We came up the ramp to Bulgaria and headed for passport control when there was a shout behind and we were called back to the ticket office to pay for the ferry!
We joined the queue behind a couple of lorry drivers and a foot passenger and after 5 minutes remained in the same position this was going to be a long day!
The woman at the ticket office was having an argument with the lorry driver and beckoned us forward. I gave her the Romanian equivalent for the 2 Euro fare which she studied hard then rejected it was Euros or nothing. Fortunately I had some small notes and saw the argument with the lorry driver was that he was trying to bust a 100 Euro note so we managed to avoid any further delay.
At last we were on our way we left Svishtov and straight up a steep hill a reminder that we had left the banks of the Danube behind and were off into the hills. Thankfully we saw a cycle path and followed this until we headed off downhill and into a park with a dead end and statue. We had to double back and climb up to the road only to drop down to take a back road along the river again.
Soon we headed south through a couple of towns and landed into Byala. It was now 4 pm and the next big town Popovo was another 30 miles away so we called it a day with only 33 miles done but I was not concerned as I had not expected much today.
Neither of these places are on the map above but having been travelling pretty much due east in Romania we were now turning more south aiming to get into Turkey at a border crossing just north of Edime.
From there, as confirmed by mission control, Istanbul and the end of Europe looked tantalisingly close!
We found a nice hotel and I watched the first half of the Ajax v Spurs match with my Dutch friend doing all the cheering. I went to bed at half time thinking it was all over at 3-0! (Spurs won)
The next morning we were on the road at 7 am stopping off at the bakery in town to buy some bread and then were off on the road. The road was rising up through the hills and it looked a lot like the roads at home.
The sun was out but it was not too hot so a perfect day to be on the road and the miles rolled by as we took the main road to Popovo.
After this it was a nice quiet country lane to Omurtag which had a fair bit of climbing to be done and as we approached a car stopped and the guy said his passenger was from Omurtag and was there anything we needed to know. We asked if there was a hotel and she gave us directions to the only one in the town which was on the main road. We found the place OK and with 57 miles done we called it a day. The town centre was a mile uphill so we based ourselves at the hotel for the evening and relaxed.
The next morning was the start of a big day as we wanted to get within striking distance of the Turkish border. So we made another early start meeting up for a cup of coffee the chef who had made us a packed breakfast at 7 am and we were off.
We stopped off in town for more provisions for the day then had our hotel breakfast of french toast, feta cheese, olives and jam...nice!
The first two climbs up to Kotel were not too bad with lots of alpine style switch backs and a gentle gradient.
It was 12.30 and we felt OK and decided to push on to Sliven which was over the last climb and started up the valley.
Soon we met these barbarians who were guarding the route.
We were faced with a long 4 mile section of steep climbing and as we gained in higher the sky turned dark and we could hear thunder and with one kilometre to go the rain started to fall and stayed with us as we descended into Sliven.
We ducked into the first restaurant we could find to get into the dry and had a long late lunch. Eric mentioned we had just passed a hotel with a spa and maybe we should stay there tonight. I went online and found one in the next city Yambol which was another 20 miles away but we really needed to get to if we were going to make Turkey tomorrow.
The rain stopped but there was a lot of standing water as we made our way to the main road and which was mostly flat so we were able to put the hammer down and made it within the hour. 75 miles done with sauna and steam bath to relax our tired muscles.
Our final day in Bulgaria started with breakfast in the hotel then we took a slightly longer route to avoid the main road passing the Angels of Bulgaria as we left town.
The scenic route was a bit bumpy with a few dirt tracks but as we joined the main road to the border we had lunch at a petrol station which had a cafe and was we ate it was still sunny but the rain came down so he had another drink whilst it cleared up.
We hit the road in bright sunshine and I could see signs for my final destination in Europe Istanbul which spurred me on.
Then again out of nowhere it started to rain light at first which was OK but soon got heavier and I pulled over to put my jacket on just as it started to hail! After 10-15 minutes of the the sun was out the road ahead was dry and I needed to stop again and put my jacket away.
It seemed to take forever but then we could see the Turkish flag flying over the trees and threaded our way through the waiting lorries to the money exchange then over the border and on to the next Country Turkey.
