The bus immediately assailed us with a video of a gyrating Bulgarian pop singer with almost nothing on.
After we crossed the border I could see the ex-soviet traces immediately
Even more dilapidated buildings than in turkey
The Cyrillic writing with occasional English even though virtually noone spoke any English.
When I arrived in Plovdiv, Bularias second largest city, I was immediately rebuffed by the one piece of travel advice Id been given, That it is a member of the EU and prices are in euros
I couldn’t leave the bus station until I found some Bulgarian money
Luckily a Turkish bus operator changed a 10 euro note
I finally found my hostel after travelling on a dilapidated bus filled by men with caps, looking very worn out.
I took the last bed in the place and luckily the manager spoke some English
I was staying old Plovdiv: very historical with many beautiful
churches
200 year old houses
a Roman amphitheatre. 
and a local mosque.
In fact they say the town is built on the ruins of Europes oldest known settlement 5000 years ago.
I wandered into the beer garden. Bulgarian beer is very cheap at 50 cents a glass.
Later that night I was looking for food and music in the centre of the city.
One long mall filled with umbrellas, seats, beer drinkers and pizza and doner kebab shops .My one hope was a sushi bar which turned out pretty bad sushi
As for the music , none of the famous Bulgarian accordion to be found.
Later that night I was looking for food and music in the centre of the city.
One long mall filled with umbrellas, seats, beer drinkers and pizza and doner kebab shops .My one hope was a sushi bar which turned out pretty bad sushi
As for the music , none of the famous Bulgarian accordion to be found.
Just one lone gaida (goat skin bagpipes) player in the mall. He was pretty good.
The next morning I successfully avoided some aussies in the hostel, preferring anonymity and went looking for the bus to the Bachkovo monastry in the hills.A nice challenge, with no language.
2 hours later I was dropped off and walked up the hill to the entrance.
Being a Sunday it was full of people.
I waited in a queue to get in the old church before I realised it was a queue to kiss one of the iconic paintings.
2 hours later I was dropped off and walked up the hill to the entrance.
Being a Sunday it was full of people.
I waited in a queue to get in the old church before I realised it was a queue to kiss one of the iconic paintings.
Interesting how people were pushing into the queue (and then asking for Gods blessing.
In fact people were kissing all of the 50 or so iconic panitings 
around the church and lighting heaps of candles.
around the church and lighting heaps of candles. I saw one boy who got into the spirit by kissing the walls and anything he saw.
I wandered into the hills and came across the original sleeping quarters next the cemetery. The building is 1000 years old.
I kept wandering into the hills , loving the chance for exercise in the nice leafy forest. I walked for about two hours 
past goat herds 
and decorated water spouts giving the local spring water.Down the bottom of the hill I passed the many stalls selling grilled meat and found a restaurant with a picture of a fish
Indeed they were serving trout which turned out to be terrific . It went down great with the local wine. They love their white cheese and even cover their hot chips with it,
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful except for a diatribe by a local who hates Turkish people and who tried to sell me a bad kaval (flute).
I read my Bosnian book in a park , frustrated because noone was lying on the grass. I presumed that I couldn’t either.
That night I was travelling back to Turkey armed with a few bottles of Bulgarian wine.
The music played on the bus was all Greek, Im sure just to annoy the Turks on board.
The border crossing proved more difficult
At 1am we came to the first barrier. We were getting on and off the bus at various points in the cool night air, ordered by the fascist bus drivers assistant. She would point at me “go there!” or “stay!”
We had our luggage checked and finally got to the last barrier only to be turned back because the exit stamp from Bulgaria was wrongly dated the previous day. We reversed back a kilometre to correct them and finally passed through into Turkey. The border crossing had taken 2 and a half hours! We were cold and exhausted..
Just before dawn the bus stopped at a cafe so the Turks could feed themselves.
This was the first morning of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Indeed they were serving trout which turned out to be terrific . It went down great with the local wine. They love their white cheese and even cover their hot chips with it,
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful except for a diatribe by a local who hates Turkish people and who tried to sell me a bad kaval (flute).
I read my Bosnian book in a park , frustrated because noone was lying on the grass. I presumed that I couldn’t either.
That night I was travelling back to Turkey armed with a few bottles of Bulgarian wine.
The music played on the bus was all Greek, Im sure just to annoy the Turks on board.
The border crossing proved more difficult
At 1am we came to the first barrier. We were getting on and off the bus at various points in the cool night air, ordered by the fascist bus drivers assistant. She would point at me “go there!” or “stay!”
We had our luggage checked and finally got to the last barrier only to be turned back because the exit stamp from Bulgaria was wrongly dated the previous day. We reversed back a kilometre to correct them and finally passed through into Turkey. The border crossing had taken 2 and a half hours! We were cold and exhausted..
Just before dawn the bus stopped at a cafe so the Turks could feed themselves.
This was the first morning of the fasting month of Ramadan.
