On the move again

Photos are up from the Plovdiv-Karlovo leg of Bulgaria....

We left Sofia last week, bound for Plovdiv - 2.5 hours by bus and 10 leva each (5 euro). Upon arrival we were immediately ripped off by a taxi driver and met an acquaintance from Sofia who had just had his (and his sister's) passports and wallets stolen by gypsies. Not the greatest of welcomes to our second town in Bulgaria - but it was a picturesque place and I soon forgot any Plovdiv angst.

A day trip to the Bachkovo Monastery in the mountains south of Plovdiv was a little underwhelming - a big wooden boarding dorm for monks was not particularly inspiring. The planned hike also was less than scintillating, despite the lovely scenery there was nothing overly adventurous about it. Although, the struggle to find the bus station taking us to Bachkovo probably raised the bar for what was needed for a satisfactory outing. The return trip in a dodgy minibus was probably the highlight - facing death in the form of oncoming traffic at every bend in the road.

We then moved on to Karlovo the following day with plans for more hiking and nature watching. Karlovo is a sweet little village which seems never to have faced hardship, all the residents seeming pleased to practice their english with the only foreigners in town. I attempted to hike up the mountain the village backs onto, only to stray onto the 'Adrenalin' track, which, to my delight, provided more adrenalin than I had anticipated. Traversing rock faces above rushing white water with only old iron rods to hang onto - and taking some photos at the same time, then going off the track up some rock face above a gorge really got the adrenal gland working.

Then back to Sofia for a night to collect my Romanian visa - the aforementioned gypsy incident occurring on arrival back in Sofia. A brisk walk to the Romanian embassy that afternoon, with a minor panic when they only accepted US dollars, and I had my Romanian visa.

We are now in Veliko Tarnovo - a huge fortress sitting atop a peak and surrounded by valleys and higher peaks - the old capital city (of the Byzantine Empire I think). Went for a run along the Eco trail this morning - nice views, but mainly just jogging along the grassy plateau above Veliko - also some adrenalin with stray dogs chasing me away as I got lost in a little village on my way up. Off to buy tickets to Bucharest this morning (train or bus - not sure) - not good reports of Bucharest - but mainly from spoilt westerners, we'll see....