Got My Bindle

I had quite a bit of the day free before my flight, so I checked out reasonably early, stored my luggage and jumped on a tram across the river to visit the Dolmabahce Palace. There was no queue when I arrived, but the full tour price was quite steep, so I opted just to see the Harem. I'm more interested in how people lived, rather than where they conducted state affairs, so it suited me to take the shorter tour.

Dolmabahce Palace

Guided tours are compulsory, and as this one lasted only 25 minutes, we were pretty much running from room to room. However, the decor was quite stunning, and it was interesting to see the Sultan's rooms and rooms of the royal women.

I must have arrived at the right time, as when I came out of the palace, the queue to get in was huge.

I decided to walk back to the other side of the river, rather than catch the tram, as I thought I had plenty of time. Walking across the bridge was risky business, behind all the fishermen who were flicking back their hooks and lines to cast them out into the river. I managed to avoid ending up as fish bait, and eventually made it to the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. From what Lonely Planet said, it didn't sound like a must-see, but when I got there I found it was gigantic and there was so much to see. Unfortunately, I never got time to get around all of it, but there were certainly some interesting exhibits dating back to 3000 BC.

There were countless sarcophaguses, including the Alexander Sarchophagus, so named because it has a picture of Alexander the Great in battle on the side.

Alexander the Great and the Alexander Sarcophagus

Undies or togs?

I could have spent many more hours there, but had to get back to my hotel to get changed for the flight.

And so ends my adventure. It's been awesome, and I now know a lot more about how much I am capable of, and how people make the world go round. I wouldn't change a thing about where I went and what I did. Thanks for all the comments and encouragement, I've loved keeping this blog.

All that's left now is the long flight home. I intend to spend it planning my next adventure.

Well, no one can accuse me of not making the most of my last full day of my adventure. As soon as I'd had breakfast, I was out the door and on the trail of two of Istanbul's most famous landmarks. My first stop was Aya Sofya where there was already a long queue waiting to get in. It's very near the Blue Mosque, but quite the opposite in that the Blue Mosque's beauty is on the outside, while Aya Sofya doesn't appear to be all that amazing from its exterior.

According to Lonely Planet, upon entering the church-turned-mosque-turned-museum (built in 567), people are often stunned into silence. I imagine that to be true, as it really is quite spectacular. As I've found in many beautiful buildings on this trip, its very hard to capture such grandeur on camera.

After walking around for a while, I made my way up the stone ramp to the upper level. The view to the ground floor was great, but I was most impressed with the graffiti left by the vikings in the 9th century. I knew that they plundered and pillaged, but graffiti too.....did they have no boundaries? It's graffiti in marble though, so they certainly were tough.

From Aya Sofya, I walked across the road to the Basilica Cistern, a former water reservoir under the city, built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian in 532. It was forgotten about for centuries, then neglected for a few more, and now it's entrance is hidden away in a little nondescript building. However, once inside and beneath ground level, it's a world of its own. There's a wooden walkway through dozens of massive columns, dimly lit by red and orange lights. Water drips from the roof, and the remaining water in the reservoir is quite shallow, but home to some very hardy fish. Atmospheric music adds to the intrigue, and in one corner two of the columns sit on Madusa heads. The columns apparently come from the ruins of buildings, so they're all different, but all no doubt ancient.

Rows of columns supporting the roof of the cistern

Madusa

Next, I bought a ticket for the hop-on hop-off bus. Out of the ones I've done on this trip, Istanbul's probably gives the least value for money. For a start, it doesn't seem to stop at most of the hop-on hop-off points. Maybe you're just supposed to jump when it slows down. And, given the nature of Istanbul's traffic, it's a bit like bumper-car racing, but I did manage to see a good deal of the city. The first trip I did crossed the Bopherus, and by the time I'd reached the other side, I was in Asia.

Asia from the bridge over Bospherus

Istanbul is such an amazing city, up close, and from a distance.

On the bus, I sat with a Kiwi woman who was with her husband and teenage son on their way to the Ukraine to look into a business opportunity. Once I'd done the full circuit on the bus, I walked around the old town for an hour or so. It's incredible how much there is to see here in such a small area, including the Hippodrome which includes the Obelisk of Theodosius, a granite monument, carved in Egypt in 1450 BC.

