Day 14 - Dimitrovgrad to Targu Jiu
Tuesday 10th July 2018
Serbia has brought a change in the weather. It has been raining hard since midnight and at 6am the skies are full of dark clouds that threaten more to come. Fortunately the bikes are tucked up in the hotel garage and have escaped the downpour.
After a breakfast of ham and seriously over-cooked eggs we load up the bikes and set off under grey skies. For the moment it is not raining but it is very cool compared with recent days.
Finally after another heavy downpour we drop down onto the banks of the huge river. It really is enormous here as it broadens out for the final leg of its course from the heights of the Black Forest in Germany to the Black Sea on the coast of Romania.
Next is a pleasant ride of about an hour to the busy town of Targa Jiu. My chosen hotel is full but the receptionist directs us to another place just up the road.
We park the bikes right outside the room window down the side of the big hotel. They have a pizza restaurant and after unpacking and showering off the dust of the day we head there and sit at a table in front of a big screen TV. It is showing the France-Belgium semi final game. We eat pizza, drink good Hefeweizen beer and watch the French sneak through to the World Cup final with a 1-0 victory.
Serbia has brought a change in the weather. It has been raining hard since midnight and at 6am the skies are full of dark clouds that threaten more to come. Fortunately the bikes are tucked up in the hotel garage and have escaped the downpour.
Today we will not be so lucky.
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| How not to fry eggs |
After a breakfast of ham and seriously over-cooked eggs we load up the bikes and set off under grey skies. For the moment it is not raining but it is very cool compared with recent days.
Our route takes us along a new motorway for a stretch to the town of Pirot. Then through a narrow gorge on a scary road with lots of big trucks and speeding drivers. The rain starts to fall heavily and the road surface looks really greasy. We stop in a pull-off to get into the wet gear.
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| The main square in Pirot |
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| Into the waterproofs on the gorge road |
The rain starts to hammer down as we continue through the gorge. It must be really beautiful but we can’t appreciate it as traffic is heavy and we have to concentrate on the road, wiping the visor every few seconds and trying not to get killed by the heavy trucks that career half way over the white line on the corners. There are numerous short tunnels, unlit so you can’t see the occasional potholes.
At last we are out of it and back onto the new motorway for a blast north up to the Danube river.
We leave the motorway and climb up and over a small pass, stopping on the wind swept summit for a short break. The rain is just misty drizzle now.
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| Windswept summit with the Danube valley down below |
Finally after another heavy downpour we drop down onto the banks of the huge river. It really is enormous here as it broadens out for the final leg of its course from the heights of the Black Forest in Germany to the Black Sea on the coast of Romania.
We are crossing over the border at a bridge called the Iron Gate. There is a hold up at the border as Serbian border guards rush about and cars are being searched. When we get to the checkpoint the guard disappears out of his booth and we sit waiting on the bikes for ages. Finally the lady guard from the incoming side comes over and checks us through.
By comparison the Romanian checkpoint is simple and friendly. Our bike registration documents are checked and we get the usual banter when they see Mick’s passport.
“Ah you are Bond. Goodbye Mr Bond.”
Says the guard in a deep voice, imitating Blofeld the villain from a James Bond movie.
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| The Danube from the Romanian side |
Next is a pleasant ride of about an hour to the busy town of Targa Jiu. My chosen hotel is full but the receptionist directs us to another place just up the road.
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| Bikes outside our room window |
We park the bikes right outside the room window down the side of the big hotel. They have a pizza restaurant and after unpacking and showering off the dust of the day we head there and sit at a table in front of a big screen TV. It is showing the France-Belgium semi final game. We eat pizza, drink good Hefeweizen beer and watch the French sneak through to the World Cup final with a 1-0 victory.
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| Best seats in the house. Pizza, beer and footy |
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