Days 60 - 65
Bulgaria to Poland
One of the main reasons for leaving Turkey was because all of the land routes to the East from Turkey were closed and because of this I had to decide where to go for the winter. Staying in Turkey was an option but having a 90 day limit to my stay would have meant leaving Turkey at the end of January to go back a European country.
Another factor for consideration was the potential for the virus to affect border crossings at the end of January in to February. As the borders were still open at this time I decided that it would be better to make that journey in early November rather than at the beginning of February.
I left Kırklareli early the next day and headed for the Bulgarian border. On approaching the border the road rose sharply and in the shaded parts, the road was covered in frost. A few minutes at the border and I was once again in Bulgaria. Riding along the coast past Burgas and Varna, I was at the Romanian border by late afternoon. Once through I headed for the city of Constanta where I spent the night.
The next day I headed for the border with Moldova as it was my intention to visit that country and then ride on to Ukraine. I had tried to get in to Ukraine earlier in the year but the borders were closed due to the virus, however, Ukraine's borders were now open and I was looking forward to eventually getting in to the country.
Staying off the motorways I took the main road to Galati where the main Romanian/Moldovan border crossing is situated but on reaching the town of Smardan i found that the only way to cross the Danube river was by a small car ferry.
Once across the river I rode to the border crossing but once I arrived at the Moldovan side I was told my two border guards wearing AK 47's that the border was closed to anyone except Moldovans and Ukranians who were going back to Ukraine. I rode back to Romania and found a small hotel in the town of Braila to spend the night and formulate another plan. After settling in to the hotel I went out to do a bit of exploring and although a nice enough place I found all of the shops closed and all of the bars and restaurants closed for anything other than take away.
By the next morning I had decided to spend the winter in Poland so I headed North for the Hungarian border. Romania is a large country and I decided to head up along the Moldovan border and head inland as I approached the border with Ukraine rather than go to Transalvania where I had previously been. The scenery on this route changed considerably from unremarkable flat farmland to rolling hills covered in trees that were changing in colour due to the season.
That evening I spent the night in the town of Suceava and as darkess fell so did the fog and bad weather. The next morning it was cold, foggy, and raining. I set off inland and after a few miles the fog cleared but it continued to rain. By the time I reached Carlibaba it had stopped raining and the sun was shining again, raising my spirits as it heated up. The road from here, hugging the Ukrainian border towards Satu Mare was one of the most enjoyable roads that I have ridden on this year. Full of tight hairpins, swooping bends over rivers and rocky gullies, small villages with beautiful churches and spectacular scenery, it was just amazing to ride along.
I spent the night in the town of Satu Mare close to the border crossing with Hungary. I had read that Hungary was open for transit only and that Slovakia were testing people at the border for the virus etc. I expected to encounter lots of border officials and the possibility of being turned away at either or both of the borders. The next morning to compound my potential issues it was cold and raining heavily.
The Hungarian border was hassle free and within five minutes of hitting it I was riding away in torrential rain. The rain had softened the rich yellow coloured soil that had been deposited by farm vehicles from every field entrance along the road for some thirty miles till the motorway in to a thick clinging mud. The bike was covered in it. As the motorways in Hungary had been designated as the only roads to be used for transiting the country, I had no option but to use them. I rode along often deserted stretches of motorway in the driving rain for hours, the temperature never got above four degrees celcius, and I was not enjoying it.
However, once North of Miskolc the weather cleared and the sun appeared. By the time I had reached the Slovakian border the skies were clear but it was still very cold. The Slovakinan border on the motorway was just a sign at the side of the road and nothing more. No border guards, no checkpoints, nothing. So I rode on sticking to the motorways as I wanted to transit the country as quickly as possible. By late afternoon I was approaching the Polish border.
I came off the motorway just East of Poprad south of the Tatra mountains, the very tops of which were shouded in white cloud, and headed for Poland. Again, the Polish border was only marked by a sign at the side of the road and nothing else. I took the road along the edge of the Tatra mountains and skirted along the Northern foothills till I arrived at Zakopane where I would stay for the night. Zakopane is a ski resort and has some of the most beautiful wooden houses that I have seen.
I spent the night in a very nice small hotel and the next morning when I got up everything was covered in in a thick white frost and icicles hung from the edge of every roof. I delayed my departure for a few hours to let it heat up but although the frost has gone where the sun had struck it, in the shade it was still present. I bit the bullet and headed off North down off the hillside in the direction of Kraow. After two hours of riding on fast roads interspersed with roadworks and diversions, I arrived at my destination for the winter, the city of Krakow.
