Day 48 - Europe 2011

Day 48 - Monday, July 11, 2011 - Bela Crkva to Coronini, Romania - Trip 74.89 kms Time 4:57

I was up at 6:45 and since my "private accommodation" didn't offer any b'fast I had to make do with a banana and an apple. I took my panniers down to the car port and checked my front and rear wheels. The disc brakes are rubbing now and then. I pumped up both tires and left the pension at 8:15 after saying goodbye to the "boss lady". I stopped at a "Mechanica" and exchanged 10 E for 1,000 CSD and went over to the bakery for b'fast. I was able to get an egg and cheese pastry and a sugar bun filled with Nutella and coffee. I also got a submarine sandwich with ham, cucumber and mayo to go. In hindsite because of the very hot temp. mayo was probably not such a good choice.
I set off for Kaluderovo and the Serbian/Romanian border at 8:30. It was 11 kms to the border. I arrived at 9:00. It was very quiet. No traffic at all. I met Michel, a cyclist from Paris, who was just clearing customs ahead of me. He was also travelling solo and was equipped for camping. After clearing customs we discussed the two routes to get to Pojejena. One way was to go directly over the mountains (about 12 kms) or to take the longer, flatter route around Zlatita, Socol, Divici, Belobresca and Pojejena. I said I was going to take the longer route as I didn't like climbing hills. Michel went off to find a shady spot to put some sleeves on to protect his arms from the relentless sun. I left on my own.
I stoped at 10:30 for a break and Michel caught up to me. He started complaining that it was so much longer then going directly over the hills. I didn't want to listen to his complaints so left him behind. He was going much slower up the not so difficult hills with his heavier bike and load. I had to stop several times for cold drinks and to get out of the hot sun. I arrived in Moldova Noua at 2:30. I asked several people about where to find an hotel. They all said I had to continue on to Coronini where I would find a Pension. It was another 6 kms further down the road. I bought a diet coke at a gas station and set off for Coronini. I arrived at the Pensiunea Happy Fish at 3:30. A single room with b'fast cost 25E/night. There was no Internet and no A/C. I made the mistake of leaving my bike in the hot sun while I was putting my bags up in my room. When I came back down for a beer one of the customers told me I had a flat front tire. I think the hot sun may have caused the tube to burst. I decided to have a cold beer and that I would deal with the flat later when it cooled down a bit. I saw a team of horses pulling an old style hay wagon with two guys riding on it. One of them was talking on his cellphone.
To many power failures will try and finish this later....
I was able to fix my flat tire by using my 2nd spare tube. I wanted to patch the puncture in my other tube but discovered that the vulcanizing fluid in my little tube in my patch kit had completely evaporated.
My next challenge was to get through dinner. It was quite a battle between myself, the flies and the dogs. In the end I managed but... I forgot to mention that Michel arrived at 4:30 ish while I was almost finished my 2nd beer. He wasn't to keen on the "Happy Fish" and said he would go on into Coronini where he had been told of another Pension. I offered to buy him a beer but he wanted to keep going. There was quite a storm brewing off in the West. Lots of thunder and lightning. Quite a spectacular sunset over the Danube. I took some photos.
As I was paying my bill for dinner the waitress mentioned something about Scorpio. I said no I was a Leo. She said "NO NO A SCORPIO!" but she didn't say where.
I had a very restless night's sleep because of late customers, the wind blowing plastic bottles around in the parking lot and the dogs barking at whatever and my room was like a sauna.

This blog was posted at the Hotel Edinborugh in Caracal, Romania, Thursday, July 14, 2011