Friday 4 May 2012

3 May Stage 21 Sandra - Caransebes

Dep 9.20    Arr 8.00       Dist 135.7 km       Total 2375.6 km

I actually slept very well, undisturbed till 620, which is unheard of. I must have needed it. Breakfast was in another barn type building which, again, was very impressively set out. An older lady asked me what I wanted and I went over to the bar. I pointed at some bran flake type stuff and dried fruit and she disappeared. She returned with a massive bowl of flakes and fruit and a carton of milk. "Anything else?" (all in broken English - which is far better than my broken Rumanian). I just mentione bread and cheese. So then appeared two slabs of cheese and a basket of bread. These were soon stashed away for lunch.

My plan has changed after yesterday's conversation with Terry from FIG. There aren't many campsites here in Rumania, or in Bulgaria (or if there are Google doesn't know about them) and accommodation is quite cheap. I will go as far as I can each day and stay either in a hotel or camp wild (don't tell my mum). 100 km a day average, without rest days or bad weather, will get me to Fethiye in 19 days. Game on.

Anyway, I had lost an hour somewhere. I haven’t got a watch these days so I have been relying on the bike computer, which is always on UK time, and my phone which changes as necessary. The time on my phone must have changed when it realised I was in Rumania but I didn’t notice. I realised around mid day that my bike computer was 2 hrs behind the time in a shop where I got some milk, bananas and some honey nut loop tyre cereal. So I’m actually now on Turkey time which makes me feel a bit closer.

It wasn’t quite as warm and the sun in the morning occasionally went behind a cloud, but only for a minute or so. I was 33km or so from Timisoara, which is quite a big city, and I wasn’t really looking forward to trying to find my way through the place. I got there soon enough and it turned out to be a nice town after the usual industrial estates, which are necessary, don't get me wrong. It was bright and leafy with people going about their business like you would expect. I got some money and a couple of pies from the pound bakery equivalent and made my way along the pleasant cycle track into the town centre and out again along a well signposted route. After the city the road became very busy but there was a wide “hard shoulder” which I stuck to for the full length of the road, ie until I got here. This is the E70, a Euroroute also locally named A6 and is the main highway to Bucharest. Most of the vehicles have the B registration so are going some way. There were loads of trucks and wagons as well. I stopped for lunch at a village called Recas and a little lad came and sat down next to me smiling. I had the kindle out making notes of some useful Rumanian phrases. We had a sort of conversation with him basically teaching me the pronunciations. I gave him the web address of my blog and told him to have a look and he could see how I was doing. He said no computer. I said ask your dad or mum or school. He said no mother no father but it didn’t register at first. I got going again and realised I could have got his address and sent him some stuff from the uk. I could have even given him a few bob for sweets but I had this wary kind of defensive attitude, probably because of all the garbage you read about this country.

The late start and my new impetus meant I had to keep going through the heat of the day which wasn’t quite as bad as it has been. I saw a sign outside a café for an 11 lei (£2) menu which made me jam the brakes on. I got the usual looks from clients and staff, can’t undersatand why, and ordered. There was no choice. The first course was sour tripe soup and the main course was schnitzel with mash. Absolutely fantastic both of them. I wasn’t really hungry but knew I would need the nourishment later so forced it all down. I only had a 10 lei note and the rest were 50s so I got away with paying even less. I feel really guilty, honest.

Some ridiculously dark clouds appeared up ahead. I stopped and got the cape and boots handy. They had been relegated to the bottom of the bag. It was late and getting dark even without the storm clouds so I donned my headlight and clipped on my super duper Austrian front light. The dark clouds were gathering to my right and claps of thunder were getting closer. You could see the rain belting down in the distance. I managed to outrun the storm and made it to Caransebes and checked in the first place I saw. I had found a posh hotel again. This time the shower was tremendous but between us the lad at reception, who couldn’t speak English, and I couldn’t get the wireless to work. The restaurant was closed by the time I’d finished FARTING AROUND but the lad directed me and then took me to a road house up the road. Schnitzel with chips and a couple of beers, one a Leffe, and less than a fiver the lot. I drafted the blog while eating but was very tired. I just about made it back to the room and flaked out. Too much beer maybe, but I need the carbs!

The last two days have seen tremendous progress and I have actually saved a day. I have estimated about 1800 km to go so at 100km a day that would get me in to Fethiye on 21st April. That is my new target. It may change but that‘s how it is at the moment. Let‘s see.

Today's Route

4 comments:

  1. Tom - Looks like your bike computer is more than a couple of hours out - more like 1 month and 2 hours - I'm sure it's May - even in Rumania

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    1. Chris
      I had had a bad day, shall we say. I do appreciate your proof reading input. See you in a couple of weeks.

      Tom

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  2. hi tom shaun from calis your doing very well good luck football today ill see you when you land its been good reading thanks

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Shaun. All appreciated. All the best. See you soon.

      Tom

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