2017/09/22

Day 55: Camping - Belgorod

The night remains quiet except for a few drunk teens early in the morning and occasionally passing cars. The place is better protected than I initially thought. First of all, in the morning, I change the bulb of the headlight. Luckily, I have another spare bulb.

The afternoon before I bought a bit of stock and so I have some breakfast, but I do it without preparing hot water today.

Soom I'm crossing the Don over a pontoon bridge again, where I can watch many anglers in small boats. One is coming ashore with his catch. Fishing seems to be national sport in the country, but maybe vital, because I have seen many people selling fish along the roadside the days before.

Here the landscape is still sometimes interspersed with sandy strips and steppe grass, it seems that the further I approach to Belgorod, the more fertile it becomes. The weather is also changing and a very strong and very cold wind is coming up.

Although I have "only" a bit more than 400 kilometers to ride and I started early, I arrive later than 4pm in Severnyi, a suburb of Belgorod, in which the parents of Dimi live, whom I know for a few years already. He studies German and English and we got to know each other through an internet platform for language exchange and have been in contact since then. 1.5 years ago, he was as student in Würzburg for half an year and visited us in Hamburg for Christmas. It is very nice to meet him here and his parents are very welcoming.

The motorcycle gets a day off in a guarded parking around the corner of the tower block.

Dimi and I are spoiled with all sorts of goodies from his mom and Dimi has to oil his rusty German again, but he succeeds well. Fortunately, I also realize that I'm still able to speak German and so I can still teach Dimi some of it.

In the evening, we travel by public transport to Belgorod and visit Dimi's favorite café, where, in addition to a very pleasant atmosphere, I get a very good cappucino.