Today was another ‘Big-jump’ day, plus I had a border to cross so I wanted to leave the camp at Rumelifeneri quite early. I managed to get packed quite early but as I was loading the bike it fell over. The side stand is a little too long for the Transalp so you have to be careful how and where you park the it, and unfortunately this morning I didn’t get the angle right and over she went. So, luggage, top box and tank bag off, lift the bike, put it in a better position, then re-load the bike again. I was on the road after 7.30am by the time I rode out of the gates, and although the air was relatively cool, I was still sweating – but glad to be on the road. As I was leaving I was chatting away for a good 10km to my GoPro, but when I stopped about two hours later I noticed that the microphone in my helmet was not connected to the GoPro. Damn and blast…
Crossing the border out of Turkey and into Bulgaria was really easy with no dramas except for a longish wait of about 15 minutes on the Turkish side and about 25 minutes on the Bulgarian side. This wouldn’t have been too bad except that it was 40 degrees. My bike said it was 44 degrees, but whatever it was, it was El Scorchio. With little fuss and alot of sweating I was finally through and into Bulgaria. The border crossing itself was quick and easy with no fuss by the professional border staff.
The roads in Bulgaria are good. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. About 5km after the Turkey/Bulgaria border there is a hotel, petrol station and Carryfor supermarket, so I was able to do a small shop and buy some essentials for the night. About 140km after the border I arrived at Plovdiv, which is a small city roughly in the centre of Bulgaria. There is a small campsite to the north west on the outskirts of Plovdiv, and I arrived around 3.30 after riding around 450kms. Camping Borcht is perfect. Its quiet, small, peaceful and run by a lovely couple. There’s a great shower, toilet and plenty of cool spring water to drink. There’s also plenty of shade for my tent, and all for £10 a night. Welcome to Camping Borscht.
I am sad to leave Türkiye behind, as its a great country to visit. The people are lovely too. They seem quite standoffish, but when you engage them in conversation they are a warm and hospitable people. The roads are pretty good, too. They do vary from the spectacularly good to the amazingly scary roads, with some roads being very bumpy and older roads having two ruts in the tarmac where trucks have worn grooves. Some roads are loose gravel and some have lots of hatchings cut into them – but those roads are in the minority. There is an extensive roadbuilding program throughout Türkiye at the moment and the new roads are superb. F1GP quality, as they are so flat and smooth. My only grumble is the cost for the campsites and tourist attractions. Although some of the attractions were cheap to access, I thought many others were expensive. Also, I thought generally the cost of the campsites were over-priced. But, it is what it is.