After I'd filled in an hour or so, I jumped on the buses other circuit which goes up around the golden horn. There were a few opportunities to get off and go up a cable car, or visit a the world's biggest miniature world (!), but I stayed on the bus until we reached the wharf and then hopped off to see if I could find a cruise up the Bospherus. Where they sold the bus tickets, they told me it was as much as 40 euro for a cruise. However, at the wharf, they were only a fraction of that price, and the cruise lasted almost 2 hours.

Waiting to set sail

I really enjoyed it, the boat was nice (apart from when a passenger accidently foot-tripped a waiter carrying a tray of drinks), the views were wonderful, and I even had a cup of tea Turkish-style i.e., in a little glass with sugar cubes, and no milk. I couldn't hear the commentary, so I just had to guess what things were (ancient mosque, wealthy person's house, etc).

Sailing up the Bospherus

Back on dry land, I poked my head into the Egyptian Bazaar which was more like what I imagined the Grand Bazaar should have been like. By now, everyone was starting to shut up shop, and I was getting hungry, so I caught the tram back to my hotel.

Since it was my last night of my trip, I treated myself to dinner in the hotel's rooftop restaurant. It was lovely with the silhouette of the Blue Mosque on one side and the sea sparkling all around with the lights of the hundreds of boats and ships.

And then, just to top off a perfect day, the sunset painted everything pink.

So I had my celebratory meal for making it to my last night of the journey in one piece, but it's not over yet. I have almost a full day available tomorrow before I need to be at the airport. And, even though I'm sad that its coming to an end, I have no doubt that Turkey awaits my return. This is definitely a country that I need to come back to.

I want to dislike Istanbul. It has all the things that would normally make me hate a place. The traffic is bedlam, the streets are chaotic, and there is so much happening at once, that it takes twice as long as normal to get anywhere. I'm constantly shouted at to dine somewhere or buy something. Men spit on the streets, and skinny, bedraggled cats have replaced the stray dogs of Eastern Europe. Yet, I find myself really liking Istanbul. Its a cliche, but it makes me feel alive. Like I'm part of something big, a special guest at the world's grandest outdoor market. Granted, there are a few people here who could learn to accept "no", but generally, I find the men touting business to be good humoured, good natured, and genuinely interested in their next potential customer.

My day started with a short walk from my hotel to the iconic Blue Mosque. As I approached the door, a man approached me. "Where are you from?" he asked. When I told him New Zealand, he said "oh, Kia ora bro!". After some time of convincing him I didn't need a carpet, I managed to escape and enter the Blue Mosque (complete with shawl over shoulders and shoes in a bag). It was certainly impressive, but I confess to liking the outside more than then inside.

Next, I intended to see the other magnificent mosque nearby, Aya Sofia, but somehow found myself on the doorstep of Topkapi Palace, so checked that out first. As it turns out Aya Sofia was closed today, giving me plenty of time to wander around the palace. I armed myself with an audio guide and off I went. The palace itself, isn't anything amazing, but the treasures and relics on display are fabulous. Although each room was very crowded and I had to move along fairly quickly, I won't forget the scores of emeralds, rubies, and diamonds in a hurry. There were swords and thrones and various other things all decorated with the sparking gems and gold. However, my favourite display was definitely the relics where I got to see the stick Moses used to part the sea, bits of skulls and bones belonging to the prophets, and beard hairs from Mohammed himself. Fascinating!

By now I was swept up in the excitement of it all, so bought the extra ticket to enter the harem. Only a small section is open to the public, including the "queen mothers" living area, the eunuchs courtyard, the concubines courtyard, the golden mile (an area so named because the Sultan used to scatter golden coins as he walked through it), and the sultan's living area.

Inside Topkapi Harem

It was definitely interesting, and later I found an exhibition of the harem which explained a lot about the life of the girls, women, family members, eunuchs, and sultans that lived there. And obviously, when you have 112 kids, you need a big bed.

From the balconies of the palace courtyards, I also got my first chance to see where Europe meets Asia. One view, two continents.

