• We traveled so much – two big trips around Bulgaria, many small ones too, one trip to Turkey (Istanbul), some trips in Romania, one big trip Bulgaria-Germany, a trip weekend in France….
• We moved to Germany – at some time we decided that it would be a good thing to continue living together in Germany… so it was done
• I found a new job in Berlin – again Software Quality Assurance. A very good company, great team, wonderful colleagues. So far, so good. I am very happy with this luck
• We found a great apartment in Berlin – honestly, this is a hell rental-market here. For one apartment so many people apply with documents. And in the center the prices are extremely high, but the noise… well.
• Mü got accepted to study what she wanted on first place.
• I finally started doing something about myself – a bit of running, conscious eating, etc. So far I’m down 10 kg. Not too much – I got a long way to be back in the shape I was. But at least it’s a start.

What do I want in 2012 (Alex)?

• Lose at least 10 more kg – nothing more to say here.
• Get running seriously – hopefully I will be able to attend a couple of run events… nothing much 5k, 10k maybe. A thing to give some adrenaline, some belief in myself.
• Do some hiking – that’s a funny thing to say in flat Berlin. But if situation allows – travel is OK
• As I said travel – in the TODO list should be at least some new countries and people. I don’t yet know what – Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Czech republic… all countries I haven’t seen yet. Hope Mü wants to do these with me
• Mountains – I’m afraid to make big plans here. And small mountains are included in the hiking. But I still dream about high peaks, crampons in the summer, fresh, thin air. No words here, just wishes. Alps are nearby, that is a good thing.

Here I am in Frankfurt, actually. That’s near where Muriels parents live:

So, I hope soon I’ll have things and travels to share from this country and the surrounding ones. Hold on Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, France…. etc.

Greetings from Berlin,

Alex

But Nesebar still offered us something, I haven’t seen in two years – sunrise over the sea. I woke up Muh, so this time she wouldn’t miss it like last time at Eho hut.

At around 9 in the morning we were already on the road.

So we were in Varna pretty early in the morning, but that gave us the opportunity to walk a bit more around – we visited the Historical museum (with plenty of great history gathered in it, even though there were collections, which were not shown right now due to restoration), after that we got a great walk around the Sea garden. And then, of course a walk on the beach.

After Varna we decided to skip some of the objects for the day (like Pobiti kamani – Побити камъни). So we headed directly to Madara and the Madara rider – the national symbol of Bulgaria, and another UNESCO site. They say the rider in the rocks dates back to somewhere in the 8th century. It’s about 20 m above the ground and is I think in full size – a man on a horse, thrusting a spear in a lion, and around him a dog and an eagle. Some connect this to the thracians, some to the proto-bulgarians. I don’t really know, to be honest – but still, this is an impressive piece of art for that time.

We finished our day in the nice city of Shumen, where we slept in a hotel, which dated more than 150 years – the house in revival times belonged to a teacher from Shumen.

Sozopol (Созопол) which lies about 20-30 km south of Burgas is a nice city, situated on a peninsula just where Strandzha mountain starts. The ancient name of Sozopol was Apolonia Pontika. It’s the oldest city on the Bulgarian seaside – about 3-4 millennium B.C. The old city of Sozopol has many houses from 18-19th century saved, making it a beautiful sight, combined with seaside.

After Sozopol, it was time to visit its seaside rival – Nesebar (Несебър) or Mesembria, as it was known in the ancient times. Nesebar is one of the Bulgarian UNESCO objects – the whole old city is under the ‘World Heritage’ protection. There are many churches from 5-6 Century on, that are greatly preserved, and of course – a lot of houses from 18-19th century. The city walls are partially preserved too – with all their fortifications and towers… I think this might be the thing, why Nesebar is called “Dubrovnik of Bulgaria”.

After that it was time for what we couldn’t visit the day before – the Devil’s throat cave. Legends say that here Orpheus dropped to the kingdom of the death to save his beloved Eurydice. Outside it looks like nothing special, until you go in – there are I think about 15 waterfalls, the biggest of which is 42 meters. The roar of them is scary. You have to climb to get out of the cave, to the natural entrance of it, where the water goes inside. Many people have been trying to throw objects in it, even live animals in ancient times – none of which have been found. Near the entrance there’s a memorial plate to the two divers, which entered the cave to search for its exit in the 70s – again, they did not exit.

The village we visited a month ago with Andre and Clara – Shiroka lyka (Широка лъка) was a must this time too. A small old village, one of the centers of bagpipe music in Bulgaria. There we even saw a bus of students from Ruse on a 5 day trip around Bulgaria. Such tourism is important for young people, I think – they need to know their country at least.

Something we missed the last time was the natural phenomena Wonder bridges (Chudnite mostove, Чудните мостове). A great place, high in the Rodopi mountains, huge piece of art by nature. These are the leftovers of a big ancient cave, in which there has been a river flowing. With time parts of the cave walls thinned and broke, and this formed the Wonder bridges that we know nowadays.

