jo været længe.
Mørket faldt på og nu var tiden den samme som i Danmark, så ingen tidsforskel mere. Det havde været 1 år og 2 måneder med en eller anden form for tidsforskel. Vi var i Serbien og havde nydt tiden i Bulgarien. Nu skulle vi opleve et land vi ikke havde været i før og det var vi spændte på. 

English

Friday, January 5, 2018 - January 7, 2018 (Update, April 12, 2018)

Moskovets - A field 65 km
A market - Sofia 70 km
Sofia - Zeljusa (Serbia) 71 km

How could we keep on having perfect weather? It was January and normal there would be a lot of snow and at least 10 minus degrees. When we were in Shipka, Tosha had told us that last winter they had a whole month where the temperature had not reached 0 and a lot of snow.
The night was cold and below 0 degrees, but during the day the sun got power and came up to 16-18 degrees and it was the same this day.
We rode off from our  hideout just after 9:00 and cycled against snowy mountains. We were aware that we were going to cycle a lot uphill today, but we were not aware of how high we were going to get. We had to take the day step by step.
We rode through several small villages, here people sat outside small cafes and enjoyed their coffee and the sun's rays. It was lively and nice to look at.
Another place, two men were cutting the branches of the trees along the road.
Then started the day's uphill. It went quietly upwards. The first part was not tough. After the first 6 km we found a nice place right in the sun and overlooking a small town. Here we sat and enjoyed our lunch with the sun right in the face. We sat for a long time before we had to take the last 5 kilometers uphill. Now it became more steep. The longer we got up, the more snow started to lay. We could figure out that the snow line had to be at 900 meters height, because here the mountain slopes were covered with snow.
It was so beautiful with green fir trees and the white snow.
The top of the pass was at an altitude of 1100 meters, and the snow lay heavily between the trees. We tried to make some nice pictures before we drove down from there. We also took a little more clothes on again, which was a good idea as the route down on the other side was in the shade and out of the sun. We also had to keep an eye on the road surface, as there could well be ice on the road where the sun had not hit.
When we were going to find a place to sleep this night, we found a piece of land where the grass was laid down a bit away from the road, we had a view over a valley and when we looked up to the mountains we could see a large factory that lay about 1 kilometer from where we were.
Marianne said: it is going to be quiet here tonight. We had a nice dinner and then enjoyed ourselves. Then it was bedtime and as we were falling asleep, the most strange whistling loud sound began. Wildly loud and only 50 meters from the tent. What was it??? We were completely quiet. I thought that there was a gas pipe that had broken and soon would explode. But what was it??? Should we pack up and search shelter somewhere else ???? Here we lay for aprox 30 minutes without actually doing anything. Maybe someone came from the factory, who knew something was wrong.
I had seen a well when we had looked for a place to set our tent and I was more or less sure that the sound came from there. But we did not dare go out and look. As soon as the sound had come just as suddenly it stopped, just with a whistling sound as if something disappeared through some tubes.
We looked at eachother and said it was a strange sound and then tried to get some sleep. The next morning we went over to the well and looked down into the well. There was nothing to see and we never got an explanation of what it had been. We could only agree that it had been a very mysterious sound. And we probably had not slept all too well because of it.
Some of what we saw on our way through Bulgaria was poverty. We thought it was crazy that so slose to Denmark there is incredible poverty. One of the places we saw was a whole village that was decaying. Small intermittent houses: The houses were patched with plastic and old roof tiles. The entire area around the village was covered in garbage. Plastic, paper and things lay everywhere. Here the horses, cows and goats was walking around in the garbage. All the animals seemed to be very skinny. A very sad sight and completely impossible to think that people live in such a place.
When we left the place with the strange sound, we headed for Bulgaria's capital Sofia. We crossed a small pass and cycled on a beautiful road that wound through a forest. Halfway up there was a viewpoint down over the city of Bunovo. Here was a huge memorial made in the honour of Vasil Levski, who has been a hero for the people of Bulgaria. He has also been called the Apostle of Freedom. He formed the revolutionary movement that helped liberate Bulgaria from the Ottoman rulers.
Even Bulgaria's second biggest stadium in Sofia is named after him. From the memorial there was a view over the city of Bunovo and the beautiful train viaduct that led through the Galabian tunnel. If you drive by train from Sofia to Karlovo you would drive over the bridge.
As we stood and enjoyed the sight and the lovely weather, there was a couple who came over to talk to us. His name was Alexander and her name was Sylvia. They were simply so sweet. We talked about the view point and they said it was one of their favorite places. We talked about the weather, which was super good. They said last year there had been a lot more snow and frost and unbelievably cold. The weather that was now was not normal at all.
