3,661km down: 2,564km to go
This morning our bags were by the van by 6am, breakfast was at 6:15am and we were on the road by 6:30am. All in a bid to try and beat the heat. It was another day of mostly flat riding, but also very hot. We were at lunch by 10:45, determined to be at camp before 2 pm.
The sun was a really fiery red colour when we left this morning (photo from here)
The morning started off quite nice and cool but soon started warming up. We were again riding along a levy but thankfully it was not as hot as the day before. I was riding with Brett again, luckily Brett is really good at following the directions, and he has a really good map. We were idling along the levy – it was like water torture. There were glorious blue swimming-pools on one side, and the river on the other. No one was swimming in the river though so we were not willing to risk it, and also there was no easy access down to it. I did think about throwing myself into one of the swimming pools. I wondered what would happen: “Hey mum there’s a lady in our pool”. Just as I was getting tempted to risk it I got distracted by another bee stinging me (this one took 3 days to stop hurting). The bees or wasps – am not sure which – love me, as soon as I arrive at lunch so do the bees.
After lunch we were riding along the main road. We stopped once for a drink but got back onto the bike without stopping too long. I was starting to wilt as we came to the 120k mark, and I had just said to Brett “Wouldn’t it be great if this was a day they had got the distance wrong by 10k in our favour again?” (like they did at the camp the night before Venice). Just then Brett saw a flag and they had got the distance wrong by 20k 🙂
Our accommodation was a weird set up, we are staying at a sports club which has a bar, swimming pool, tennis court etc. We set up our tents where we were told to, but a couple of hours later we had to dismantle them and set up further down the field away from the members (apparently a couple of them had complained about us being there, not sure what about but it could have been the washing lines with bike pants, bras etc, that upset them).
The water torture continued as you could only use the pool if you had a bathing cap (which of course we didn’t), and then to reinforce our torture, there was a hose spraying the lawn in front of us. This also attracted the mosquitoes in droves. When you came out of your tent in the middle of the night they descended on you as a pack. We all left there sporting numerous bites regardless of putting on bug spray.
With leaving earlier we are getting up in the dark, which is usually ok as I have my head light. However, it has been merrily turning itself on in my bag since St Petersburg, and of course it chose this morning to be flat. The spare batteries are in my permanent bag, which at the moment is off scouting for tomorrow, so I will have no light tomorrow either. It makes getting ready a bit difficult as the phone light is useless.
On a positive note we had dinner in the restaurant at the camp tonight, we had 18 pizzas between 13 people, and the beer was cold. However the Wifi did not work so sending this was delayed. I also got a nasty fright when I went to the toilet – it was a squat toilet, basically a hole in ground with foot spaces on either side. Yuck.
Squat toilet. Yuck.
Kaye's Awesome Adventures 