I awoke in my hospital bed refreshed and ready for the new day. I packed up, and managed to be on the road by 8:30. Everyone keeps telling me to be safe, and where am I more safe than the abandoned 5th floor of a working hospital?
The path today was clearly not all down, but despite appearances I lost elevation. Mountain roads also follow the contours, making everything climbable, leaving me a lot more confident than the other day where I kept having to walk!
Traded notes today with a German couple I met going the other way. They started in April, and hope to be done by October. Americans measure their vacations in days. Europeans normally measure vacation in weeks, although Europeans cyclists measure their cycle tour in months. No comparison with the Aussies tho, who tend to measure in years. I once met a couple from Australia who were on year seven.
Camped at what can best be described as a lousy campground on the Black Sea. Since my expectations were more in-line with the 5 star camping from Costa Brava in Spain, the campground is especially disappointing. Given the forecast for tomorrow (rain) even moreso. However, this spot is within a few km of two castles and a historical dig (all in different directions of course).
Tomorrow’s plan includes an early and unloaded start, and visit the local points of interest before checkout time at 1 pm. That plan also means I hopefully find out exactly what type of rain before I pack up and depart. The forecast is 60% rain, with likelihood spread out across the day. Scattered showers I will likely cycle through. A steady rain will cause me to stay put!
The spacing of everything in Bulgaria leads me to believe I’m likely to get caught in the rain with no shelter. One minus to the less developed countries is the limited number of bus stops. Bus stops make great temporary rain shelters, and are spaced at frequent intervals, so at the leading edge of the storm you can race to the next bus stop, and have 2nd (or 3rd) lunch while you wait out the storm.
This beetle was an iridescent purple, but trying hard not to be photographed:
