Day 159: Malkin Tarnovo to Lüleburgaz

Crossing the mountains into Turkey

We climbed straight out of the gate this morning, up into the forested hills above our hotel and up to the border with Turkey. As we climbed the rains came and our entrance into Turkey down a steep descent was a wet one.

Climbing up to Turkey

Then the road became very rolling, with a succession of climbs followed by descents. Luckily, we had a bit of a tail wind to help us on our way. It’s a rare thing and we were making the most of it.

Crossing into Turkey

We eventually hit the first town - around 40km into our ride, and stopped for a lovely lunch. By then the rain was tipping down and the restaurant owner turned the heating up and fed us soup, delivering three loaves of bread as we devoured one after another.

Lunch in Kirklareli

We had a brief respite from the rain in the afternoon, but the clouds gathered again later. Luckily, we were in need of emergency calories and ducked into a service station just in time to miss a big downpour. We could sit inside in the dry eating nuts and Magnum ice creams whilst the rain poured down outside.

The rainclouds gathering for round two

We even had time for a hot chocolate before setting off again in a little clearing between the showers.

We’d chosend Lüleburgaz as our destination, more for the distance it was from our starting point that anything else, but it turned out to be a delightful little town. Cobbled streets and plenty of restaurants, plus a beautifully decorated hotel with a plant filled atrium and a very helpful owner. Just what we needed.

More rain forecast for tomorrow.