After a full morning of sightseeing, I found a traditional Turkish restaurant where I could lie back on big cushions and enjoy some lunch. Then I decided to brave the Grand Bazaar. It was actually far less crowded and crazy than I expected. Of course, people kept firing questions at me, trying to get me into a conversation, and thus induce me to part with my money. One man got off to a bad start when he bellowed out that he had good discounts for Australians. Lucky them.

At one stage, I entered a stall where the Turkish owner had popped out for some more tea. When he came back, I was behind his counter. "Can I help you with anything?" I asked him. "Where are you from?" to which replied quick as a wink, "China". So I said "Ni hao", which induced him to kiss my hand and tell me how lovely I was, so I had to run away. Quickly.

Further on, a young guy said "this is my friend (insert Turkish name). What's your name?". I just kept walking, determined not to get dragged into a conversation. "Is it Helena?" he called out. I shook my head and kept walking, feeling quite smug that he'd never guess. "Juanita?" he yelled out. They're bloody good, I'll give them that much. I soon got used to people calling out "hello Kiwi". But I managed to get out after a few hours without buying anything. A lot of it is jewelry and I wouldn't know about the quality or the price of it. Plus, I have a couple of days to go back yet.

Tonight I went for a swim in the hotel pool, and then lay out on a rooftop terrace deck chair, admiring Istanbul's amazing skyline and listening to the sound of prayers ringing out from the mosques.

I made it to Istanbul, the last stop on my journey. It's feels like a big achievement, especially since it was quite an effort today to get here. The day started out with breakfast downstairs in my hotel, in their alfresco restaurant. I guess since the whole area shuts down over winter, they only need an outdoor restaurant.

I wish we had enough warm weather outside of winter to do this at home. It makes such a difference to the culture here, everyone sitting around in the evenings, eating and socialising. It's worth mentioning too, that this was my first hotel with a soft bed!

After I checked out, I headed down the road to the bus stop, to catch the local bus to Burgas city to get my connection to Istanbul. A guy from France whose mum is from Bulgaria was on the same bus, so we chatted for the hour long journey. He was off to see the ancient treasure on display in Burgas, which sounds like something I would have liked to see. However, I only had an hour before my bus arrived. It was a lovely luxury coach, and I soon settled back in my reclining seat to enjoy the "6 hour" ride to Turkey's capital. Then I got hit by the tired stick, and couldn't keep my eyes open. I kept nodding off, but the roads were so bad that I was jolted awake every few minutes. It wasn't my most pleasant journey so far. After a couple of hours, we reached the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. As I suspected might happen, as soon as we were in Turkey, the roads were smooth and fast. Unlike crossing the border, which was quite an experience.

First we had to hand over our passports to the bus hostess, who took them off to show someone. Then the customs person got on and looked at each of us against the photo in the passport. Then we got our passports back with a stamp in them for exiting Bulgaria. Next, we all got off the bus and took our passports to an office where we were given a stamp to enter Turkey. After this, we had to collect our luggage from the bus and take it through a checkpoint. Once we and our luggage were back on the bus, we had one more stop, where customs got on again and checked the entry stamps in our passports. All of this took about an hour, and then we were back on the road again and heading for Istanbul.

Heading into Turkey from Bulgaria

If Romania was green, and Bulgaria mountainous, then the little corner of Turkey I saw today stuck me as being golden. As well as the continuing fields of sunflowers, there were acres of fields of barley or wheat, all golden and waving in the wind. I was also surprised by how many mosques there are, with the minarets towering across the skylines of every place we drove thorugh.

When we reached the outskirts of Istanbul, I got to see my second sea of the day. Having left the Black Sea in the morning, by early evening, I caught my first glimpse of the Sea of Marmara.

Although it was true that we reached Istanbul in 6 hours, it took another good hour and a half to navigate through the city traffic and reach the bus station. The sun was setting now, and I was faced with having to break my golden rule of never arriving anywhere new at night time. However, there was still enough light left in the day for me to find the metro station and then transfer to a tram which took me to a stop very close to my hotel. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to make it to my hotel, and get rid of the huge bulls-eye on my back - my backpack.

