We woke early, and were invited for breakfast with an old couple living next door. They showed us the cards from their 50th wedding anniversery last year. Then we filled our water bottles from their well. Later I tried to use the well, doing as the old lady had done, but I just let the bucket drop at great speed into the water far below. It was surprisingly hard to crank it back up to the surface, the old lady had made it look easy!

We cycled on, stopping at Monki to use the internet. We reached the town of Bialystok around half five. We were searching for the tourist information centre to ask about cycle routes, as the polish roads had been very busy. We tried to ask some policemen for directions, but as we did they decided to issue someone a parking ticket.

Recently I have been taking more and more opportunities to meet new people, asking strangers for directions, water and permission to camp has lead to many great experiences and new friendships. As Delboy says "he who dares wins", taking a chance and knocking on a door often pays off. However our next encounter with friendly people was pure luck.

As we stood, being ignored by the policemen, 2 friendly men approached us and asked if they could help. This ultimately lead to us being shown around the city, which was originally a palace and garden, and being shown to the road out of town. we were invited to join them for food at a bar, but this sounded a little extravagent. It emerged that the two men were part of the local green party and were campaigning for better cycle routes in the city. I wish them well.

We cycled out of town, then asked to camp at a farm as the sun was getting low. We were then invited in for tea and snadwiches. An old couple lived there, they had been married for 54 years. They had 8 children, and many grandchildren. Many of the children seemed to live in adjacent houses on the farm. They grew crops and and reared horses. I hoped i would be able to ride one, as they showed us the stables. then it emerged that the horses were reared to be sold to Italy to be eaten. One horse was a massive 840 kg!

We had a good time chatting to them and then fell asleep exhausted.