Day 40: Another sunny day

Ruse to Tutrakan (63km)

After a very tough stretch and without a day off, the guys decided to take it easy this morning. I was feeling good and keen to make progress while the weather was good, so again, I was off on my own. Silistra, the last stop in Bulgaria, is exactly 120km downstream from Ruse, meaning two very manageable days. Tutrakan was situated almost perfectly in between and would be my destination for the day.

Today was one of the hottest days on the river so far, but it was a vast improvement from the wind of days gone by. I made good progress to lunch and stopped in a nice beachy area for some shade. The flow on this part of the river is really good, I think it’s probably been a good current since the second dam, but the ever present winds have made it difficult to know for sure. I am hoping that the strong currents last all the way to the sea and with nothing blocking the water, I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t.

I continued to make good progress after lunch and in the late afternoon, I reached Tutrakan. The initial spot that I pulled up was one of the smelliest places so far, the water was dirty and the bank was covered in litter. I decided to continue on downstream for a couple of hundred metres and found a slightly less gross spot. I tied up the kayak and walked through the small town to a nice hotel. The hotel was equipped with an in house restaurant, reducing the amount of walking to a bare minimum, which makes me happy. I had a relaxing night, spent mostly trying to cool down after a sweltering, yet pleasant day on the river.