My room came with a complimentary arrival cocktail in the bar, so I headed down there to enjoy that, and watch England play Italy in the quarter final of Euro 2012. The temperature dipped to 25 degrees here tonight, that's the coolest temperature I have experienced in weeks, night or day.

It's so pretty here in the evening. It's pretty during the day too, but in the evening, in this calm warm weather, it's particularly beautiful.

I love waking up in the morning and pulling back the curtain to see the sparking blue water right outside my window. The Black Sea is anything but black here. With all my sightseeing around Nesebar done, I decided not to make the trip to Sozopol further down the coast for more sightseeing, but just to relax here instead. So, after breakfast, I jumped on the local bus for the short ride around to Sunny Beach. I had seen a few signs yesterday outside bars advertising the All Blacks game against Ireland, so I thought that would be fun way to start the day.

It was quite special listening to the national anthem and watching the haka, from a beachside bar on the Black Sea Coast in Bulgaria. I even had a morning beer to celebrate. There were a couple of Irish people watching too, and when the All Blacks started to romp away with the game, one of them commented that it was no surprise as rugby is all there is in New Zealand. At that point, I had to interject. There's not only rugby. We have sheep, and hobbits too.

When the game was over, I had some lunch to counter the morning beer, and then made my way to a hotel swimming pool I had seen yesterday that's open to the public. It was 5 leva for a deck chair and use of the pool for the day, so I picked a chair beside the main pool and settled back for a relaxing day. After about 5 minutes of relaxing, I had a swim. The water was so warm.

I've seen quite a few men mixing their undies with their togs. I want to tell them if they can't see the beach, they're in their undies, but they may not draw that line here. I suspect I come from a much more conservative society, but I have seen a few things that surprise me. Not least of all today, when there was a young girl about 9 or 10, in a G-string bikini. I wanted to cover her up with my towel. And the poses they make for photos - even little 5 year olds with one hand behind their head, pulling their skirt up with the other. It's probably not even considered provocative here, but it's not something I am used to seeing and I have to keep a poker face at times.

After a few hours in and beside the pool, I ordered a spearmint mocktail, but since it was happy hour I had to have two. I notice that happy hour at the bars in Sunny Beach go from 9am til Midnight (or longer), so it really is a cheerful place.

Before I started to shrivel up like a raisin in the water and sun, I caught the bus back to Nesebar. I had some research to do on line to make sure I know where I am going tomorrow and how to get there, and then went for a final stroll around the peninsula.

The Black Sea Coast is another place I'd heard not to bother visiting. And again, I've loved it. Yes, it's commercial and everything's aimed at the crowds of tourists, but if I hadn't come here, I would never have known about this other side of Bulgaria. I would have left thinking that Bulgaria is all mountains, old cities, and villages. Now I know there is a little harbour in Nesebar, that sparkles all day in the sun, and all night with the bright lights from the resorts along the coast.

I have definitely gone from traveling mode to holiday mode. Mind you, it's pretty hard not to slow down in a place like this. I had to drag myself away from my balcony view to go out for dinner last night.

Earlier in the day, I'd seen a restaurant on the other side of the peninsula with a terrace over the sea, so I headed over there. It was lovely, watching the waves roll in, and imagining what it must have been like here when it was a Greek trading port.

The meal was not bad, but I got majorly ripped off with how they charged me. In fact, the waiter was so embarrassed he said I didn't have to tip him, and gave me a discount. That's when you know you've been had. As I made my way home, I was muttering and cursing about how much the day had cost me in lost items and over-charged meals, when I literally stumbled over a free show in the ruins of an ancient church. It was mainly groups of young people, performing traditional Bulgarian songs and dances, but there were some adults as well, and a few modern songs. It was brilliant to see such a variety of songs and dances, and all the fabulous costumes. I sat there late into the night watching the show, and when I thought about how much I would have paid to see that, I guess everything evens out in the end.

This morning, I made the most of not having to get up early and be anywhere. When I did get organised, I packed my little day pack, and set off to walk to the other side of the bay from Nesebar. Half way around is Sunny Beach. It's the package tour destination for sun loving Bulgarians, Ukrainians, and Brits. I didn't hear a lot of English, so I don't think the Brits have arrived for the season yet. Still, the beaches were packed all the way around.

