We were not too pressed for time, needing only to ride 23 miles with a couple of hills to get to Tulcea to catch the hydrofoil at noon (assuming that they let bicycles on board). Riding was easier than yesterday, since it was cooler, relatively speaking. We had a rather unremarkable ride…except that I will remark that hills always seem steeper and longer during than before or after. We got to Tulcea with plenty of time to spare, since it turns out, in contrast to the official timetable good through June 2012 on the company’s website stating a noon departure, the hydrofoil is at 1pm. We grabbed some lunch at a place on the quayside, and when I check my email I see a reply from Dilara’s friend Alp saying that all is arranged, and we are set to ride on the ferry from Constanta Thursday night, arriving Istanbul Friday noon! Hooray!!!!! I used Skype to call him in Ankara, and get more details. I tried to call the port agent, but had a pretty bad connection and had to give up…but it was time for the hydrofoil, anyway. We took off our panniers, then they tied down our bikes to the roof using our bungies. We dumped our bags in the back, then proceeded directly to fall asleep. After 90 minutes, we had arrived in Sulina, and as we got off, we were immediately accosted by a gaggle of folks wanting to take us to a hotel, offering their services as guides, &c. We worked our way through the gauntlet, and biked down the quay to where I was sure Mile 0 was…only, there was nothing to indicate that we were there. We asked some ladies in front of some government building taking a smoke break, and they indicated that we were at Mile 0. We tried going through a gate, only to be gently scolded by a guard, who directed us around the corner. We kept going past the end of the paved road to an industrial area, where the workers indicated that we needed to go further south, which I knew was wrong. Frustrated, we went ahead and made a video as if we had gotten to the marker. We stopped at a hotel (for such a tiny town, they have quite a number of guest rooms…they are starting to capitalize on the ecotourism boom) for a drink, and the waitress said we needed a boat to get to Mile 0, and they just happened to have one for hire. We declined, and went back to town and checked into our hotel. Unfortunately, they had some internet issues (i.e. they had forgotten the WiFi password), so while John napped I did some war walking to find some access, then I came back for a nap as well. That evening we got cleaned up and went to one of the bars that had access, where we started talking with Cristi, one of the guys who had offered his services as guide earlier. When he heard about our trip and it’s purpose, he said, “Oh, that’s just over here…let me show you.” We leapt up, leaving my laptop behind on the table. He took us back to the building where we spoke with the ladies earlier, and pointed across the river to a small white marker with a 0 on it. A little deflated that there wasn’t a more impressive (or accessible) marker, we did the real video, then returned to the bar (laptop fine) before going to a restaurant that Cristi recommended…pike soup FTW! We made a vain search for ice cream (the new stand had not opened for the summer) before returning to our room and collapsing, finally able to say, “Our quest is at an end.”
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