September 19 -28 2015 - Another great week.
(Very slow getting this blog posted as we have not been able to access blogspot in Iran.)
We crossed the border from Serbia into Bulgaria at Strezimirovtsi and followed the sign for the motel in the small village a few km away. Lovely signs but no motel, it had closed some years previously... We met a guy, his wife, young daughter and his elderly father. We wandered over to his fathers place nearby, they were visiting him from Sophie over the 4 day long weekend but staying in the hotel 25 km away in Tran. They were pretty sure the hotel was full but offered for us to stay at his fathers if we could not find anywhere else.
I must admit to being quite taken back when we first met this guy (who shall remain nameless on this blog but hopefully has a laugh if he reads it!) he was shirtless, which was not the problem BUT the pistol tucked into the waistband of his shorts was clearly visible... Coming from NZ, where that would never happen, it was quite a shock to me. Taken back because, firstly, I wondered if it was OK/legal to carry a gun and secondly did you need one in Bulgaria? And then only 30 minutes into a new country I am asking myself, is this a safe place to travel?
Maybe he was secret police!
Anyway, to continue, we enjoyed a drink and chatted about Bulgaria and his father who was described as an 'old commie.' I think he was talking about his attitude to life and the hangover from the old bygone days, its obviously been difficult for some of the older men. A couple of ph calls later and we had a place to stay at a kind of lodge as long as we understood there would be a disco later that night. It was late afternoon, we had already cycled a tough 80km but quickly covered the remaining 25 and were escorted just on dusk to our digs for the night. (Photo 1) It was just a notch up from a Nepalese tea house - the notch being the hot shower. We had to plug the cylinder in and wait a while but it was worth the wait and a very cheap place to stay at 5 euro each.
There was a group of young people eating at the restaurant. They spoke English, were very excited to talk to us and to make sure we got checked in and looked after. A great bunch. They were from Sophie and visiting a nearby tourist attraction. Bulgaria has a 'See your own country' programme which has been running for many years and they were ticking off the 100 sites. By the time they left it was about 9.30 and we were starving. The menu meant not a thing to us being totally in a foreign script and language. I asked for the only Bulgarian thing I knew - a Chopska salad - and got a number of wobbly shakes of the head back from the waiter. This continued until we remembered (we had read) that in Bulgaria a shake of the head means yes and a nod means no. So funny to see. Trevor headed out to the kitchen to play charades with the cook - I tend to avoid such places prefering to keep the image of a pristine environment firmly intact! But he did well and we enjoyed an omlette, Chopska salad, fries and a beer.
The music cranked up as we headed up the rickety stairs to bed and continued until 3.45 am but we were so tired it was not a problem. Funny, we didn't even consider joining them.
We were glad we had paid the night before as there was no sign of life the next morning when we left. We met up with our new friends at their hotel for coffee and chatted on the ph to his rugby mad mate who told us the All blacks were playing that night and that Japan had beaten S Africa. We were very glad to have met this couple and their daughter, they were good fun, very helpful and also exchanged some euros for us which was great as no banks were open until Wednesday.
Tran - Pernik 50 km
A cruisy ride to the next big town of Pernik through mainly an agricultural area. Big farms with huge machinery, different from the small holdings we had seen in Serbia.
We had been warned about the 'gypsies' and told to stay clear and avoid eye contact. Not possible. We stopped for lunch in a small town and sat outside to eat. Almost immediately this gypsy woman approached us begging for something, anything. She stood really close totally invading our space and had that - I am not going to move till I get something look. I contemplated giving her my half eaten bread roll as she looked particularly thin and hungry but remembered we had a half loaf of (stale) bread from Serbia still in our bag which I am slightly embarrassed to say was heading for the rubbish bin. I gave it to her, her face lit up with a huge smile and off she went. I'm not sure if the smile was because she had succeeded in getting something or if she was genuinely pleased to get bread. Either way it was a sobering reminder again of how little some people have.
We stopped in Pernik at the first hotel. It actually looked a bit rich for us (3***) but was surprisingly cheap. A lovely huge suite and a zillion tv channels, one broadcasting the All blacks/Argentina game so that was a huge bonus.
Pernik - Samokov 87 km
Off early on deteriorating roads. It seems maintenance is a totally foreign concept here. There are rusted road barriers hidden by trees, shrubs and weeds growing over the roads. What originally would have been a full two lane highway with a shoulder is now about one lane wide with the trucks pruning the foliage as they whiz by. We felt like we were cycling in the middle of the rd - a bit scary. The apartments we saw today were the same, ugly, decrepit and have that old soviet bloc look and the people seem to have a let's do nothing to improve things attitude.
We kept to the smaller roads but often the nearby motorway would run out or was under construction and all of a sudden we were ambushed with traffic until the motorway started up again. I was being particularly careful while negotiating our way through a busy town when a bike went flying past, one young guy cycling and his mate standing up on the back of the bike giving the instructions. No helmets, dark clothes, weaving in and out of the traffic without a care...
Another nice hotel at the end of the day with a good restaurant, great, we didn't need to venture out in the dark.
It's an easy country to travel in, unfortunately it is the poorest country in the EU, ( its like Croatia, in the EU but retains its own money ) again with high unemployment but everything is pretty cheap which is a bonus for us. We saw drains being dug - 15 guys with spades. But just up the road fibre optic cable being laid and all the machinery to go with it. The villages we have seen are fairly basic, just the necessities.