Mostly, there are umbrellas set up by hotels that tourists pay to lie under. Having a deck chair doubles the price. However, there are some areas called "free" where you can set up your own umbrella. Generally, the dress code seems to be as little as possible. The more body you have, the less you wear. A few areas are total nudity, and I have some impressions burned on my brain that will take a long time to get rid of. I became quite good at pretending not to notice, as I walked through scores of naked people. Naked old people, to be honest. My advice is, when you're walking along a nude beach, don't look up towards the deck chairs.

Every now and then, there'd be a middle aged bloke, standing there in all his glory, blocking my path. But I pressed on, and after two hours of walking along the beach at a steady pace, I reached the other side. I think the best way to describe Sunny Beach is a cross between Bali and Surfers Paradise on steroids.

On the way back, I walked along the back of the hotels to see what the town is like. Basically, it's full of restaurants, English pubs, souvenir shops, pumping nightclubs, touts, sex shops, and families. It was fun to see, and I caught the bus back later on for dinner, but I'm happy to be staying in picturesque, quiet little Nesebar. Well, quiet except for the busking Bulgarian bagpiper, and men on loudspeakers trying to entice people into their water taxis. But it's definitely picturesque.

It wasn't my best day, but I think I've landed in heaven. I left Plovdiv early this morning by bus, and for almost the entire 5 hour journey, we traveled through massive fields of sunflowers. Some were in full bloom, while others are not too far away. There must have been millions of them, which I kept trying to photograph, while everyone else on the bus seemed oblivious. I guess it's a familiar sight here. Who knew Bulgaria grew so many sunflowers?

Not long after the bus pulled away from the station, I realised I had lost my handy fold-away water bottle that I have carried with me throughout the journey. I can get another one, so it's not the end of the world, but I did mourn its loss for a while, until the sunflowers cheered me up. My first destination was Burgas, from where I needed to get a connection to Nesebar. Initially, everything went well. The bus was modern, the music was Bulgarian (as opposed to the usual Celine Dion), and we stopped somewhere long enough to get lunch. When we got to Burgas, I thought we'd go to the bus station, but after stopping at a couple of road side stops then continuing on, the driver suddenly slammed on the brakes, looked around, shouted "Burgas" and promptly dumped me, my bindle, and another guy on a grass verge of a busy road. Thank god, the guy dumped with me goes to uni in Scotland and spoke good English. Otherwise, I would have been completely screwed. We walked to a bus station nearby, at which time I realised I had lost my hoodie that I have faithfully tied around my waist every day. It must have fallen off in the scramble to get off and get my backpack. I later tried to retrace my steps, but it was gone. Some lucky Bulgarian has a brand new Katmandu hoodie. But haha them, I hadn't washed it yet, and I've been very sweaty.

The guy with me started to tease me that I had started out with 3 bags, and only managed to keep hold of one. It didn't help when I went to get on another bus with him in Burgas and dropped 10 leva on the ground. I tried to tell him that I have been all over Romania and Bulgaria without any problems, but he looked rather doubtful. So, once we worked out where we were, we took a local bus to another bus station and from there he caught a bus to the airport, and I boarded one bound for Nesebar. Before we said goodbye, he went with me to buy my ticket to Istanbul, so he was a really nice guy to go to so much trouble for me.

When I finally arrived in Nesebar, I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of the place. I'm staying in the old town, which is out on a rocky island in the Black Sea, connected to the mainland by a modern causeway. It is drop-dead gorgeous, no doubt helped by the stunning weather. The bus station in Burgas said 42 degrees, but it's probably more like 32. I checked into my hotel, and then had to drag myself away from my little balcony overlooking the harbour.

Nesebar is filled with four things - the ruins of ancient churches:

souvenir shops and Eastern European tourists

and restaurants so pleasantly situated that you just want to dine at each of them.

Once I'd calmed down about my balcony view, I went for a little walk around the old town. It's so picturesque that I started getting all creative with my camera.

Everywhere I looked was another beautiful seaview shot.

