Iskar Gorge

Maddy and Don about to head off after lunch. Sigrid is particularly taken by the Birch trees. The river passing through the gorge.

Some of the stunning rock formations.

Maddy relaxing in the hotel room after a wet, miserable day leaving Sofia.

A bit of Bulgarian Line Dancing to finish the day.

Sofia to Svoge (Sat 30th May, 48.08km @ 16.4kph)

We left Sofia after a hearty breakfast and after saying goodbye to the many people we'd met at the Hostel Mostel. (a great place to stay) We rode out of town in the company of another cyclist whom we had met the night before. Maddy is a 64yr old Swiss physio who had been travelling by bike around the world for many years. She had lived in New Zealand for 30 years. The weather was inclement (pouring), the traffic heavy and the roads potholed and narrow. We found our way to the Iskar Gorge which passes through a mountain range to the north of Sofia. However, the weather was inclement: pouring rain and 10 degree temperatures, visibility was low and we were wet through to the skin and cold. The first town in the gorge was Svoge so we decided to curtail our day's cycling before hypothermia set in and find a hotel. We were relieved to find the one and only hotel in town eventually and settle down for the night. After dinner that evening the hotel came alive with a disco for oldies and lots of Bulgarian traditional dancing which Siggy thoroughly enjoyed .

Svoge to Montana (Sun 31st May, 112.7km @ 21.4kph)

We woke to find the poor weather had cleared and we left Svoge in sparkling sunshine. The gorge was spectacular with a procession of mountains, cliffs, waterfalls and great scenery. The gorge had been scoured out by the forces of water over millions of years and was more down hill than up. We were following a river as it raced down the gorge towards the Danube of which it is a tributary. All in all a great ride. We kicked on towards the town of Montana after parting ways with Maddy who was going to free camp. We found a comfy room in the Hotel Europa for about A $ 40 and after a couple of local beers (less tan $1.50 for 500ml) we were pretty happy with our day's work.