kozmopolit.de

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and the ride goes on... into the kyrillic Bulgaria

After i arrived at the Border of Bulgaria a sign welcomes me that i could not read. In Bulgaria they use the kyrillic Script and that was the beginning of my daily Adventure...

on the Mainroads the signs are also written in latin Script, but in the remote areas you have to count letters, cause on my Roadmap everything, except the big cities, is written in latin Script. A lot of Bulgarians who wants to show me the way on my map weren´t able to read my map... fascinating, fascinating!

Daily Life went into a challenge, find out how to write „Post“ on kyrillic before you can send a parcel. You easier identify the groceries shop from the Products they sell than from the Sign in front of it, To eat you go in ´Pectopaht´called Restaurants...

But Adventure is what I am looking for, so forward full speed into Chaos!

My first Stage leads me along the Coast of the Blacksea into the South. After i passed the first quiet part the mass tourism catches me in Front of Varna. Hotelblock after Hotelblock, gigantic Buildings at the Beach and whole forrests of Umbrella on the Sand. So on the first day i crossed the whole Area called Goldcoast to find a place to sleep in a forrest after Varna. I was wondering about the total clean area, but my Place for Sleeping brings me back to Life again. To keep the touristic Areas clean they use the Forrests as wild trash dumps. Sad.

The second Stage brought me over a hill down into the Party-Center Nesebar, a Town insists only from Hotels thats grows together from a few small villages. To ride through and shake my Head about this was all i could do... The first Campsite after that was my Place to rest for the next two days. Not far away there was a occasion to take a bath in a salty Moor. Afterwards you can wash away the crust in the Sea. Funny to see all the black bodies :-)

South of Burgas the Racket gets less and the Concretedesert (mostly half finished skeletons that were abandoned) thins out. In Ahtopol i found the first real fisher village and stayed there on the Camping for 2 Days.

My further Route through Bulgaria leads me through the South, the Mountains have their magic attraction for me... After a few days in the Borderarea to turkey and Greece, were you can find beautiful Rivervalleys and lonely Roads, leads me to the Mountains. There in the Backcountry of Kardzali i found fairytale Landscapes and remembers me a little bit of Nepal. Along a River the Roads winds up into the Mountains and the village next to it are connected with Chainbridges to the road on the other riverside. At the End the Roads goes up into the Mountains before it hit the Mainroad to Plovdiv again.

Plovdiv itself is one of the oldest Settlement Zones of this Planet. For 6000 Years People settle here and so the urban image is full of Holes with Ancient Ruines as i just know it from Rome. The city was build on and around seven Hills and so it gets his nickname ´Rome of the East´ The Romans themselves obviously could´t count so they called the City Trimontium (City of the three Hills). The Oldtown is not really old but the Houses from the 19.Century and the Cobblestone Roads (the only city i was not able to ride through...) invites you to struggle around. In the City you can find the Ruins of an old roman Theatre that is still in use and a roman Arena, which is partly under the modern city, which has place for 30.000 People. From osmanic Times there are two wonderful mosques left. As an University City it attracts young people that gave the City that special flair i seen in Pecs (Hungary) before...

On my Day-Off i visited a small Town in the Mountains, together with Jana and Pawlina from Czech Republic, by bus. Afterwards i knew exactly why i am traveling by Bike again... But the Day was funny :-)

After Plovdiv there were real Mountains on my Schedule. My way leads me to Borovets were i hiked up the Musala. It was time for fresh Mountain Air!

afterwards i visited the Rilsky Monastery that, after all the beautiful Monasteries in Moldovitsa, wash´t so fantastic (as everybody tells) for me, and so i went on a twodaystrip to Sofia, my last Stop in Bulgaria...

The city is compared to it´s size very compact in the centre. Everything is quickly reachable by feet and so even easier by bioe... On my way to Sofia i met Bojo who offered me his couch. On the first evening we visited a Streetfest that introduced me to the city. After the small villages in the Mountains a real cutureshock... But really nice :-) After my visit in the Bike-Workshop i take my time for Sightseeing. The City is old, you can see it when you take a look into the Construction-Holes all over the city where you can find a lot of ruins of old „serdica“. From osmanic Times there are a few Mosques left but after that there is not much old substance to find. Bombings in WWII and the communistc Conrtuction-Boom have changed the face of the city. In the new Times there is also a Boom that doesn´t always make it better...

The City definitely worths a visit.

From Sofia the Road took me to the serbian Border where i started to visit my 8th Country. But this is another Stroriy...

In the beginning at the Coast i had some Problems to grow warm with Country and People but it went a warmhearted trip through the South of Bulgaria. I was sitting with Pensioners for a coffee, been invited for a beer and all of them were very open and curious. A lot speak minimum a few words german and so there were a lot of funny confersations along the road...

If there is a poor Country in Europe it is Bulgaria. Nowwhere else i found Poverty so open and visible like here. Even more Horse Carts on the Streets as in Romania, the Houses in bad conditions, also the Blocks from Communistic Times. But the Streets, except a few very bad ones i found, were in a very good condition and so i could handle the Altitude i had to cover much easier than in Romania...

With monthly Salaries about 200-300€ it is almost impossible to live here, so its no wonder that a lot of Bulgarians go abroad to Europe to work there. On the Streets you find more old people and they sit along the Roads watching the Life go by...

The Landscape was a Highlight on my Travel so far, the South is very beautiful, the Mountains breathtaking and wild (including bears i could´t find...). The Coast is more attractive than romanian coast but there are so much Concrete-Ruins...
A german on the Campsite near Nesebar said: In Germany they build Pizzerias and here they build Hotels to wash the Money... Corruption is a daily Problem here in Bulgaria, but i didn´t witnessed anything of it...

As in Romania the Romas didn´t have a easy Life in the Country. Excluded from Society they live in ramshackle Huts next to the Cities or villages... Sad.

I can recommend Bulgaria to everyone who likes Nature and pristine Landscapes and is not afraid of the kyrillic Barrier...