On April 10th, I left Gottingen. Balazs cycled with me for the day. It was cold but sunny, and we cycled through beautiful German countryside. It reminded us of the time we spent together in Kirgistan Later in the week, weather got worse, i had rain and very cold nights.
On April 14 I entered Poland. Many houses had the national flags out with black ribbons, honoring the president, his wife and other members of his cabinet who had died in a plane crash the week before. That night I spent in a castle (Elim Castle) which was transformed into a Christian mission centre, where i could dry my wet stuff . With lots of tailwind, i arrived in Tychy 3 days later. I spent 2 days with Marc and Magda. Marc and I did some work on my bike, and had a cold beer in the backyard. We had delicious dinner with Magda's family on the day of the president's funeral. Once again, thanks a lot for your hospitality guys!
20 km out of Tychy i visited the concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau. I had visited Auschwitz before, but still, it was very impressive and shocking to see what happened in these camps. Southern Poland is quite hilly, the Polish like to build their roads straight over the highest point of these hills, not through the valleys left and right of these hills
April 22nd I drove into the Ukraine, going through customs as easy as it could possiblty get. Today I am staying with Oleg. Yesterday we bought a train ticket from Kharkov to Novosibirsk in Russia. I will arrive in N-birsk on May 10th, from where I cycle in 3 days to Tomsk. When i reach Tomsk i will update the blog with my stay with Oleg, the ride through the Ukraine and the train journey into Russia.
Some data: Total cycling days: 15 Total km: 1790 Total cycling hours: 95 Altitude meters: 11.496
Balazs and I The river Elbe between Leipzig and Dresden Dresden The Polish flag with black ribbon Marc and Magda in their back yard Auschwitz and Birkenau (below) The Gate into Auschwitz
Later in the week, weather got worse, i had rain and very cold nights. 
