Beyond the coastal town of Sile, it didn’t take long for the D-20 dual carriage way to be reduced to a potholed minor road. Foolishly, I decided to switch to the coastal route, mainly because it would be quite a bit shorter, and I didn’t think it could be any worse. It was. Bitter, penetrating winds, winding descents and steep climbs, traversing valley after valley. Took about three hours to cover just thirty kilometres.
For a supposedly coastal route, the Black Sea rarely put in an appearance until I reached the seaside town of Agva. Pleasant enough, but, conscious of limited daylight, I pressed on inland, back on the D-20, towards the town of Kandira. As I headed away from the coast a light dusting of snow on the surrounding hills soon became a thick blanket, fortuitously just the road remaining clear.
Progress was now much better, abruptly interrupted only by the odd dog encounter. I’d already abandoned my electronic dog deterrent since all it seemed to do was, at best, to arouse curiosity, but more often than not, to act like a beacon for every mastiff in the neighbourhood. Fortunately, the dog repellant faired better, but even that really required the canine to be downwind or else you ran the risk of coming off worse in the encounter.
Reaching Kandira at nightfall – population 14,500 the sign said – I was hopeful of somewhere to stay. Stopping beside a cafe on the edge of the town, I soon drew a small crowd, whose intent, I quickly realised, was to help me. A brief conversation in French with a woman and a man was detailed off to escort me to what I hoped would be a cheap hotel.
And cheap the hotel certainly was – about eight pounds for a bed. Quirky too – no light switch in the room, you had to ask Reception to turn the bare bulb on and off. Not a huge inconvenience as it was only about ten feet away. But, nevertheless, a friendly establishment, a steady stream of hot tea as I sat in the lounge. Just best not to mention the one communal toilet and shower.
I can’t believe the dog deterrent went. It must of been really useless. Stick to rocks in the pocket. All the best Myles