Alexander even recommended Hostel Mostel in Sofia to us. He had heard from several that it was a cool place.
Before we continued, we took pictures with them and Sylvia brought homemade cookies to us.
A lovely experience that gave us extra energy so we came across the top and drove through a beautiful forest and some good turns before we ended up in the village of Dolno Kamartsi. Here we sat down on the small square in the village with the sun against us in a bus shed. Again, we could enjoy the sun's warmth while we ate our lunch. Marianne had no energy and were very tired and she did not feel we got anywhere. Nor did it help much that the signs that showed towards Sofia were completely wrong. Somewhere there were 50 km to Sofia, the next one showed 60 kilometers and another 35 kilometers. In fact, it was something we had seen in several places in Bulgaria. A bit  like that those who had put the signs up had drunk too much vodka and thought: What the hack!!!
Heidi covered me so I could save energy while we took one kilometer after the other. We could really see people were enjoying the good weather and we met many on a bikes.
We reached Sofia, which is the largest city in Bulgaria with 1.2 million inhabitants. Although it is a big city, it was not bad to get into the city center and we found the way where Hostel Mostel should lie. It was a little hard to find. We have noticed that many hotels do not really put their signs up big, so often we have to look very minitically to finally find places and Hostel Mostel was not different. But we found the place and were lead in by a door that led into a large backyard and into a really cozy hostel.
We checked into a dormitory where there was room for 8 people and paid 44 LEV per person incl. delicious dinner and good breakfast.
Sofia was definitely an exciting city, but we must confess that we were getting fed up with experiences so we stayed on the spot in the evening as we did not want go out.
As we cycled out of Sofia the next day, we were excited about reaching Serbia and what the country had to offer. But there were still some kilometers before reaching the border.
Along the way out of the city, we saw how women walked around sweeping the streets to keep them clean and tidy. We saw how the rubbish guys worked. Here were no fancy rubbish cars, no. every garbage bin, big and small, had to be lifted up and emptied into the back of a truck, all with raw body power. If this was in Denmark the people working would go on strike due to bad working envioment.
What a contrast to what norms are in other countries.
Until we reached the city of Slivnitsa, the road and landscape had not been anything special. We chose to cycle into the city by a small road that led us past an old factory that was closed and through the less nice part of the city. Here we saw how a man went and searched for firewood. He had built a small wagon of some recycled things. When he found a piece of wood he'd put it on the trolley. Again an experience that resembles one's memory. It's crazy to think that there are people who have to go out and look for fire every day to warm their "house" up. When he had filled it up, he pulled the cradle quietly when heading toward his home.
We saw it all when we had to stop to pee and the man walked past us on his way home.
After Slivnitsa nature became completely different. Firstly, we had to climb to 750 meters in height and on the way up there was pine trees on the slopes on both sides of the road while we enjoyed the sun's rays. We came to a place where there had been a big resting place for trucks. Here there had been a huge restaurant, but everything was closing now. We sat in front of the place and talked about what we had experienced in Bulgaria and talked about how lucky we had been with the weather. We were grateful that we had not been here in the winter of 2017. It had been wild with the snow and the cold. While we were there we had the company of a stray peaceful dog. It lay and hoped that we would give it something to eat. We did not do that, as it did not seem to suffer.
After the break, we continued through a beautiful gorge until we reached a sign which said: Serbia 1 kilometer. It had to be put on picture and then we proceeded to a gas station 500m further on. Here we used our last Bulgarian money. As we stood outside the store, we could hear music from a speaker. The fun of the music was that it was Pet Shop Boys who sang Go West. Very logical because we cycled direct west.
Before crossing the border, we sent an email to our parents and told them that we was about to crossed the border to Serbia. We had to take advantage of using our data on our Bulgarian SIM card. When we crossed the border with Serbia, we did not know when we would be online again.
It did not take a lot of time to cross the borders. Although there was a long queue, we were waved forward in line and shortly after we rode into Serbia.
We shoped into a small store in Dimitovgrad and began to look for a place to sleep after the town. We reached Zeljusa and found a place a little bit from the road under some fruit trees. Good enough, the dogs barked from all corners of the world, but it has been like that for a long time.
It got dark and now the time was the same as in Denmark, so no time difference. It had been 1 year and 2 months with some form of time difference. We were in Serbia and had enjoyed the time in Bulgaria. Now we should experience a country we had not been to before and we were excited about it.

