Yerevan – End of the trip

Question to Radio Yerevan: “Can you cycle from Europe to Yerevan?” 

Answer Radio Yerevan: “In principle you can. There are some mountains in between, a sea, consider you might have snow and be aware to meet many dogs. Apart from that it’s a nice journey.”

The entry to the city of Yerevan was again in rain and I had to focus my full concentration on the riding rather then looking around. I noticed quickly that this city has not even motorbikes let alone bicycles which alerted me even more as the fellow traffic members are simply not used to smaller type objects than cars. Later I asked a local guy why there are no motorbikes and he explained this that it is in a way not appropriate to use an open vehicle. 

From the very beginning I was very much in sympathy with this city. I found good places for food, it has an enormous cultural background and it’s surrounded by mountains. As the sky cleared on the third day after my arrival one could finally see the impressive Ararat which is just around 50km away from downtown.

Getting a bit deeper in the Armenian history it’s indeed a sad position they are in. The country is surrounded by neighbors they never had been friends with and which made them the punching ball between the ones in power with the last culmination just a year ago. The city is full of martial monuments giving reminiscence of this and expressing the Armenian proud to never have surrendered.

Yerevan is a good end of my trip. The unclear situation with the new Omicron Variant and the danger for new waves and in particular the possibility that further countries may shut down borders with airlines cancelling flights convinced me to book a flight home rather now than later. I am sure that I will return here again as there are many more roads and regions which are worth to be explored than I have seen on this trip and furthermore the country is very welcoming to any sorts of travellers.

Crossing to Armenia

The Goderdzi Pass was stressing me more than I thought and I felt that I needed a day longer to recover. The hotel I had chosen in the valley was nice and the owner had been happy to host their only guest a day longer.

Initially it was my plan to go to Tbilisi which would have been two additional days of cycling. Alternatively I could go via another pass to Armenia. The weather forecast was not great but at least it was such that I should have a fair chance to make it.

Early in the morning I started in lumpy rain upstream a river valley which was cultivated like a park from the many small size cows they are grazing there freely like sheeps. Traffic was moderate and by lunchtime the rain even stopped. Then after a steep ascent I came out of the valley at Achalkalaki and I reached a wide plateau that should bring me to the Armenian border.

I was still climping up gradually after I spent the night on this plane until I reached the checkpoint at the highest point well above 2000m. Leaving Georgia was quick and easy. Cycling was no issue in terms of ice on the road so far. However in the nowhere land between Georgian customs and Armenian checkpoint I had to push the bike and take care that I may not slip even when walking. Seems nobody feels responsible for this 500m in between the two countries.

The Armenian checkpoint was massively overstaffed for the five or ten vehicles passing there in an hour to my estimation. The many employees meant that my passport was checked in several stages. The people had been all very friendly but I could not figure out what the next officer may see what the one before may have not already checked. Maybe it was just a thing that several people had an interest to see the passport of this outlandish type of traveller strangely dressed crossing to Armenia at this time of the year on bicycle. 

After another half day of cycling up and down I reached the city of Gjumri. I got Armenian Dirams,  SIM card and a well needed warm place in a guest house to spend the night. The route to Armenians capital Yerewan meant once more to climb up the lesser Caucasus the next day before getting to lower ground in Yerewan over the following 80km. The trip will take an unwanted turn here which I will let you know in the next post. 

Goderdzi Pass

The logistics went well in Batumi and within short time I had SIM, cash and a new pair of winter boots. The weather forecast was not promising with rain coming in and decent snow over the lesser Caucasus. If I want to stick to my route I had to leave Batumi early before snow may make the route via Goderdzi Pass in direction to Tbilisi unpassable. 

I left early in the morning after the day of my arrival to move up the Adschariszqali Valley in eastern direction . There was a nice warm southern wind like we have it in the Alps coming over the mountains but as we well know you need to be careful once it stops.

 
It was peaceful riding with mainly Ford Transit shared taxis moving up and down from time to time on the nice termac road. About lunchtime I made a break to take sandwiches from the market as no restaurants had open. When I went back on the bike a dog was escorting me out of the village. Knowing that this might be critical I tried to convince him to return – first verbally and then throwing some small wood sticks after him. He did not care but kept a bit of a larger distance but still running in front of me as if he wanted to show me the way. 

