Day 35: Long road to Ruse

Vidin to Marker 732 (59km)

After a day off yesterday, I was feeling much better and ready to return to the river. My day off had meant that Hugo and Toby had caught me up, they had battled through the tough weather of the past week well and were still in good spirits. We were on the river early and set the target of arriving in Ruse in 5 days, with an average of 60km per day.

It was another hot day on the river. The Danube often contains islands, which require a brief look at the map to determine if either route round the island is preferable. These islands have become increasingly frequent and larger in size over the past few days. Going past them, the river often become extremely shallow, leaving the water little more than ankle deep. Just before lunch, we passed such a spot and decided to get out for a little walk, a nice break from the kayaking.

In the afternoon, the winds picked up again and the spray deck was back on. The waves weren’t that strong and we continued to make good progress. In the late afternoon, we found a great spot to set up camp, near the 732km marker sign, making it almost exactly a 60km day. Our campsite even came equipped with furniture and we spent the evening relaxing and playing cards until the sun went down. A much better day on the river, still hot with periods of strong wind, but hopefully the toughest days are now past and we can continue to make good progress to Ruse.