Orient Express Day 46 Aheloy to Malko Tarnovo - 108km

You guessed it - another hot hilly day ahead as we set off from our luxurious hotel towards our last stop in Bulgaria some 7km short of the border with Turkey. We passed by the big city of Burgas and had some challenging road conditions which Merlin handled with aplomb. I noticed my pump missing and assumed it had shaken off but it would turn out to my surprise that it had been dislodged when the bikes were stacked last night and would await me at breakfast tomorrow.

                                                                        

  

Onwards to lunch and counting off the kms - the days just get longer and hotter and it's a real test mentally and physically to get through the day. Fantas, Cokes and ice cream help. Not much to see as I just beat the lunch van into our surprising accommodation at the MK Hospital!

It seems that the hospital was built to service a large area in the manner of centralised Communist-era bureaucracy but was vastly oversized for the small population. So they use part of the building as a hospital and let out other parts for accommodation. One must be careful where one checks in! It seems John and I got the paediatrics ward..

 Miles cooked us our last "camp dinner" of pasta pesto with meatballs and braised eggplant and we availed ourselves of the corner store across the road from the hospital for cold drinks and ice cream. Then off to bed in our airconditioned ward room - if you opened the window and jammed open the door to create a cross-breeze. No sign of Nurse Ratched - I think she may been one floor up...