When I made another afternoon stop he waited at my bike while I was in the shop and when I returned you could see that he was defending my kit from other dogs that showed up. I had not much other choice then to let him come with me.

The street bacame a rough gravel road at the village called Chulo so the going became very slow. I went for the night in a bus stop shack as there was no way to come up to the pass on that day. I babtisted my new travel companion after the name of this village. He slept at the entrance and several times that night I heard him growling likely because another dog was approaching. 

I got up before daylight the next day and it was clear that the rain will turn into snow as I climb up higher. I was in the mood to try it anyhow and the fact that some cars came in my direction gave me security that I am gonna make it. On the way working up I had several offers for a lift which I turned down mainly because I wanted to do it by own forces but also I did not want to leave Chulo in the snow. At least I felt responsible to bring him back down in moderate temperature. 

By pushing the bike through snow over the last twelve kilometers I reached the Goderdzi Pass. Though soaked from rain on lower ground and now snow-covered I felt great to have made it likely as the last cyclist in this year up this pass. I already read that the pass is a climatic devide which blocks humidity from the west so I was in good hope that the way down will be better than the way up. 

After some kilometers which I made in a mixture of riding and gliding I realized that my breaks gave up. I well did remember  that I should have changed the rubbers before. There was no other way than to do it now in the snow, with completely dirty rimms and wheels and pretty cold fingers.

 
The other issue to solve was how to continue with Chulo. I knew that I would turn into a more busy road which would be by far to dangerous to let him run with me. In the first little market where the termac road started I purchased some sausages to pay him for the calories he lost over the pass. While he was enjoying his meal I was quickly pedaling off knowing that he had no chance to follow on downhill termac. I wish him all the best in his new habitat. He will have plenty of other dogs around and pretty sure the climate in the dry east is favorable to the west where he picked me up. 

Black Sea Cruise

The Black Sea ferry is indeed different to the ferry trips I made in the past. I was wondering why they were fixing the lorries with chains as I never saw this in other places. With a very calm sea the ship was already gradually rolling left and right so the chain fixing is surely needed if the going would have gone tough. From my cabinmate I was told the ship left only by around 4am in the morning so it seems they waited until every slot was occupied to get the profits right.

The days on sea passed quickly with the breaks for meals giving it a good structure. Food was basic but I liked it especially as I did not have to do grocery and cooking by myself. Staff was extremely friendly and I sensed this to be a friendliness coming rather from beeing a larger family on board than a trained customer politeness.

 
Also it was quite ok to be without internet for more than two days. A thing which I only had two years ago in Iran when they switched off the network because of the riots. I spent the time sleeping, reading and drinking beer having some basic conversation with people on board. I already got aware that speaking Russian would be much more valuable here than English.

Payment was asked on the last day when we approached Georgia. They kept my passport which gave them some security though. It very much reminded me on Chris de Burg’s song not to pay the ferryman until he brings you to the other side. I would very much appreciate such payment terms when dealing with airlines.

Now I am in Batumi and will stay here one or two days to get adjusted. I need to get Georgian SIM card, enough cash and better winter shoes. My cycling shoes likely will not be enough to cross the lower Caucasus mountains where the road meanders up to well above 2000m with sections where I will likely have to push the bike rather than riding it.

Sunny Beach and Burgas

The hot sulfur springs in Varna had been absolutely fabulous. The pool was hot and directly at the sea so with just some steps you could cool down in the Black Sea. I spent there more then three hours oscillating between the pool and the open sea.

After Varna I turned south towards Burgas. With my cautious daily milage calculation because of the headwind I planned more than one day for this. At the end I could have done it in one day as with the absence of the wind from the front my pace came back as I was used to in the past. 

Would I have done this I may have missed though the spooky stay at Sunny Beach. This is a city like the catalogue booking tourist sites in Spain where large hotel complexes are chaining up along the sandy beach for kilometers. The hotel room was fairly priced in the booking portal so I went for this. From the operator I got informed that a backdoor of the hotel is open and my keys are on the open room door. Literally I spent the night as the only person in this complex. I did not mind having no breakfast buffet as I carry everything needed with me anyhow and also it was ok to carry bike and bags up to the room as elevators had been switched off. 

