Donauradweg: Zimnicea - Ciocănești
Zimnicea - Giurgiu - Comana Nature Park - Ciocănești
Today, I was happy to discover that supermarkets in Romania are open on Sundays. This morning, I had to get creative with breakfast by using sparkling water in my cereal since I had run out of milk. Needless to say, I quickly realized that still water would have been a much better choice!
The road to Giurgiu was relatively quiet, with light traffic for most of the time. After that, the road briefly turned into a two-lane highway until the turn-off towards Bucharest. Every 50km I took a break in order to stay in rhythm and not have to stop too often. While shopping, I always topped up my 6l water supplies. In the Natural Park of Comana the butterflies, which are very numerous along the Danube, were very trusting. By the evening, unlike the past few days, I had to put up my tarp again when a thunderstorm rolled in.
Donauradweg: Cozla - Bregovo
Cozla - Statue of Decebalus - Iron Gate (Border Romania/Serbia) - Border Serbia/Bulgaria - Bregovo
In the morning, I still felt some soreness in my legs but started the day cycling smoothly along the road toward the impressive statue of Decebalus. Today to prevent a potassium deficiency and to consume all my reserves until Constanta, I increased my electrolyte intake. The traffic became quite heavy as I approached the Iron Gate. After crossing into Serbia, I continued through the Cyrillic part of Serbia towards Bulgaria.
At a bakery stop, I missed out on sweet croissants, ending up with one croissant filled with a soft sausage and another with something that had the consistency of raw minced meat. Nevertheless, the Danube remained as large and beautiful as ever, and I enjoyed quieter roads with minimal traffic. In the last Serbian town before the border, I encountered the next two fellow cyclists on a tandem bike, also following the Danube Bike Path. That evening, I came across a charming local celebration, with children dressed in colorful costumes.
Crossing into Bulgaria, I faced another challenge with money exchange, as there was no possibility to exchange Serbian money. To avoid withdrawing cash in Bulgaria, I stocked up my supplies in Serbia before entering Bulgaria. After passing through the first Bulgarian town, I set up camp for the night. Unfortunately, it was near a thorn hedge and my air mattress developed a leak, and I also lost a tent peg, making it a bit of an uncomfortable night.
Transalp 2013
Diese Etappe führt von Trafoi aus auf einer Passstraße mit unzähligen Spitzkehren hinauf auf das 1000 Meter höher gelegene Stilfser Joch.
Von dort geht es über den Umbrailpass weiter auf den Bocchetta di Forcola, dem mit 2768m, höchsten Punkt unserer Tour. Die Abfahrt vom Bocchetta di Pendolo mündet von einem wunderschönen, sich in das Tal schlängelnden, Trail in einen Schotterabhang mit recht grobem Schotter, bis man letztendlich in Bormiò ankommt.
Das Etappenziel Santa Caterina Valfurva erreichten wir am Spätnachmittag und somit hatten wir die am Vortag verloren gegangene Zeit wieder aufgeholt.
Everest Basecamp Trek (EBC): Dingboche - Lobuche
Surkey - Cheplung - Namche Bazar - Tengboche - Ama Dablam Base Camp - Pangboche - Dingboche - Lobuche - Gorak Shep - Lobuche - Dingboche - Namche Bazar - Lukla - Surkey