Karnobat New Year and Bulgaria 2018

Søndag d. 31. december 2017 - 04. januar 2018                         (Update 10. april 2018)

Aytos - Karnobat 28 km
Karnobat - Bliznets 84 km
Bliznets - Shipka 69 km
Shipka pausedag
Shipka - Moskovets 64 km

Det havde regnet i løbet af natten, men da vi vågnede var det holdt og solen ramte vores telt. Da vi kiggede ud af teltet, forsvandt alt det negative fra dagen før. Himlen var blå og der var ikke en sky at se og til vores store forbavselse, havde vi udsigt ned over en lille sø.
Dagen før var endt i det rene vanvid og alt var negativt. Men nu så altsammen meget bedre ud i solskinnet og området vi havde sovet i var faktisk meget smukt.
Det var 2017 sidste dag og vi ville cykle til Karnobat for at fejre nytårs aften, en lille tur på 28 kilometer. Via booking.com havde vi set at der var et lille hotel. Turen til Karnobat bødt på smukt vejr, grønne marker, frugt plantager og bjerge. Nogen gange cyklede vi igennem alleér af træer, som stod flot langs med vejen og dagen blev en optur i forhold til igår.
Da vi kom til Karnobat fandt vi Hotel Elegant med det samme og fik et lille værelse med udsigt ned over et lille torv.  Alt udstyr var stadig vådt og trængte til at tørre. Så som det første blev det hængt op på værelset, så det kunne tørre. Her efter gik vi til byens lille købmand og handlede ind til aftensmad.
Der var ikke det store udvalg, men vi havde heller ikke brug for meget mere end noget brød, pålæg, øl og en flaske vin. Så var vi klar til Nytår ano 2017.
Tilbage på værelset fik vi kaffe og snacks alt imens vi sad og snakkede om alt vi have oplevet i 2017. Det havde været et vildt spændende år, med meget mere end vi kunne have ønsket os af oplevelser og alle de søde mennesker vi havde mødt. Når vi tænkte tilbage på starten af turen, hvor vi tænkte på hvad vi ville komme til at opleve, ja så havde vi aldrig troet at det ville blive så utroligt. Hvor var vi heldige at vores arbejde ville gå med til at give os frihed i 1 1/2 år. Det var vi meget taknemmelige for.
Et fantastisk år var ved at slutte og nu var vi spændte på hvad 2018 ville byde på, med nyt hus, hjemkomst og de sidste lande vi skulle cykle igennem.
Da dronningen skulle holde nytårs talen, sad vi klar foran computeren. Det er jo en del af nytår når man er dansk. Efter talen spiste vi vores brød og pålæg. Vinen var en lokal vin og hed Cycle. Som skulle vise sig at være fra en kæmpe stor vingård, der lå  lige udenfor Karnobat (Minkov Brothers). Det så vi næste dag da vi cyklede ud af byen.
Ellers fik vi ringet til Heidi´s bror som havde fødselsdag og vi skypede med nogle venner. Vi var spændte på hvad der ville ske når klokken blev 24:00.
Ville der være kæmpe fyrværkeri eller ville ingenting ske??? Det blev det første - Fyrværkeri. Ikke i helt samme skala som vi kendte det fra Danmark, men der blev fyret raketter af og andet krudt. det der næsten var vildest, var at fuglene fløj forvildet rundt, da de nok troede at der var nogen der ville skyde dem.
Husk på vi har ikke så mange fugle i Danmark omkring nytår. Vi stod ude på terassen og så fyrværkeriet og måtte dukke os et par gange for at undvige fugle på flugt.
Vi ønskede hinanden godt nytår og omkring 00:30 var vores nytårs fest færdig. Vi havde hygget os og så frem til endnu en dag på cyklen næste dag.
Det gode vejrfænomen fortsatte næste dag. Rundt i Karnobats gader var der en del folk der var igang med at feje og rydde op efter nytårsaften ellers skete der ikke noget og byen virkede sovende ovenpå nytåret.
Vi cyklede igennem et dejligt kuperet landskab, hvor der var høje bjerge til den ene side og flade marker så langt øjet kunne se til den anden side. Vi havde vejen for os selv det meste af formiddagen. Tror det var fordi folk skulle ovenpå efter nytårsaften. I de Byer vi kom igennem var alt lukket. Det eneste der var åbent var tankstationer og dem benyttede vi os af et par gange på dagens rute.
Frokost kunne vi nyde i fuld sol og med temperature op imod 18 grader. Naturen blev mere og mere smuk, jo længere vi kom ind i landet. Vi snakkede om hvor smukt det måtte være om sommeren. Store vinmarker i fuld flor og frugtplantagerne med tonsvis af frugt. Men selv på denne årstid er har utroligt smukt og da vi havde taget dagens sidste stigning på 4 kilometer, fandt vi en mark lidt fra vejen, hvor vi slog teltet op og det blev et af de flotte steder vi har camperet på vores tur. Bløde brune bjerge, som fik forskellige nuancer alt efter hvordan solen stod på himlen. Ikke nok med det, så fik vi fuldmåne og kunne tage nogle fine billeder efter mørkets frembrud.
Hvor var det tåget, da vi kiggede ud fra teltet næste dag. Bjergene var hyllet ind i tågen og kulden var kommet tilbage. Det så endda ud til vi skulle have regn. Sådan var det på den første del af dagen, men faktisk endte det med at solen brændte igennem tågen og så var vi tilbage på 11-12 grader.
