I reluctantly left my campsite at Sapanta in northern Romania and headed headed north. Soon after I started I saw a sign for the Ukrainian border – so I thought I would give it a try. Well, why not…? There was a small queue at the Romanian border but I soon exited and arrived at the Ukrainian border, with a large and slow queue. I eventually got to the front but they would not let me pass as I had no insurance for the bike. I had read online that it was possible to buy insurance at the borders, and usually you can at most borders, but it was a big NO, so I turned around, re-entered Romania.
When I got back into Romania I went to a nearby town and found an insurance shop, but they wanted just over 200eu so I decided to forget going to Ukraine and head north. I’d even booked accommodation in Lviv while waiting at the border. Fortunately, I was able to cancel it.
Soon I was out of Romania and into Hungary, out of Hungary and into Slovakia, and then out of Slovakia and into Poland. Hello Poland…!
Why didn’t I stop in Hungary or Slovakia..? To be honest, my bike is overdue its 8000 mile service and it was starting to worry me as I’ve now done over 10,000 miles. I tried to arrange a service in Turkey and again in Bulgaria but it wasn’t easy. In Istanbul I contacted a main dealer and they wouldn’t confirm a date, and when they did they changed it. Also, they wouldn’t give me the cost for a service, which I found strange. In Bulgaria it was also difficult to make any kind of date for a booking, so knowing I would be able to get it sorted in Poland I looked ahead and found a main dealer in Krakow with god reviews, which is why I decided to carry on and wait for Krakow.
I got to my campsite around 1730, which was easy to find. Camping Clepardia is located just to the north west of the city centre and about 15 minutes from the Honda dealer. It’s £18 a night, but being so close to the city, you expect these prices. The campsite is predominantly for campervans, so there is a small area in the centre of the campsite for tents, and I easily found myself a space together with about ten other bikers, mostly from Germany and France. The tents are all surrounded by campervans, and it feels like we’re being held hostage… It’s a really busy campsite, but it’s got excellent facilities and very helpful staff. Also, there is a tram-stop just outside the campsite and nearby shops – plus a pizza shop…
Today’s mileage was around 580km. I tried to keep off the motorways and stay on the A roads in Hungary and Slovakia, and during the morning passed through some beautiful countryside. I’m definitely coming back to this part of the world. Once you get into Poland the roads are pretty straightforward so eventually I joined the motorway to take me to Krakow and also make up some time. After the border issue this morning, the rest of the ride was uneventful.