In the afternoon another stop of our trip around Bulgaria was Bachkovo monastery (Бачковски манастир). It was founded in 11th century by two Georgian brothers. During the years it has been robbed and ruined many times by the Osman armies. In present it’s the second biggest monastery complex in Bulgaria, after the Rila monastery.

Last stop in this long day was Asenova fortress (Asenova krepost, Асенова крепост). It has been a fortress even in Thracian times, then it has been used by Byzantines, for security in the Aegean region. It has been even conquered by the crusaders of the 4th Crusade. It has been called after the Bulgarian king Ivan Asen II, who does a lot of repairs and fortifications of it. Ruined and conquered by the Osman armies in 1410.

After the long day we had, we found a beautiful hotel in the center of Nova Zagora city.

After a nice breakfast we were ready to go to the Rojen monastery. Once again. A great place. This one is much better than the Rilski monastery to go to. If you are not a regular tourist and need something a little bit different for your trip – go there. The views to the mountains are stunning

The next goal for Monday was Kovachevica. But before that we have to cross a mountain pass. Winding roads, sometimes you think that nothing is protecting you from the abyss, that starts just where the asphalt ends. Here and there you can see workers on the road – at least this is a good sign. And one and a half hours later we are in Kovachevica (Ковачевица). It’s one of the most beautiful Bulgarian villages with houses from 18-19 century, exclusively made out of stone – even the roofs. Small cobbled streets can be seen all around the village – most of them I think are not even accessible with a normal car. We even took a small hike to the end of the village. Then a good lunch there – the best fried potatoes we had on our trip.

The day was already going to its end, so we had to find a place to sleep. Since the cave Dyavolsko gyrlo (Дяволско гърло, Devil’s throat) was our next goes – why not sleep in Trigrad. One of the legends says the name of the village comes from the Thracian “Tri ibrie” (Three cities, Три града). It’s famous for the cave, I mentioned above, the Yagodinska cave, the Trigrad gorge (second longest in Bulgaria – 3 km) and the Buinovo gorge (the longest in Bulgaria – 6 km I think). It’s a bit scary the first time you go there – Extremely narrow road…. and then you see a sign “One lane road with opposite direction traffic”. Well, this makes you think and drive as slow as possible.

Anyways, to Trigrad – we found a nice family hotel, called “Triibria” (by the name of the city in Thracian). Very polite owner, nice rooms – what more do you need to have a good rest. In the morning we understood that they had a good cook too – we ordered some breakfast, which was delicious. This made us a bit sorry we didn’t stay for dinner there. Well…. next time.

So, this must be it. The third day already of our trip. I’ll continue with the next day soon.

Basically we will repeat the 2009 Rodopi trip and 2009 again South Bulgaria-Greece trip partly – visiting Rila monastery, Melnik pyramids, Rozhen monastery, Plovdiv the old city, Asenova fortress, Bachkovo monastery, Trigrad gorge, Dyavolsko gyrlo cave, Yagodinska cave.

Of course with some slight addition – after all the will be a whole six day trip around Bulgaria – not 3 or 4 day as before. We are planning to see Koprivshtitza, Tyrnovo, Shipka, Gabrovo, Tryavna again.

I just hope the weather will be OK – the spring is not exactly visible in this part of the world It’s still minus something, extremely cold, and some great north wind is expected, according to the forecast

Well – whatever it is…. I’m sure we’ll have fun. The old Audi is ready, my fellow travelers are ready, the map is drawn, the trip outlines are put. What’s left – well, a couple hours more.

Приятен път (or Nice travel) to wish it in Bulgarian

Friends – please use the contact page. Write your questions, I’d try to help everyone. So far I’ve helped tourists from Belgium, USA, Romania, Ukraine, Turkey with ideas, contacts, etc.  I know that information in English or any other language except Bulgarian  is a bit hard to find sometimes. And I’ll do whatever I can to make your vacation, travel, hike around Bulgaria better settled.

So – if you need information on Bulgaria, Bulgarian mountains, travelling in Bulgaria, hiking around, or just information on the country itself: feel free to use the Contact page, or drop me a few lines at alex (_AT_) technobeast.net (the spaces, underscores, AT and brackets should be substituted with the @ sign, I hope you know that)

Good luck

Alex

I read about Couchsurfing on the blog of Ivan Ilarionov – itilien. He was travelling around in South America on a very tight budget and that’s why Couchsurfing was something good for him. So I thought – let’s see. And on December 1st, 2009 I became a member.

Haven’t had many experiences so far, but may I say they have been some of the best. I’ve hosted travellers at my place a couple of times – let’s say 5-6. Had many requests since then, though some of the surfers have cancelled their requests, or I had to decline due to unavailability. The stories I’ve heard, the people I have met so far, their travels, adventures around the globe, their positivity, openness…. I don’t know how to describe that – it fascinates me.

Some day I hope I’ll have the opportunity to travel like that – take a couple of months and get to know the people of a country, not just the regular, crowded tourist objects. Because this is what makes a country – it’s people.