Vi havde haft en plan der hed, at vi skulle cykle til Kazanlak og bo ved nogen privat via Warmshowers og så cykle til Shipka næste dag. Men fra Kazanlak til Shipka var der kun 11 kilometer og vi syntes det ville være fjollet at bruge en hel cykeldag på kun 11 kilometer. Så planen blev ændret til at cykle helt til Shipka.
Vi skulle lidt nord for Kazanlak for at komme til Shipka. Men for os betød det ingenting. Vi havde været i Shipka i 2009, da vi cyklede til Nepal og det var fra den tur vi kendte til Shipka. Siden dengang har vi tit snakket om IT hotel (Ivan og Tosha)og Shipka i det hele taget. Vi troet ikke at vi ville komme tilbage, selvom at stedet havde gjort stort indtryk på os. Men nu befandt vi os på vej mod Shipka.
Vi kunne se Buzludzha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzludzha, som ligger på toppen af Shipka passet i Balkan bjergene. Et majestætisk syn og nøjaktig som vi huskede det fra 2009.
Langt inden vi nåede Shipka, kunne vi også se den smukke gyldne kirke, hvis tag stikker op imellem grantræerne der ligger rundt om kirken.
Det var mærkeligt at cykle ind i byen og direkte op til hotellet. Åbne døren og høre den samme klokke ringe som i 2009. Der kig kun kort tid, så stod Tosha foran os og hun genkendte os med det samme, det samme kunne Ivan og de spurgte med det samme om vi havde vores trailer bag efter cyklerne.
Det var faktisk lidt som at komme hjem. Alt så ud som da vi havde været der i 2009. Selv da solen gik ned fik vi den smukkeste sunset, som vi også huskede fra 2009.
Hvad vi også havde set frem til var Tosha´s shopska salat. Vi havde faktisk skrevet til Tosha og Ivan da vi var kommet hjem i 2010 og fortalt dem at vi var kommet godt til Nepal og godt hjem igen. Vi havde bare aldrig fået svar tilbage og det var der en forklaring på. Deres system var brudt sammen på det tidspunkt og alle mails de havde modtaget var forsvundet. Så derfor havde de aldrig fået svaret på vores mail.
Tosha og Ivan blev meget glade da vi fortalte at de var blevet nævnt i bogen vi havde skrevet om turen til Nepal. Jeg kunne endda vise dem deres billede i bogen, da jeg kunne locke på hjemmesiden, hvor kopien af bogen ligger.
Når vi sad i den lille restaurant, hyggede Tosha om os og som i 2009, var morgenmaden lige så lækker som dengang og der manglede ikke noget.
Vi blev i Shipka næste dag, for vi ville op til den Gyldne Kirke https://followthesisters.com/russian-church-shipka/ og kigge os lidt omkring i Shipka. Byen lignede sig selv, det så bare ud til at der var kommet flere overnatnings muligheder.
Den gyldne kirke blev også et dejligt gensyn. Den lyserøde og hvide farve kirken er malet i og guld kublerne i kontrast til den blå himmel var så smukt, for ikke at snakke om kirken indvendig, som også fremstod smukt men massevis af vægmalerier og altsammen så flot vedligeholdt.
Under kirken er der en krypt, hvor der siges at ligge restene af 9000 døde, der døde i kampen om at befri Bulgarien.
Jeg må tilstå, at Shipka står som et af mine ynglingssteder i Europa. Ivan og Tosha med deres hyggelige hotel og alt det historiske der er at se i området. Så er dette sted et unica.
Tilbage på hotellet, tog vi en tur i dampbad og blev fuldstænding renset og afslappet. Aftensmad havde vi bestilt til klokken19 og slevfølgelig var shopska salat en del af menuen.
Nu havde vi længe glemt om den første dumme cykeldag i Bulgarien. Opholdet i Shipka overlyste alt, nu var det bare svært at sige farvel til Ivan og Tosha, men mon ikke vi kunne finde på at tage dertil igen engang.
Morgen lyset havde været magisk ned over dalen, da vi stod op. Et tyg lag tåge lå som en dyne og lignede lidt bjerge med sne. tågen var lettet da vi vinkede farvel til Ivan og Tosha. Vi forlod Shipka af en lille grusvej syd på mod vej 6. Denne vej kunne vi følge i 17 kilometer inden vi var tilbage på den lidt mere trafikerede vej. Vi stoppede flere gange for at kigge tilbage mod Shipka, Den gyldne kirke og Buzludzha. 
Vi havde 8 uger tilbage af vores rejse og mere end 2000 km inden vi ville nå vores mål. Selvom at 8 uger ikke virker som lang tid, så var det bestemt lang tid for Heidi, som virkelig savnede familien denne dag. Det kan ikke undgåes, men så var det godt vi kunne støtte os til hinanden, når sådanne dage dukkede op.
Vi cyklede langs med bjergene, som tårnede sig op ved siden af os. Skyerne hang tungt over bjergene og vi kunne skimte store kløfter og flotte grønne grantræer på de lavtliggende bjergskråninger. Til tider skulle vi cykle opad som blev fulgt af en dejlig tur nedaf i høj hastighed. 
I byen Karlovo handlede vi ind til aftensmad i et stort supermarked. Vi tiltrækker opmærksomhed og folk tænker nok hvad vi er for nogen. 
Efter Karlovo begyndte vi at kigge efter et sted at kunne slå lejr. Det var ikke så let, da den ene lille by afløste den anden. Men vi fandt et sted efter noget tid. Cirka 2 kilometer efter en by, var der en masse grantræer, hvor et spor ledte ind bagved. Her fandt vi frem til et skjul under nogle egetræer og med udsigt til bjergene. Det vi ikke var klar over var at det var lige ved siden af en militærbase. Men det så vi næste dag, da vi cyklede fra vores skjulested.

English

Sunday, December 31, 2017 - January 4, 2018                     (Update 10th april 2018)

Aytos - Karnobat  28 km
Karnobat - Bliznets 84 km
Bliznets - Shipka 69 km
Shipka restday
Shipka - Moskovets 64 km

It had rained during the night, but when we woke up it had stopped and the sun hit our tent. As we looked out of the tent, all the negative disappeared from the day before. The sky was blue and there was no cloud to see and to our great astonishment, we had a view over a small lake.
The day before ended in pure madness and everything was negative. But now everything looked much better in the sunshine and the area we had slept in was actually very beautiful.
It was the last day of 2017 and we would cycle to Karnobat to celebrate New Year's Eve, a 28 km trip. Via booking.com we had seen that there was a small hotel. The trip to Karnobat gave us beautiful weather, green fields, fruit plantations and mountains. Sometimes we cycled through a passage of trees, which stood  nicely along the road and the day became totally different compared to yesterday.
When we arrived at Karnobat we found Hotel Elegant right away and got a nice room overlooking a small square. All equipment was still wet and needed to dry. So at first it was hung up in the room so it could dry. Hereafter we went to the town's small grocery store and shopped food for dinner.
There was not a big selection, but we did not need much more than some bread, cold cuts, beer and a bottle of wine. Then we were ready for New Year's Ano 2017.
Back in the room, we had coffee and snacks as we sat and talked about everything we had experienced in 2017. It had been a wildly exciting year, with much more than we could have wanted to experience and all the nice and helpkull people we had met. When we thought about the start of the trip, we thought about what we were going to experience, yes, we would never have thought it would be so incredible. We were lucky that our work would give us 1 1/2 year of freedom which we were very grateful for.
An amazing year was about to end and now we were excited about what 2018 would offer, with a new house, homecoming and the last countries we would cycle through.
When the queen was holding the New Year's speech, we sat in front of the computer. It's a part of New Year when you are Danish. After the speech we ate our bread and toppings. The wine was a local wine and called Cycle. Which would turn out to be from a huge large vineyard that lay just outside Karnobat (Minkov Brothers). We saw that the next day as we cycled out of town.
Otherwise, we called Heidi's brother to wish him happy birthday and we skyped with some friends. We were excited about what would happen at 24:00.
Would there be a huge fireworks or would nothing happen ??? It became the first - fireworks. Not quite the same scale as we knew it from Denmark, but rockets and other fireworks were fired. What was quite wild was that the birds flew wildly as they thought that someone would shoot them.
Keep in mind we do not have so many birds in Denmark around New Year. We stood on the terrace and saw the fireworks and had to dug a couple of times to avoid birds on the run.
We wished each other happy new year and around 00:30 our New Year's party was finished. We had have a fun night and looked forward to another day on the bike the next day.
The good weather phenomenon continued the next day. Around the streets of Karnobat there were a lot of people who were sweeping and cleaning up after New Year's Eve otherwise nothing happened and the town seemed sleepy after New Year.
We rode through a beautiful hilly landscape, where there were high mountains on one side and flat fields as far as the eye could see to the other side. We had the way to ourselves most of the morning. Think it was because people were resting after New Year's Eve. In the towns we came through everything was closed. The only thing that was open was gas stations and we used them a couple of times on today's route.
Lunch we could enjoy in full sun and with temperatures up to 18 degrees. Nature became more and more beautiful, the longer we entered the country. We talked about how beautiful it may be in the summer. Large vineyards in full bloom and orchards with tons of fruit. But even in this season it was incredibly beautiful and when we had taken the last 4 km of the day, we found a field a little bit from the road where we pictched up the tent and it became one of the great places we have camped on our trip. Soft brown mountains, which got different shades depending on how the sun stood in the sky. We even got full moon and could take some nice pictures after dark.
The fog was heavy when we looked out of the tent the next day. The mountains were hidden in the fog and the cold had come back. It even seemed like we should have rain. This was the first part of the day, but it actually ended with the sun burning through the fog and then we were back at 11-12 degrees.
