Bulgaria
…And another bike issue
27th May - 28th May | 2023
In the morning I went first to visit the ancient abandoned "Bogomil Medieval Cemetery". That was a bit interesting, especially these huge crosses - if they could tell...
From there I decided it was time for some offroad again towards Lake Kerkini. OsmAnd took me over lovely farm tracks or backroads, with nice views over the rolling hills and the farmlands. One farm track was very muddy, so we ended up a bit in the field having a rest ;-) Once the bike was back up, I pushed it a bit forward, and that already left a bit of tyre marks! I don't need to tell that I was happy to be out of that!!
At about 13h00 I decided I need to speed up things here otherwise it will become a late arrival in Bulgaria. So I set OsmAnd on street-modus towards Lake Kerkini, which still was nearly another 45mins away. Lake Kerkini is famous for its Dalmatian Pelicans and water buffalos. I saw some Pelicanos, and they are huge! When I wanted to start my bike, already on my previous stops after the fall, Schimmelchen was a little hesitant to start when hitting the starter button! Already time for a new battery? I "just" got one last summer in Poland.
Driving along the dirt track along the lake I could see in the distance the big herds of the water buffalos. Wow, how cool is that?!? I saw cars driving along there, so I should be able to get there with my bike :-D
I came indeed pretty close to them, and then I thought it is better time to leave as they headed towards me (at their pace). I turned around the bike by hand and when I wanted to start it - Nothing! Seriously!? This is not the place not to start!! Well, not much to do than walk back to the village and find someone to jumpstart my bike! So I had to leave my bike, buffalos now pretty close, on its own amongst the herd. Hopefully, they don't scratch their butt on it and the whole falls over - how do I explain THAT to my insurance?!?
I walked across the field to a track I saw earlier a van parked. By the time I was on that sandy track, I didn't see a van anymore, not even a soul, only water buffalos! It was very humid and about 25C, so I don't need to mention how fast I was walking in a wet sauna suit!! Whilst walking I saw a car on the other track driving towards my bike! So I whistled and waved my arms hysterically, but the car moved on. I turned around and walked backwards in the direction I came. I whistled and waved each time the car went slow or stopped, but nothing! This person must be really deaf! When I came closer to the area, the car already had passed my bike ... great, and now?!? Walking back?
I saw then a buffalo "shepherd" coming towards me. I already was prepared to explain in gesture language and with google translate the problem when it turned out that he speaks "fluent" German! How lucky is that!! He called me then a friend and the tricky issue was the jump cable as Greeks seem not really to carry them around... So I stayed a while with him (sorry, forgot the Greek version of your name, aber Du sagtest es ist Thomas in Deutsch!), his wife Maria and their herd, oh and his lovely dog Rex. Actually, Thomas's mother is living in Köln - a small world! To me, it all appeared very calm and peaceful, but talking to them it is a tough job.EVERYday 9am until 10pm out with the herd. Interesting was though that with 3yrs old they are going to end up for meat production.
After a while the guy with the jump cable came to it we went to the bike and I had to get in my luggage my tools in order to get to the battery. They had the giggles at the amount of stuff coming out of my pannier to reach the heavy tools at the bottom. Once the bike started I stuffed quickly some parts into the pannier and some bags I just threw on the pick up of the boy. After thanking "Thomas" for the help, I followed the boy to a workshop garage in the village. I was so lucky that was still open on a Saturday afternoon! As they didn't have the right tools to get to my battery it was again getting all out on the floor. They checked the battery and it was flat. Actually, on the way in, I checked it with the voltage meter on my charger and it was max 12.3V whereas I normally have 14.3V...
It is getting better, the guy in the garage spoke also German, as he has lived for some years in Düsseldorf. And they got a used battery that fits my bike! So, I can carry on my journey - not being stranded here for the weekend ;-) Whilst we were working around the bike, there came an old chap from the village who spoke fluent German and lived in Germany for over 40 years. He went over when he was 22 years old - wow, amazing! Even more interesting was that he is still a Bachelor ;-)
Once all screwed back into place and packed up, I went the toll road over to Camping Kromidovo (www.campingbulgaria.eu), just a few kilometres on the other side of the border. The border crossing was pretty easy and smooth. And about 19h00 I finally arrived at the camping - very hungry though as I didn't have any food since breakfast!! I already had requested by Whatsapp if there is a chance for some food and so I ended up having dinner with Sara and John, the owner of the camp. It was a delicious vegetarian type of curry. Unfortunately that walking in the humidity and heat did not well my head, so I had again a really bad headache! So shortly after dinner, I went to bed. Oh, I should have mentioned, I slept in one of their tents, as I couldn't have been asked to pitch up anymore my tent!
The next morning I still had a headache and it was still sticky out there. So I guess the head will only clear after a good rain! As I am not in a particular rush, I booked for another night. That only meant I had to get into my gear to ride to the next village to either eat out there or get some food shopping done. I wasn't really up for that... In the meantime, I started to talk to the lovely English couple Robin and Kim, that overlanded for the past 5 years a good part of this world with their Land Rover (FB: gusto-overland). They invited me for some pasta later, so no need for me to get into my gear. How nice is that!
The idea was to carry on with the blog, but we sat all day chatting about travelling, our experiences, and a bit of politics until it got dark. In between joined the new guest, Diane with her dog, on her way back to the UK and the owner of the camping Sara and John. It was a really nice day spent just chatting!
It is only a short one, but for a reason as the next day was a long one. I am afraid you have to wait until the next blog to find out why I needed 10 hours to drive only 220km to Skopje in Macedonia*. In the meantime, I suggest you try a glass of Bulgarian wine during the wait.
*Republic of North Macedonia
Places | Cities:
GREECE:
Thessaloniki, Lake Kerkini
BULGARIA:
Camping Kromidovo
Driven km | Trip:
Total | Steffi: 6670 km
Information Border Crossings (in May 2023):
Greece into Bulgaria:
Identity card and bike papers.
Maintenance | Breakdown:
Flat battery and luckily immediate replacement with a semi-new battery.
Health issues:
./.
Special thanks to:
Robin and Kim (FB: gusto-overland) for the lovely and interesting conversation.
Sara and John (www.campingbulgaria.eu) for their lovely camping spot and looking so well after me.