Tuesday 28th April
As we cleared the suburbs of Thessaloniki heading for Serres on the E79, you could smell the rain ahead but once again we always seemed to be just far enough behind it to miss the down pours and we were content to just ride in and out of the puddles left on the road.
The formalities at the border crossing in Petric were minimal; Helmet off, passport, a smile & where are you heading?
The E79 is a main trunk road and continues all the way to Sofia the capital, so I guess that would explain why there were so many “Working Girls†strutting up and down the lay-by’s in the middle of nowhere waving at us (by the way this continued all the way to Hungary) maybe I need to get some new glasses as I haven’t seen any on the M25 lately.
At one of the first fuel stops, Luke got talking to one of the petrol attendants about his GSXR, usual questions, how fast, what size engine, wheelies etc.. So I wasn’t surprised as we pulled out that he pinned the throttle, dumped the clutch & pulled quite an impressive wheelie considering that he was fully loaded! The landing looked interesting!
I exchanged some euros for leva in Rila and we continued on towards Sofia. Just outside the city we stopped for fuel, coffee & a smoke, when a brand new BMW GS800 with knobblies pulled up covered in mud. The guy spoke good English, much better than my Bulgarian! and was waiting for his friend & then they were off dirt riding. We asked about hostels or hotels in Sofia but I think he came from the posh side of town as he said he didn’t know of any cheap hotels in the centre. Maybe the brand new BMW, Shoei Hornet Helmet & Rukka suit might have been a clue.
Ah well, “head for the centre and then follow your nose†as my old despatch controller used to say. (That was easy for him to say, his nose wasn’t broken).
As with a lot of Ex Eastern block countries, there are a lot of cobblestone roads, pot holes & tram lines. No problem for the KTM but I think Luke was feeling it on the GSXR. After following my nose, I spotted 2 Private Security bike cops on Suzuki 600 Enduro’s parked up next to a café.
What top guys, one of them had lived & worked in Northern Ireland for 5 years & spoke great English with a strong Irish accent. They jumped on their bikes and said follow us and took us to a Hostel & a Hotel, went in and got the prices, found us secure parking for the bikes across the road & even helped us carry the luggage into the hostel. I tried to buy them a drink for all their help but he said no politely as when he was in Ireland the people had been so helpful & he was just passing it on.
After checking into the Hostel, we changed & went for a walk round Sofia & dined locally on KFC, coffee & a shot of some locally famous fire water /paint stripper.
Wednesday 29th April
In The morning I picked up the local freebie newspaper to read over breakfast, well when I say read I mean look at the pictures & more importantly the weather. (Well I am over 50 and English). I think if my Bulgarian is right we will be having rain, wind, snow & locusts today.. Nice!
After negotiating the ring road with only one wrong turn we headed for the border crossing at Vidin via Vraca and Montana! Wow! Eastern Europe & now Montana. Must have been that wrong left we took in Sofia.
We arrived at Vidin & the River Danube at around l pm to catch the ferry across to Romania. With clear blue skies and the sun reflecting of the river and my son on his bike next to me, it was one of those “Life could not get any better†moments. Even the local mutt was sunning himself, lying flat out on the ferry ramp.
First the foot passenger scrambled on with their bundles of goodies, then Luke & I rode on and then it all stopped with much shouting and hand gesturing!. Apparently the crew had not had their lunch yet, so the cars & trucks had to wait while they cooked it, ate it & washed up! Maybe they have it right and we are wrong, lunch on the go only gives you indigestion.
After getting cleared through customs in Calafat by a guy in the world’s largest peaked cap we headed for Drobeta Turnu Severin on the E70 which follows the Danube in places and has some spectacular scenery. Well, that is if you get a chance to look at it because the road is so bad that if you’re not concentrating it might be a case of “Oh, that’s what my backside looks like thenâ€!
We reckoned that the Serbs used this road for Artillery practice during the war and the Romanians just left it! This together with mad truck drivers and locals on horse and carts meant that by 7pm we decided to call it a day and found a great bed for the night at the EMA Cafe in Caransebes. Apparently all the Enduro and ATV boys stay there.
See Luke, it wasn’t only my boots that were stinking the room out; it was all those previous occupants!
After eating a great omelette and comparing tattoos with one of the locals we retired and I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Thursday 30th April
After several cups of strong coffee we set off Timisora and Arad. The sun was shining and even the roads were getting better.
Now usually when I ride in a new country my senses become more tuned to the dangers of the local drivers and I don’t worry too much about other Europeans! Having both successfully overtaken a line of trucks, Luke and I were just in that perfect zone. See traffic, mirror, signal, overtake, sweeping bends, biking heaven. Then in my mirrors I saw one of the Dutch plated 40 foot container trucks we had passed overtaking the same line of vehicles that we had! With on coming traffic in the distance! He cleared me and then had to cut in front of Luke causing him to brake sharply! I don’t know if he had run out of magic cakes or Ajax were playing that night but all the way to the border he drove like a complete nutter. Overtaking on blind corners, undertaking, I was hoping he was going to the same crossing as us as I was going to kill him! (Paternal instincts & red mist had by now kicked in big time) He didn’t and so another Anglo / Dutch diplomatic incident was averted. I pulled in to a café car park for a smoke and took a picture of this church, life was chilled once again.
After Arad we ended up crossing into Hungary further up from Nadlac and as we didn’t have any Florins and they wouldn’t take credit cards at the border for a motorway pass we rode into Budapest on the old trunk road, the A5. Hungary had a better class of working girls in the Lay-bys according to Luke!
Note to self: get eyes tested when I get back.
Budapest, what can I say? Other than you need more than one night to see all of its beauty
We decided to treat ourselves and booked into the Great Western Premier four star Parlament Hotel which also included free underground parking just round the corner and free internet access.
I am beginning to think that this camping lark is overrated sometimes or maybe I am just getting too old for sleeping on the ground! The only problem I can see with hotels is where to put your smelly boots so as not to gas yourself but until then, I will keep splashing Brut all over them! (Sorry, only people over 45 will understand the Brut thing!)
After a walk around some of the touristy sites we found a restaurant by the Bank of Budapest & I tucked into the best Goulash I have had in a while washed down by a cold beer and ice cream. Isn’t life just great sometimes?
Next day we would be off, heading for the KTM factory in Austria and then on to the Nurburgring… to be continued in “The final legâ€