It was a short ride to Burgas from there. The city seems well organized and I could use even some bike lanes in the city. Also it has a stunning cycle track along the beach which gave me some feeling of California with the sun shining and mild temperatures. 

This is the endpoint of my Bulgarian section as from here the ferry starts to Batumi in Georgia. From other cyclists I was told that the route along the Black Sea in Turkey is less favorable for cycling and I love ferry cruises. So I am looking forward for spending the weekend on the boat just resting and enjoying full board. I went for mandatory PCR test in the morning and got the result just after lunch. Now I am waiting at the ferry point for the next leg of this trip to begin. 

Through Bulgaria

There is this cycling theory of the prevailing western wind in Europe which I was very much a believer of it but only until now. Since Vienna I was riding with wind from the east and this only stopped during the days it was raining. I payed for that with minimum two additional travel days but have reached the Black Sea at Varna by now. 

The country is sparsely populated. I had sections with village to village distances of more than 20km. The good thing is that in each village you find a shop where to get refuelled. Remarkable already when arriving in Bulgaria is the huge amount of coffee machines. In the smallest towns you will find minimum one. They seem to be all displaced from Italy as Italian is their operating language and the money slots are labeled in Euro though they acccet only Lew. I tried with all coins which I collected over this trip but they are well calibrated on Bulgarian currency. Those machines must be discarded in Italy as it’s hard to believe they can generate enough revenue to pay off new if the cup of coffee is priced less than the equivalent of 25 Euro Cents.

It’s very nice to spend some rest days here in Varna with mild temperatures and sunshine. They have hot sulfur springs here open freely to the public and I am looking to go for one of these when there are less people around than today on a Sunday. 

It’s only around one and a half days riding south the coast to reach Burgas from Varna so I am well on schedule to reach the Ferry on Friday. 

Double entry to Bulgaria

The last night in Serbia I stayed at a really special hotel close to the border in Negotin. It is run by a cycling lover and the walls are full with pictures from cyclists round the world. It was a confortable stay in one of his apartments and I very much appreciated the talks. 

Getting over to Bulgaria was a bit more complicated. The website of German foreign affairs mentioned that there is only one checkpoint open between Serbia and Bulgaria which would have been far off my route. The hotel owner said he had two cyclists coming the other way on the small but nearby checkpoint a week ago so it must be open. 

The way to the checkpoint was completely deserted so my hope sank a bit. When I arrived at the barrier an officer with friendly face came out and explained me either to go to the far away checkpoint or he could let me enter as a transit passanger for max 24h because I am on bicycle. I should move to the next larger city Vidin and leave Bulgaria again to Romania and make a U turn in Rumania to reenter to Bulgaria. This way Bulgarian customs can check my Covid documentation and allow for a proper immigration. 

To me this did sound weird but at least I could avoid the huge detour. Cyclists had not been allowed on the motorway bridge over the Donau in Vidin to Rumania but I did not care and the plan with the immediate reimmigration to Bulgaria just worked fine.

The country seems significantly lower in standard of living than Serbia. You see horse drawn carts as means of transport and the architectural reminiscence of the communist time is still visible on many places. After riding on the main highway to Sofia for about thirty kilometers I could leave the main road which did not mean though that there would be no lorries.

Having done allready more than 2000km on this trip the Black Sea at Varna is now only around 400km away. The next days will be all through country side. After the heavy rains the last days the forecast predicts dry weather so camping will be fine in the foreseable absence of hotels.

Iron Gate

The leave from Belgrad was in pooring rain and it did not stop until the evening. The route onward also was not worth to mention with cycling mainly on busy roads as the country roads were unpassable because of the soaking ground. 

The following day the rain became a bit less. It was an absolute fabulous stretch from Velico Gradiste to the Iron gate. The Donau cuts a deep canyon in the Jurrasic limestone here and on the tiniest section of the iron gate the river has just a width of around 150m. It’s said that this section is the most spectacular break through of the river on its complete length and I tend to agree to this.

