Black Sea Blizzard

"...The man turns out to be a journalist. He's meeting all the local journalists here at the hotel for a daily meeting. He asks us if we would do an interview for the Bulgarian Television. We accept after meeting the woman representing the broadcasting company. We pose with our bikes in front of the camera. The reporter asks a few standard questions. It's all over in a few minutes, but I get to wish the Bulgarian people a merry Christmas and a happy new year..."

Bulgaria. We have the worst weather in a long time. The Black Sea Coast would be very pleasant in the summer.

"...The town is very small. We stop on the little square in the center. There are no hotels and we're not into camping. People (men) are curious about the three strangers. One man speaks fluent german. He tells Henk that he will check if there is a house where we can stay. While we wait we get invited to the tea house.."

Turkey (European part). The hospitality is great. I love the food and the people. This is an excellent country to travel in.

December 4 1998 - Bulgarian Television

(Silistra 3080 km)
In Bulgaria the language trouble is greater than before. Not even the body language is the same here. When i ask for Coca Cola in a cafe, the waitress says "Ne" as nods her head. She nods, but she doesn't give me a drink. This is confusing. I try again. -One Coca Cola, please. -NE! She relies with a nod again. I ask for a pepsi, and she hands one over straight away. I then remember that nodding and shaking ones head, has the opposite meaning here.

Not many people speak english, so I'm happy to chat away with a man that does. He comes up to me while Geoff is checking out a hotel. The man gets excited when I say I'm from Sweden. He starts showing off his knowledge of Swedish writers. Some Astrid Lindgren titles come out as "Kalson Patrake", "Emilli Lobrega", and "Pippi Langstropp".

The man turns out to be a journalist. He's meeting all the local journalists here at the hotel for a daily meeting. He asks us if we would do an interview for the Bulgarian Television. We accept after meeting the woman representing the broadcasting company. We pose with our bikes in front of the camera. The reporter asks a few standard questions. It's all over in a few minutes, but I get to wish the Bulgarian people a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

The Sweden loving journalist shows us how to get to the youth hostel. An old couple runs the hostel. We are the only guests. The man invites us to drink wine and watch television in the lobby.

December 5-6 - To Varna

(Varna 3230 km)
We cycle to Varna in two easy days. The road crosses a small and low mountain range. The only motel is closed for the season but we manage to persuade a woman to open it up for us. Before Varna we come down to the lowlands again. We have to ride on the motorway the last part. Even the police tell us to do it!

December 7 - The Beach

(Varna)
Varna is a nice, laid back place right on the Black Sea coast. There is even a beach in the city center. It's totally off season, but one can imagine how it must be like in the summer. I was here when I was six years old, but I can't find anything I remember. The beach looks familiar, but I think we stayed further north back then.

There is a tap with hot mineral water by the beach. A few people fill bottles to take home. A man walks up to tell us about the water. He works at the pumping station. His english is good. The water comes from a river that flows four thousand meters below Varna. He invites us to have a look at the pump house.

December 8 - A Weather Surprise

(Nesebar 3330 km)
The weather looks good but cold when we leave Varna. It changes to light snowfall within an hour. Higher up in the hills the snowfall gets heavy and it's getting very windy. The road is soon covered in snow. It's slippery but fun. This must be a shock for the people here. There is almost no traffic on the highway. We stop for lunch in Obzor. A man there tells us that this weather i extremely rare. The road starts to climb after the stop. There is no road right on the coast here. We have to climb across a small mountain range. The weather gets worse higher up. We see a few cars. None of them have snow chains or winter tires. They get stuck when the road is too steep.

The pass is higher than we anticipate. It gets dark as we reach the top. Now it's all downhill. I cannot ride faster than 20 km/h because of the slippery road conditions. Further down there is a cue of trucks and cars. They seem to slip easier than me. The row of cars is slowly making it through the last switchbacks, and I overtake them all. At the bottom of the hill there is a road block. No vehicles are allowed up the mountain in this weather.

Geoff and I make it to the old town of Nesebar just in time for dinner.

December 9 - Bambi on Ice

(Burgas 3366 km)
It's a strange feeling to walk around this empty tourist town. There are bars, restaurants, and souvenir shops with signs in English and German everywhere, but everything is closed. It must be so different in the season.

We head off after a good breakfast. It's still very windy. The packed snow on the road has now become ice. This could be dangerous. The wind comes from the right and pushes us out into the road. The road surface hasn't got the friction enough to push back. I almost fall off a few times. When I cycle on the shoulder I get stuck in deep snow. I get my second puncture when I reach Burgas.

This is where we are supposed to meet Henk, a cyclist from The Netherlands. He's come here through Belgium, France, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, and Romania. We've had e-mail contact with him along the way.

We meet Henk at Hotel Bulgaria and go out for dinner together.

December 10 - More Company

(Malko Tarnovo 3443 km)
Henk comes over to Geoff's and my accommodation in a private home. We eat breakfast together before we leave Burgas. The weather is fine again. Now wind, blue sky, but cold. The road we take toward the Turkish border is covered in packed snow from the storm. It's beautiful but slippery. Henk later falls off two times.

We end up staying in a fancy motel in the forest near the border. We bargain the price down to six dollars each.

December 11 - Tea in Turkey

(Kirklareli 3080 km)
It's not far to the border, but it's steep. The weather is warmer and the snow on the road is melting. It's hard work getting anywhere. After an hour we reach the Bulgarian Border Post. A woman in uniform comes out and laughs at us. A man with different uniform asks if we have any guns. We get our stamps and go. The Turkish immigration and customs offices are right on the pass. The snow is deep up here, and they haven't cleared it all yet. We have no problems here either. We're now in Turkey!

We stop in the first village to get a feel for this new country. We have no Turkish money, but as soon as we stop we get invited for chai (tea), by the men in the street.

In Kirklareli we check in at Otel Istanbul. I really enjoy being in Turkey. It's a real change in culture from Eastern Europe.

Now i need money. I get 150 million lira from the ATM. I spend two million the first night. There are so many nice things to eat here.

1 US dollar is 301 000 Turkish Lira at the time, and rising.

December 12-13 - Invited by the Mayor

(Ihsaniye 3638 km)
We cycle to Saray on the twelfth and to Ihshaniye on the thirteenth. The town is very small. We stop on the little square in the center. There are no hotels and we're not into camping. People (men) are curious about the three strangers. One man speaks fluent german. He tells Henk that he will check if there is a house where we can stay. While we wait we get invited to the tea house. Our friend points out a well dressed man that just arrives. -It's the mayor, he says. Has he come here to see the foreigners? We drink another glass of chai before we here the news. We're going to stay in this house. On the first floor there is a room with three beds. It's next door to the sheriff's office! I guess this was arranged by the mayor, but I'll never know for sure.

December 14 - The Back Door to Istanbul

(Istanbul 3713 km)
The sun is shining. It's good cycling across hills just north-west of Istanbul. After lunch the traffic is getting heavier, only twenty kilometers from the city center. We're coming into the metropolis on one of the smaller roads.

It's downhill all the way to the area around the Grand Bazaar. We get there by sunset. We check in at Orient Guest House. Per from Norway is already there. He got bad weather in southern Romania and caught a train instead. We all eat dinner in the hostel restaurant in the evening.

December 14-27 - Christmas Break

(Istanbul 3763 km)
I fix my bike up, take photos, do the sights, party, celebrate christmas, and relax for almost two weeks. Geoff has to go back to Scotland, but Henk is ready to cycle through Turkey. He starts cycling on the twenty sixth, we decide to meet in Iznik three days later.

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