We had a plan that we should ride to Kazanlak and stay at someone privately via Warmshowers and then bike to Shipka the next day. But from Kazanlak to Shipka there were only 11 kilometers and we thought it would be silly to spend a whole bike day of only 11 kilometers. So the plan was changed to cycling all the way to Shipka.
We were going north of Kazanlak to get to Shipka. But for us it meant nothing. We had been in Shipka in 2009 when we rode to Nepal and it was from that trip we knew about Shipka. Since then, we have often talked about the IT hotel (Ivan and Tosha) and Shipka a lot. We did not think we would come back, even though the place had made a great impression on us. But now we found ourselves on the way to Shipka.
We could see Buzludzha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzludzha which is located on top of the Shipka Pass in the Balkan Mountains. A majestic sight and accurate as we remembered it from 2009.
Long before we reached Shipka, we could also see the beautiful golden church whose roof protrudes between the fir trees surrounding the church.
It was so strange to ride into town and directly up to the hotel. Open the door and hear the same bell ring as in 2009. Just waiting for a short while, Tosha stood in front of us, and she immediately recognized us, Ivan aswell and they immediately asked if we had our trailer behind the bikes.
In fact, it was a bit like coming home. Everything looked the same like in 2009. Even when the sun went down we had the most beautiful sunset, which we also remembered from 2009.
What we had also looked forward to was Tosha's shopska salad. We had actually written to Tosha and Ivan when we returned home in 2010 and told them we had come to Nepal and arrived at home again. We just never got a mail back and there was an explanation. Their system broke down at that time and all the mails they had received had disappeared. So, therefore, they had never been able to answer our mail.
Tosha and Ivan became very happy when we told them they had been mentioned in the book we had written about the trip to Nepal. I could even show them their picture in the book as I could lock on the website where the copy of the book was.
When we sat in the little restaurant, Tosha took care of us just like in 2009, the breakfast was as delicious as then and nothing was missing..
We stayed in Shipka the next day, because we wanted to visit the Golden Church https://followthesisters.com/russian-church-shipka/ and look around in Shipka. The town had not changed. Still laid back and a bit sleepy..
The Golden Church was also a nice to relive. The pink and white color  thechurch is painted in and the gold cubes in contrast to the blue sky were so beautiful, not to mention the church inside, which also appeared beautifully and lots of murals and all so well maintained.
Below the church there is a crypt where it is said that the remains of 9000 dead people lies. They died in the struggle to liberate Bulgaria.
I must confess that Shipka is one of my favorite places in Europe. Ivan and Tosha with their cozy hotel and all the historic things to see in the area. Makes this place an unica.
Back at the hotel, we took a steam bath and were completely cleaned and relaxed. Dinner we had ordered at 19:00 and of course, Shopska salad was part of the menu.
Now we had long forgotten about the first stupid bike day in Bulgaria. The stay at Shipka had been so nice, now it was hard to say goodbye to Ivan and Tosha, but who knows, we could go back there again someday.
The morning light had been magically over the valley when we got up. A fabric layer of fog lay like a duvet and looked like mountains with snow. The fog was gone when we waved goodbye to Ivan and Tosha. We left Shipka off a small gravel road south towards road 6. This road we could follow for 17 kilometers before we reached the slightly more busy road. We stopped several times to look back at Shipka, Golden Church and Buzludzha.
We had 8 weeks left of our journey and more than 2000km before we reached our destination. Although 8 weeks did not seem like a long time, it was certainly a long time for Heidi, who really missed the family this day. It can not be avoided, but then it was good we could support each other when those days appeared.
We rode along the mountains, which stood up next to us. The clouds hung heavily over the mountains and we could see great gorges and beautiful green fir trees on the low-lying mountain slopes. At times, we had to ride upwards followed by a nice trip downhill at high speed.
In the town of Karlovo we went to a big supermarket to shop for our dinner. We attracted attention and people must have thourght what we were doing on our bikes at this time of year..
After Karlovo, we began to look for a place to set camp. It was not that easy when one small town replaced the other. But we found somewhere after some time. About 2 kilometers after a town, there were a lot of fir trees where a trail led in behind. Here we found a hide under some oaks and had a nice view to the mountains. What we did not realize was that it was right next to a military base. But we saw it the next day as we cycled from our hideaway.

