Day 24 - Risiti to Barazca

Woke up at 0330 itching madly. We were all bitten by fleas in the hotel room to the extent that Kirsty looks like a spotty adolescent.

Left the hotel at 0600a nd climbed steeply for a couple of miles to the sound of cocks crowing and dogs barking. By the time we had covered 3 miles at the outskirts of the town we had seen about 30 stray dogs, some of which decided to chase us. We had several more canine attacks as we passed through villages along our route. Beside dodging dogs, we were dodging potholes. In some places there was as much pothole as road. We also saw a dead horse lying beside the road.

After a few hours we reached the border with Serbia and then climbed for about 6 miles before decending to meet the Danube with Serbia on the opposite bank.

As we stopped for a drink in a roadside cafe, a funeral procession went by. There were about 50 mourners wearing mostly black, singing a hymn as they followed the funeral car. It was not a hearse but a black estate car decked in flowers. Strangely, for us, the coffin was open with the lid wedged alongside.

We are slipping behind our swchedule for the first time and we will have to work hard to make up the deficit over the next couple of days.

In France and Germany, we saw dozens and dozens of lycra-clad sports cyclists and lots of touring cyclists. In Romania, so far we have seen only simple bikes used for functional purposes.

Barry.