Days 36 to 39: Bulgaria & surprise: Greece
On day 36 I crossed the border to Bulgaria in the morning. The ride was great with low traffic roads that offered beautiful views. I came by a bicycle shop in Petrich and stopped to get the spokes of my back wheel adjusted (some spokes where lose). In the afternoon I rode a deserted but well paved street uphill for a few hours when I suddenly heard drums and singing and decided to say hello. Right when I arrived at the entrance of the building (former barracks for UdSSR soldiers now in use as a guest house) rain began pouring down. I was welcomed inside. The group consisted of two men (playing 🥁 and 🪗 and singing) and two women (singing). They explained to me that I now was a guest for their 35th school reunion. One of the men is a small scale producer of red wine and Rakija. I tried his wine and schnapps together with lots of cheese, salted cooked pork slices, sausages, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, olives and bread. The for were very hospitable and I enjoyed listening to their songs. Even tough the train had passed after 2 hours, I decided to stay for the night. When the school reunion left a young couple and the women's parents invited me to more Rakija and later a dinner. We spent the evening drinking and chatting until we went to bed.
Day 37 had a couple of challenges. First the well paved road was changing into the worst I had so far (if I count the non-existing road in Montenegro as a road it would be the second worst). The only reason I kept going was that I actually met two cars in the earlier parts of the road and saw one car track throughout, so I was confident it would at least not just end. I spent roughly 1 hour pushing my bike uphill. When it started to rain, I set up my hammock to read for 20 minutes before the rain turned even stronger and the trees did not provide sufficient rain cover.
When I finally was at the top I got onto the bike again and rode down, which worked out ok. However, I think I'm doing things with my bike that it wasn't meant for. I again had lose spokes. It surely doesn't help that I have the bulk of the weight on the back axis. But whatever, I adjusted the spokes a bit by myself, but the tool I used for it does not grip properly on all spokes. I decided to go to the next bike shop to get a better tool. Turns out the next bike shop is in Drama, Greece. So I pass the Greek border and given that it's Sunday, I look for a camping spot.
The next day was Monday and Maria Himmelfahrt, which means the bike store is closed. I cycle a bit, relax at the beach, cycle a bit more, enjoy a fantastic meal at a restaurant and set up camp early.
