Day 43: Drenched, drained and dreaming of home

Fetesti to Macasu (70km)

The forecast for today was awful. High winds and rain were predicted for the entire day, although tomorrow is predicted to be even worse, so we ploughed on. Our first task was to get back to the river, for this, we would need a taxi. We got back to the kayaks and I immediately realised something was wrong. The rear hatch on my kayak was slightly ajar, a state that I would’ve definitely not left it in. It became instantly clear that some items were missing. The compartment that was open was my clothing one, the only things that seemed to be missing were a red waterproof bag containing a number of miscellaneous items and my brilliant Endura rain coat, perfect timing for the rainy day ahead (fortunately I had another one that I got from Go Kayaking). Throughout the day, I would remember certain items that were in the red bag and subsequently had been stolen. Items such as: The cycle maps I had for the first section, my back up credit card and a fake phone that Geoff had given me back in Dover. The thought of the thieves finding this phone and then discovering that it is fake did allow me a small smile. Nothing of tremendous monetary or sentimental value had been stolen, but still not a great start to the day. I was even a little insulted that despite opening the clothes compartment, the burglars neglected to take any of my clothes except the jacket.

As expected, it was a rough morning on the river, with probably the strongest winds that I’ve experienced on the river so far. After about an hour, having travelled half the normal distance, the winds relented slightly and we began to make better progress. We stopped briefly for lunch, wary that we needed to keep going while the weather was ‘good’.

We were now approaching the point where the river merges and shortly after that, the last bridge over the Danube. It was about 10km before the merge when the first rumbles of thunder began. They quickly became louder and more menacing, bringing with them the familiarly strong winds. I thought to myself that it was strange that it wasn’t raining. In my experience, thunder and lightning are usually accompanied by at least some rain. I had barely finished this thought when the skies opened, it began to rain and didn’t stop for the next three hours. Thankfully, the thunder, lightning and most importantly the winds did stop for the last two hours of the day. Although this was only after the brutal 10km section before the bridge.

The last two hours were actually quite enjoyable. The rain continued and we were now as wet as we could get. It wasn’t cold however, and the winds had almost completely disappeared. We made good progress all the way to the tiny village of Marasu, where my maps promised a guest lodge. It was still raining when we got out from the river and pulling the kayak up the bank was messy work. The bank was almost entirely mud and quite steep, hauling the kayak up it was not a pleasant experience. Once again, I took longer getting my kayak out of the water and tied up, so the guys headed off to find the lodge. I was just finished packing up when they returned, fully laden with their kit, an ominous sign. The lodge seemed to be completely closed and with no other hotels anywhere close, we would be forced to camp. This was hugely frustrating, we had passed quite a few decent camping spots in the past couple of hours, ignoring them all for the prospect of a hotel. Now, we had pulled the kayaks out of the water at a horrible spot that at best, would provide a poor night’s sleep. Too tired to haul the kayaks back to the river and continue, we began searching for the best, or least bad, spot to set up camp. I was a bit surprised that the hotel would be closed, I had checked it out earlier and their website seemed active and up to date. I decided to wander over and inspect for myself. Indeed, it did seem closed, but there was a phone number on the website, I gave it a ring. The owner answered and explained that normally people are advised to book ahead due to the remoteness of the lodge. He very kindly organised for a neighbour to come and let us in, a great triumph. I returned to the river, the guys had already started putting up their tent, but gladly took it down again after my success of gaining access to the lodge. The neighbour arrived and let us in, the lodge was amazing, completely out of place in an otherwise dead and desolate village. It came with several bedrooms, a kitchen and a satellite tv. We had a very nice, relaxing evening, thankful to be warm, dry and to have survived another tough day on the river.