The wobbly shake gives us a laugh everyday. People are friendly and wobble shake and wave. We in turn nod and smile in greeting or nod and say hello. A nod to us is a kind of positive affirmation. As much as we tried, it is impossible to shake and smile or shake and say hi, try it!
Samokov - Vetren Dol - 71 km
A little bit of highway then off onto quieter roads winding through small villages. Lots of fire wood collecting going on as there has been in every country. It's a full time job! There was a hotel showing on our map quite on its own and off the beaten track. We headed that way getting less optimistic as the hours went by, wondering if it would be there or abandoned like a lot we had seen and all the while hoping we didn't have to head back down to the highway and a further 30 km. But up and down a hill, over the railway to the edge of town and there it was, a Bulgarian resort with lots of hot pools. We timed it right arriving on the last day of the 4 day holiday when most people had gone home. 30 euro for a small stand alone cabin. A great way to spend the rest of the afternoon soaking in a spa pool. Who would have thought??
Vetren Dol- Batak Lake 75 km
We had to do a detour to a bank to finally exchange some money, we had been paying our accommodation in euros and getting just enough local money in change but not ideal so a really busy road for 25 km then off up into the hills to Batak town where we got some supplies and then up to Batak Lake. A popular place in summer but not much happening as we rode in. The sun was going down, it was really chilly and a lot of the lodges closed up for winter. But we found one open, a lovely view across the lake (photo) and it came complete with a deep bath. Perfect.
Batak Lake - Devin 70 km, Wildlife day.
We whizzed back down to the town and wandered through the cafe street, an incredible amount of coffee places open and not many people about. We got some bakery food then wound our way up through a valley. This was a cross-country day over some rough roads but nice through remote bush. As we headed down one hill a large deer came crashing down the bank beside us, across the road, up the otherside and off again through the bush. A few minutes later we disturbed a smaller one beside the road and in its panic to get away ran right between our bikes.
Further on, again blatting downhill,
I heard Trevors wheel skid and saw him stop in a hurry. As I got closer I slowed right down both brakes on thinking take it easy maybe the rd is slippery... I looked down just as I was about to put my foot on the ground and right under my bike was a big fat snake slowly slithering away. Trevor had woken it up and it had raised its head and given him a fright, I somehow managed not to stand on it or run it over... But still no bear sightings and they are here in these mountains. Quite a few signs about. We asked some locals before we took this road, they said they had only seen the beers on TV. It was raining as we arrived in town.
Devin - Smolyan 54 km
Heavy rain this morning so we didn't leave until it started to fine up around lunchtime. Easy, mainly downhill, a reward for yesterdays up. They are advertising tours to see bears. 90% chance of seeing one. I was very tempted but the weather put me off.
The towns have been getting nicer, cleaner and tidier with obvious signs of pride and the area seems more wealthy than where we started a week ago. More tourist attractions in this area. We missed a turnoff but before we realised the locals had stopped us and pointed us in the right direction. I love it when people know where we are going.
Smolyan - Zlatograd 57 km
We rode along a river through a gorge. Mountains of scrubby pine trees that get cut in half and basically thrown down the hillside and used for firewood. No forest roads. We arrived early in Zlatograd but were not sure if there were any more places to stay closer to the Greek border so decided not to risk it and stayed in a gorgeous hotel. (We did see a motel the next day about 20 km further) We had time to have a good walk around the town. Saturday night and lots of Greeks were visiting, eating at the restaurants and drinking at the hotels, apparently its much cheaper.
Zlatograd - Alexandroupolis, Greece 148 km.
45 km and time on the super highway as we got close to the Bulgaria/Greek border, a steady climb up to the top of a hill. Goodbye Bulgaria, it's been fun. Although we only saw one gun we are told many people carry them... Only in Bulgaria!
Greece here we come.
A quick passport check and stamp and a thrilling down hill on an even better road through six tunnels, all short, well lit, and no traffic, we flew through going 60 kph - that's how tunnels should be!
Then the super highway just petered out to a narrow country rd, 15 km from a big city, hmm I think the EU money may have run out...
Cotton fields, olive trees and a really long ride to the coast. In fact the most kms we have done in a day but there was absolutely nowhere to stay on the route we had chosen. There was also no food places open (Sunday) so we were really tired and really hungry as we made our way into Alexandroupolis just on dark. We found a campground right on the beach. Phew.
Akexandroupolis, Greece to Kesan, Turkey - 85 km
I enjoyed a swim first thing in the morning (Mediterranean) thinking it would probably be the final opportunity on this trip. Sea temp and air temp pretty much the same. Cool.
Not a lot of austerity evident in this city. Unbelievably expensive. A coastal, tourist spot, the start of the off season and not many tourists about but an overload of empty high rise flash hotels.But the locals tell us how bad everything is for them and they can only withdraw 250 euro per week from the Atm. Not so for us, we managed to get the rest of the euros we needed.
Then off we pedalled to Turkey. It bucketed down almost all the way to the border. A busy highway. Just 24 hrs in Greece, an easy exit and then about 5 passport checks on the Turkish side. We got so cold standing around in queues of traffic in the wind and the rain. Then on past tense looking armed guards stationed along a bridge as we crossed an area of no-man's land and into Turkey. Just another 40 km to Kesan where we will stay the night. Hope we dry out before then.
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