The worst day !!!

Lørdag d. 30. december 2017                                           (Update d. 09. april 2018)

Burgas til Aytos 41 km

Da dagen startede lørdag d. 30. december, var det ikke fordi vi regnede med at lige denne dag skulle gå hen og blive den værste på hele turen.
Vi havde sovet helt fint på det lille hostel og da vores værelses kammerat stadig sov da vi stod op, forsøgte vi at være så stille som muligt og listede ud af hostellet.
Vi gik i Billa og købte morgenmad og satte os udenfor butikken for at spise. Der var en kaffe automat lige ved siden af butikken, hvor vi købte to kopper kaffe. Uden kaffe kunne vi sandelig ikke starte dagen.
Så langt så godt.
Da vi cyklede afsted var det begyndt at regne og vi havde 5 grader. Det var let at finde ud af Burgas. Men fordi det regnede og blæste, gik der ikke ret lang tid inden vi var gennemblødte. Så det blev til et par busskurs pauser.
Den ene gang var det i et busskur sammen med to ludere. En blond pige og en mørkhårdet pige. Hvordan kunne vi se det. For det første havde de ikke ret meget tøj på i forhold til hvordan vejret var og for det andet, kom der en bil imens vi stod der og begge piger gik hen til bilen, men manden i bilen pegede på den ene af dem og kørte afsted med den mørkhåret pige.
Det var ikke en særlig inspirerende vej vi cyklede på. Men det var nok også fordi det var gråt og koldt. Alt ser bare meget bedre ud i solskin.
Vi cyklede nord vest af vej 6 og ville gerne have nået til Karnobat. Men vi nåede aldrig så langt. Da vi havde cyklet 28 kilometer, holdt vi en pause ved en restaurant. Her var et halvtag, hvor vi kunne sidde i ly for regnen og vinden. Vi købte en kop kaffe og håbede på at det kunne varme os op. Men tvært imod, blev vi så afkølet at vi begyndte at ryste af kulde og fordi vi var helt nedkølet.
Marianne tjekkede om der skulle være en tankstation i nærheden. det var der 1,5 km længere fremme. Så vi satte os på cyklerne igen, for at cykle derhen og håbede på at der var mulighed for at sidde indenfor og varme os. Bare på de 1,5 kilometer var det lige før vi begyndte at hyperventilerer, fordi vi var så nedkølet. Så vi blev virkelig glade da vi så tanken og kom indenfor.
Det blev statren på en dejlig time, hvor vi drak te og fik noget at spise. Vi kunne godt regne ud at nå til Kanobat, som lå 28 kilometer fra Aytos ville ikke være muligt. I det kolde og våde vejr og fordi vores tøj ikke kunne tørre på en time. Vores plan blev, at vi ville cykle 7 kilometer. Her lå et overnatningssted. Marianne havde ringet til dem og forsikret sig at de havde åbent. På vej til stedet kunne vi lave et pitstop ved et super marked og handle ind til noget aftensmad. God plan tænkte vi. Vi nåede supermarkedet og fik handlet. Fortsatte ud af byen, da stedet skulle ligge 3 kilometer derfra. Marianne holdt øje med kilometerne og kunne ikke forstå at vi ikke nåede til den vej der skulle føre os ned til overnatningsstedet.
Nu tjekkede vi maps. me og fandt ud af at vi var cyklet forkert. Vi måtte vende om og cykle tilbage til byen, her var en vej vi skulle dreje ned af og derved komme på rette spor igen. Vi fulgte maps. me for at være sikker på at vi kom den rette vej.
Men ak nej. Det endte helt galt, efter vi var drejet ned af en vej, som maps.me ledte os af, endte vi på en skov vej der gik over i at blive et stort mudder bad. Ikke nok med det, så endte vejen i ingenting og da Marianne gik et skridt frem, var det lige ned i et mudderhul og nu havde hun mudder op til midten af underbenet.
Vi var mildest talt fuldstændig forvirret og opgivende. Hvor var stedet henne. Når vi kiggede på maps.me så det ud til det skulle være 300 meter fra hvor vi stod, men her var ingenting andet end mudder, nogle grantræer og ingen vej.
Heidi gav hendes cykel et kæmpe skub, så den næsten faldt ned af en en skråning og råbte: Nu gider jeg ikke mere.....hvad fanden er det her for noget!! Jeg råbet noget i samme retning og gav fuldstændig op.
Nu kunne cykeltur være cykeltur....hvordan skulle vi finde stedet, når det ikke var her????
Vi besindede os lidt og blev så eninge om at vende om, men hvordan kunne vi finde stedet??? Vi skulle finde stedet, da det var det eneste overnatning der var i Aytos.
Da vi var kommet et stykke tilbage af skovvejen, kom vi til at kigge til siden. Vi befandt os ved en skov, hvor vi kunne se vi kunne få ly for regnen under træerne, hvis vi satte vores telt op.
I vores jagt på at finde stedet, havde vi ikke bemærket at det også var ved at blive mørkt. Så vi havde ikke noget valg andet end at sætte teltet op under træerne. Så det gjorde vi.
Vi fik tørt tøj på og efter en times tid kunne vi varme os i vores soveposer og det lykkedes at få det gode humør tilbage. 
En ting vi blev enige om, var at dette havde været den værste dag på hele turen og vi håbede ikke der ville komme flere af den slags. Nu måtte vi se fremad næste dag og finde vores positive sind frem igen.

