Hungary Bulgaria
In Hungary I was ordered off the water by
the river police, where I was told SUP was
banned. This upset me more than anything
else, and I doubt the police were too far from
me before I was swearing with a volume and
enthusiasm nobody has witnessed from me
before. A friend was nearby for filming me,
and we drove my gear to Budapest before
driving me back to where I left the river. I
hiked just over 50km and put all the gear in
again south of Budapest. SUP, cycle and
hike…whatever it takes. In Bulgaria a foot infection came on strong
and I spent time sitting and reclining on
the board. Nights were agonising as I was
unable to sleep with the burning pain.
Topical treatments were insufficient and
my feet felt as robust as wet paper, pain
limiting how much time I could spend
standing on the board, and the skin flaking
away leaving me with sores all over both
feet. Friends and supporters urged me to
call it a day but I could not bear to quit
completely.
Serbia Romania
From Hungary I was in Serbia; a country I
called home for the three preceding years.
Had I accepted beer, Rakia and hospitality
from everyone who offered it I would never
have reached Belgrade. The Serbs are a
fantastic people and being there was a real
highlight of the trip. One section of canyons
had microclimates that gave me some
awful weather and worse water. Some days I
could not even manage 10km, and I was
exhausted and beaten-up just for trying. The expedition was taking more from me
than I was getting out of it and I could not
remain on the water. I left the Danube at
the border with Romania. I hired a bike
from Varna and had it posted to me, and
the next day I cycled to the Black Sea, a
journey of 150km rather than the 350km
remaining on the Danube. After a couple of
days with topical antibiotics, my feet were
improving. I took my board out onto the
Black Sea for a couple of hours. The waves
were high, and, beneath the dark clouds
the sea was certainly black, but the
paddling was magnificent.
Would I do it all again?
Absolutely, although the cycling
section across Germany is something I
would want to keep for the experience
and what it added to the journey
overall. Without a doubt this trip was
one of the best things I ever did. I
finished the trip loving SUP more than
ever.
Mark is an academic and an
adventurer, more info at
www.markhines.org
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