Distance: 130km
Elevation: 187m
Around 5am, I could not sleep anymore because of the cold. Also, it was raining slightly. I had breakfast under a tree when my gas ran out. It was just enough for a coffee and a lukewarm muesli.
So, I had some chores to do for today: Get me an additional fleece sweater to keep me warm at night and a gas cartridge.
I said farewell to Leo and Doris and was on my way by 8:15am. My path followed the Druwa River on a deep gravel path through no mans land for 30km or so. It took a lot of time since I couldn’t go fast. Also, it had started raining again. But it was also beautiful.
The villages on the Hungarian side looked very poor, the roads were bad and the people were not smiling or greeting. Nature was stunning though. I felt solitude like I had felt in Canada or Sweden.
After about 50km, I used the first opportunity to cross over into Croatia again. I liked it better here and there was way more infrastructure. In terms of rank order (infrastructure, nature, people) my list is very clear so far when it comes to the new countries on the list:
- Slovenia
- Croatia
- Hungary
In Donji Miholjac on the Croatian side, I found a sweater for 20€ in a home improvement store. They did not sell my type of gas cartridges though. It turned out that it was hard to get here.
I stopped for lunch in a grill and pizza place and had a big burger and a fresh salad.
With the meat and carbs inside my system, I slowly felt warm for the first time that day.
I asked ChatGPT were I could find the right gas in the nearby town Valpovo. It came back with the address of a specialty shop for fishermen in the city center.
I was very doubtful but went their anyways. When I finally arrived after 25km, I did not find the shop and asked a man in the street for help. He knew the place because fishing is a national hobby here. People are really serious about it when you look at their camouflage gear.
The place was upstairs two floors. I would have never found it in my own. It was like a paradise for fishermen. There were many pictures of fishing men in action that were done in an almost erotic way. Very funny.
And, they indeed carried my type of gas cartridge. Another use case for ChatGPT!
When I was leaving Valpovo, the sun finally came out and it got warmer quickly. What a difference that made.
I was now entering a wine region. I had treated myself to an inexpensive room in a B&B with a bathtub. I had been fantasizing about a hot bath all day long.
My mood finally lightened up and I did the last 40km of the day with ease.
I had an early dinner break in Beli Manastir and continued cycling through grapevines.
When I arrived in Suza, I was friendly greeted by the owner of the place in German. He and his family were winemakers and belonged to the Hungarian minority in Croatia.
His second sentence was „Would like a Schnaps or a glass of our wine?“. I chose the wine and it was delicious.
The first thing after I had done some washing was to take a bath. Oh my god, that was good.
I had a call with Carolin and quickly went to bed thereafter.
What a great and productive day it had been. Tomorrow, I would be crossing over into Serbia.