Left early-ish. Roads were mostly very good and the countryside wasn’t too hilly. Had a bit of a tail wind and did more than 30kph easily at times. Using the road I was riding on from Pleven wasn’t permitted for either cyclists nor horse-drawn carriages. But not even the police seemed to care when I rode past. Traffic was OK. Temperatures peaked at over 40°C (in the sun) again.
At Byala I retreated to smaller roads with less traffic (and lower quality at times). There’s a ‘lateroman’ fortress called ‘Kovachevsko Kale’ near the road, of which only (restored) foundations are visible.
I’m now in Popovo, about 160km from Varna, a sleepy town of about 15000 inhabitants.
Music in Bulgaria (the contemporary pop I’ve heard so far) has a Turkish/Near East-ish touch to it.
I’ve been asked why I do this trip.
Why do I do trips like this one in general? Because I’m interested in other cultures, other countries, other people. Because I want to see how people live in non-western societies. Because I’m curious. Because I can. ;)
Why do I do this trip? Because I want to see the Georgian and Armenian medieval towers and churches.
Cycled: 148km
