Englısh version:
When I (once again) tied the tent onto the saddle I had to admit: number
nights in the open air had not compensated for the trouble of
carrying tent, sleeping bag and a mat the entire 2500 km. Fıve-six-seven hours
alone on the highways was enough “alone-tıme”. I very rarely want to
put up the tent alone, eat alone, wake up alone and cycling on alone. Cause then I could just make camping in the forest at home...
When I saw these small signs with the image of a bed, I had to stop. Cheap nights as cheap as 30 dkr. (4 EUR) enticed, and it included a chat with
the madam of the pension, a sip of some liquid with pension-daddy and a tour of the city in
local company. Camping alone is only in case of an emergency J.
In Balti, Moldova I passed by such bed-sign, and with my stolen pump on Ukrainian
hands I should not hesitate deciding where to spent the night. The following evening the restaurant was invaded by a bunch of young Moldavians, the student, I
had agreed to meet with, and a group of Americans in the late 20s. I
curiously asked one of the Americans if he had participated in the war in Afghanistan, referring to his t-shirt with back-mark saying "Afghanistan", the American surname
on its chest and Stars and Stripes on the shoulder. To this he replied
succinctly: "it belonged to my friend, but he died down there". Then
he changed his clothes and ordered a lot of Moldavian wine, the country's big
pride, and then we had a blast visiting discos and danced to
late at night.
I enjoyed sitting on benches in the disco and watch an old lady at least
70-80 years, who went around between tables to collect trash to a noise level
of a few hundred decibels and light that flashed so fast and confusing that I found it hard to orientate. She also stumbled a few times and should perhaps have gone to bed. The contrast between the old cleaning lady and the young Russian ladies made the young ones look even more attractive, so when I was invited for a dance, I did not hesitate. That they did not allowed you to touch them on their ass during the third dance was just a shame ... But I did it anyway – perhaps I would never get this chance again...
Very sleepy I went in direction of Romania and Iasi city. This
was undoubtedly the tour's most stunning stage; roads were almost empty of traffic and
heavy vehicles, the sky was deep blue and the views as I reached the hill tops
followed by a bunch of kids from the nearest village made you so calm and
peaceful, it whispered to my ear: continue cycling!
I did so, but a guy in the van drove up beside me, honked and
turned the steering wheel so violently in my direction that I had to drive to the road side and nearly crashed. I thought that of course I had to continue biking but always with a little caution.
The episode was, for me, moreover a picture of how these communities
are functioning: the big boys are ruling in all aspects of life.
In Iasi I phoned “HC Scooters and Bicycles” in Aabenraa (Denmark) and told them how happy I was about the great tires they sold me on my first day (where I had three flat tires). "I got to Romania without any flat tires since I changed to your tires”, I reported. This lad gladly replied, "its so great to hear you will probably soon get a flat one then – so is it always... “ I laughed, thanked ironically for their support and cycled down to Barlad and Tecuci where I had to escape from a fat man with mustache, but it is a too long story to write about here...
Friday night was spent in Braila where I had to do camping among drunken Romanians and stray dogs. Saturday I found a bed in Slobozia.
Sunday I went direction Bulgaria and I was hunted by 5 hungry stray dogs who didn’t gıve up before I reached 38 km/h – I promıse you that was nerves, adrenalin and heart rate got a wakeup call on such a holy Sunday.
I hope you had an awesome weekend too and remember: you will never get too
old for the disco.
/T-spotter
nights in the open air had not compensated for the trouble of
carrying tent, sleeping bag and a mat the entire 2500 km. Fıve-six-seven hours
alone on the highways was enough “alone-tıme”. I very rarely want to
put up the tent alone, eat alone, wake up alone and cycling on alone. Cause then I could just make camping in the forest at home...
When I saw these small signs with the image of a bed, I had to stop. Cheap nights as cheap as 30 dkr. (4 EUR) enticed, and it included a chat with
the madam of the pension, a sip of some liquid with pension-daddy and a tour of the city in
local company. Camping alone is only in case of an emergency J.
In Balti, Moldova I passed by such bed-sign, and with my stolen pump on Ukrainian
hands I should not hesitate deciding where to spent the night. The following evening the restaurant was invaded by a bunch of young Moldavians, the student, I
had agreed to meet with, and a group of Americans in the late 20s. I
curiously asked one of the Americans if he had participated in the war in Afghanistan, referring to his t-shirt with back-mark saying "Afghanistan", the American surname
on its chest and Stars and Stripes on the shoulder. To this he replied
succinctly: "it belonged to my friend, but he died down there". Then
he changed his clothes and ordered a lot of Moldavian wine, the country's big
pride, and then we had a blast visiting discos and danced to
late at night.
I enjoyed sitting on benches in the disco and watch an old lady at least
70-80 years, who went around between tables to collect trash to a noise level
of a few hundred decibels and light that flashed so fast and confusing that I found it hard to orientate. She also stumbled a few times and should perhaps have gone to bed. The contrast between the old cleaning lady and the young Russian ladies made the young ones look even more attractive, so when I was invited for a dance, I did not hesitate. That they did not allowed you to touch them on their ass during the third dance was just a shame ... But I did it anyway – perhaps I would never get this chance again...
Very sleepy I went in direction of Romania and Iasi city. This
was undoubtedly the tour's most stunning stage; roads were almost empty of traffic and
heavy vehicles, the sky was deep blue and the views as I reached the hill tops
followed by a bunch of kids from the nearest village made you so calm and
peaceful, it whispered to my ear: continue cycling!
I did so, but a guy in the van drove up beside me, honked and
turned the steering wheel so violently in my direction that I had to drive to the road side and nearly crashed. I thought that of course I had to continue biking but always with a little caution.
The episode was, for me, moreover a picture of how these communities
are functioning: the big boys are ruling in all aspects of life.
In Iasi I phoned “HC Scooters and Bicycles” in Aabenraa (Denmark) and told them how happy I was about the great tires they sold me on my first day (where I had three flat tires). "I got to Romania without any flat tires since I changed to your tires”, I reported. This lad gladly replied, "its so great to hear you will probably soon get a flat one then – so is it always... “ I laughed, thanked ironically for their support and cycled down to Barlad and Tecuci where I had to escape from a fat man with mustache, but it is a too long story to write about here...
Friday night was spent in Braila where I had to do camping among drunken Romanians and stray dogs. Saturday I found a bed in Slobozia.
Sunday I went direction Bulgaria and I was hunted by 5 hungry stray dogs who didn’t gıve up before I reached 38 km/h – I promıse you that was nerves, adrenalin and heart rate got a wakeup call on such a holy Sunday.
I hope you had an awesome weekend too and remember: you will never get too
old for the disco.
/T-spotter
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