Saturday, December 30, 2017                                                         (Update 09. april 2018)

Burgas to Aytos 41 km

When the day started on Saturday, December 30th, it was not because we thought that this day would  be the worst on the whole trip.
We had slept quite nice in the little hostel and as our room mate still was sleeping when we got up we tried to be as quiet as possible and snug out of the hostel.
We went to Billa and bought breakfast and sat outside the store to eat. There was a coffee machine right next to the store where we bought two cups of coffee. Without coffee, we could not start the day.
So far so good.
When we set off it started to rain and we had 5 degrees. It was easy to find our way out  of Burgas. But because it rained and it was windy, it did not takelong before we were soaked. So we held a couple of bus shed breaks.
Once it was in a bus shed together with two prostitutes. A blond girl and a dark hair girl. How could we see it? First of all, they did not have a lot of clothes on in relation to what the weather was like and secondly, a car pulled up beside the shed while we were there and both girls went to the car, but the man in the car pointed at one of them and drove off with the dark-haired girl.
It was not a very inspiring road we were cycling on. But that's probably because it was rainy and cold. Everything just looks much better in sunshine.
We rode north west of road 6 and would have liked to reach Karnobat. But we never reached that far. When we had cycled 28 kilometers, we stopped at a restaurant. Here was a half-roof where we could sit in shelter of the rain and the wind. We bought a cup of coffee and hoped it could heat us up. But on the contrary, we were so cooled down that we started shaking because we were completely chilled.
Marianne checked if there should be a gas station nearby. luckily therre was one 1.5 km further ahead. So we jumped on the bikes again, to ride there and hoped that there was a chance to sit inside and warm up. On this 1.5 kilometers we nearly began to hyperventilate because we were so cooled. So we were really happy when we saw the gas station and came inside.
It became the start of a lovely hour where we drank tea and got something to eat. It would not possible to reach Kanobat, which was 28 kilometers from Aytos. In the cold and wet weather and because our clothes could not dry in an hour. Our plan was that we would cycle 7 kilometers. Here was a place to sleep. Marianne had called them and assured that they were open. On our way to the place we could make a pit stop at a super market and shop for some dinner. So far so good. We reached the supermarket and shopped. Continued out of town, as the guesthouse should be 3 kilometers away. Marianne watched the kilometer and could not understand that we did not reach the road that would lead us down to the accommodation.
Now we checked the maps. me and found out we were wrong. We had to turn around and ride back to town, here was a road we had to turn down and get back on track. We followed maps. me to make sure we got the right path.
But oh no. It ended up quite wrong after we turned down the road that maps.me led us to, we ended up on a forest road that turned into becoming a big mud bath. Not even that, the road ended in nothing and when Marianne went one step it was right down in a mud hole and now she had mud up to the middle of the lower leg.
We were mildly totally confused and angry. Where was that place? When we looked at maps.me it seemed to be 300 meters from where we where but here was nothing but mud, some fir trees and no road.
Heidi gave her bike a huge push, so it almost fell down a slope and shouted: Now I'm giving up I dont not want to continue ..... what the hell is this !! I shouted something like she and gave up completely.
Now the bike ride could be bike ride .... how should we find the place when it was not here ????
We reminded us a little and then agreed to turn around, but how could we find the place ???
When we got back to the forest road, we looked to the side. We found ourselves in a forest where we could see we could have shelter from the rain under the trees if we set our tent up.
In our quest to find the place, we had not noticed that it was also getting dark. So we had no choice but to put the tent under the trees. So we did.
We got dry clothes on and after an hour we could warm ourselves in our sleeping bags and managed to get the good mood back.
One thing we agreed was that this had been the worst day of the whole trip and we did not hope to have more of the kind on the trip. We had to look forward and find our positive mind again.