Unfortunately I reached this section only by late afternoon with not sufficient light to make pictures. What I could see in the fading daylight though was indeed impressive and likely the most memorable part on the path.

On the way to the Bulgarian border I was stopped by the police. The situation immediately made me thinking as there was no single reason to stop me. They asked for my police registration and why I am not wearing mandatory safety vest. The first was never mentioned on any website and the second was pretty rediculous. It seemed that they realized that I am not inclined to pay them anything so they went back to their car and drove away. 

Apart from that Serbia has been a very nice country to go through. I had many times people waiving to appreciate my cycling, people in the shops were very friendly and I had been warmly welcomed at all places I stayed. I hope the journey through Bulgaria in the upcoming days will be the same and I am happy to tell you in my next chapter. 

Croatia and crossings to Serbia

My Hungary leave was rather unexpected in the Duna-Dráva-Nationalpark. I did realise it first when my mobile showed Serbian network and cars had Serbian number plates. The path along the Donau likely seems not worth beeing controlled though its actually an EU border. If you look on the borderline in this area it appears like a weird curve pattern. My unexpected EU leave meant however that after around 40km of Serbia I had to reenter EU into Croatia with the inevitable queuing process before I reached Vukovar in Croatia. 

Somehow I had the desire to see this little city on the east end of Croatia which was the starting point of the Balkans war in the nineties and I well remember this name from the news at that time. Touristically this place has nothing to offer but it’s still a very symbolic point with huge monuments at its outskirts to keep reminiscence on the resistance against Serbian aggression. 

After another half day of cycling I had my official EU leave into Serbia by crossing the Donau at Plankenburg. First thing was to get a local SIM card which never ever had been easier than in Serbia. For less than 5 Euro I got the card valid for 10 days with a data package that would be sufficient for a full quarter of a year. All that came without registration, passport scanning or signature of unreadable documents like I had experienced in other countries I traveled to. 

What I learned by now riding on the Donau is that you need to be careful with route suggestions from the road planning tools. Between Novi Sad and Belgrad it sent me in a nowhere area on complete unpaved road. Mud clogged between the fenders and the tyre. At a certain point the only way of spinning the wheels was unmounting the fenders to be able to at least push the bike forward and to return the 3 kilometers I came from to find again a cyclable road. 

The other tricky point are the ferry transfers over the river. Some are completely closed at winter times or have a very reduced operation time so when you arrive outside of them you may wait for the next day or consider a huge detour as alternative bridges can be many kilometers away.

 
With all my lessons learned I arrived to Belgrad and allowed myself a rest day to see the city and to do some proper cleaning and service on the bike. 

Eurovelo 6 in Hungaria

It was a comfortable stay in Budapest and I could pretty much cure the cold I must have catched somewhere in Vienna. Tourism seems to have well recovered and my hostel was fully booked with tourists from all over the world.

The comfortable cycle path Eurovelo 6 which spans from the Atlantic to the Black Sea degraded after Budapest. In Austria and Slovakia there was no real need for navigation as each turn was well signed. It was mainly nice termac on exclusive cycle roads and along the way you found amenities like benches and even self repair stations for the ones in need for this. 

South of Hungaries capital I only noticed few signs that indicated that I am still following Eurovelo 6 and I was very happy that I downloaded the route all the way on my navigation tool. It went now on local roads, regional roads and then again cycle path mixed of termac and gravel. I share some understanding that Hungarians have a lower priority on developing this kind of infrastructure as even on a bright Sunday I only saw a handful of people using the path. 

The weather has been superb for this time of the year since leaving Vienna and the high pressure seems strong enough to confine the low pressure currently causing lots of rainfalls in the Mediterraneans. The price I have to pay for this though is a constant headwind blowing from the south for the last couple of days. It’s not worth trying to beat the wind to keep milage up. If you do so you may manage one day but you are dead on the other which does not really help to keep milage up in the long run. For next week the weather forecasts predicts some rain so let’s see how I adapt to this. 

Tomorrow I will reach Vukovar already in Croatia and within another day of cycling I should leave EU and get into Serbia.