When I knelt down to take a photo of a seagull, I realised I had become totally intoxicated by the place. I have seagulls at home that I never photograph. Having explored the old town, I walked across the causeway to the new town, which gave me a good view back to where I will be staying for the next few days.

Nesebar Old Town

I think I've reached the end of the line. If anyone at home or at work needs me, they will have to come over and drag me back. For now, "waiter, one more litre of beer" (for $1.80).

I woke up this morning feeling a little under the weather and put the blame squarely on a frappe I had yesterday. For the last couple of weeks I've been drinking bottled water, but the frappe was filled with ice, so I guessed that was the culprit. However, I soon came right and once I was on the bus I had good reason not to feel sorry for myself, when a boy aged about 8 or 9 threw up for our entire three and a half hour trip. I had some travel calm ginger tablets which I gave him, but nothing would help, and I felt so sorry for him.

Needless to say, the road was winding and bumpy, and we traveled over a mountain pass. The scenery up in the mountains reminded me a lot of what I saw in Romania, with small villages and people working in the fields. I think many of these communities must be muslim, considering each seemed to have a minaret, and the local women getting on and off the bus were all wearing head scarves. Perhaps its part of the legacy that remains from the time of Ottoman rule.

I am now in Plovdiv, the longest continuously inhabited city in all of Europe. For over 8000 years people have lived here, and they've all left their mark in one way or another. Once I'd checked in, I set out with my Lonely Planet guide book to see if I could follow their suggested walking tour. I skipped the first bit because it was coffee and shopping, but soon found myself at the centre of the old town where you can see what remains of a Roman stadium and forum.

It's quite interesting to see young people sitting on the ancient seats chatting and enjoying a cold drink, when you consider what the view from that seat would have been thousands of years ago.

Just near the stadium, is the mosque with its towering minaret. One thing that really makes an impression on me in Bulgaria, is the way all the various religious buildings sit so close together. Bulgarians seem to be very proud of their cultural, religious, and historic diversity. And rightly so.

I then followed Lonely Planet's directions to reach Plovdiv's most famous landmark - the 2nd century AD Roman amphitheatre. It really is quite stunning and as you can see, they still use it today.

After this, I left the Romans behind and headed up the hill to the 5000 BC ruins of the Thracian settlement. Unfortunately, there is a lot of modern rock art now (graffiti tagging), but it was still pretty cool to romp around on such a historic site. The view of modern Plovdiv is good from up there too.

After seeing all these ancient sites, I went for a complete contrast, and walked along the main pedestrian shopping street.

Bulgaria has been a test of endurance for me. How can one country have so many shoe shops?? I tortured myself for a while by having a look in some, while mentally calculating how much I could dump from my backpack to fit my purchases. Fortunately, I didn't give in to temptation, as the receptionist at my hotel said later that the quality of the shoes isn't the best. Still, I felt like I'd let this bloke down, as he was holding the shopping centre roof up for me, which doesn't look easy.

Finally, I figured out why 7 million people need so many new shoes. The "cobblestone" pavements here, are nothing of the sort. They're just stone pavements, and not suitable for any type of shoe other than tramping boots. Not surprisingly, I have yet to see a baby stroller here.

Despite my interest in history, I have been a bit slack visiting museums on this trip. Generally, I've been content just to wander around looking at historic things. However, given the history of Plovdiv, I was keen to check out the Archaeological Museum. It's quite small, but excellent. They have items on display from the Neolithic period right through to medieval times. Perhaps what I liked most was the collection of coins, dating back to 500 BC, and even before that, the fish hooks they used as money. There is jewellery, statues, carvings, pottery, weapons, and tools from all through the ages. Most of it was found here, so visiting the museum was a good way to get an overall view of the 8000 year history of Bulgaria's second largest city.

I caught the enterprise bus this morning, i.e., the little car driven by a big Eastern European bloke who drives along the bus route 15 minutes ahead of the bus to offer waiting passengers cheaper transport in his car. I was quite happy to take the bus, but when I got to the bus stop, there was an Austrian guy who talked me into joining him in the car. He'd walked to Melnik over the mountains from Bansko, my destination for today. It took him two days, and I am continually surprised by the people I meet who are out there, living life to the full.

We picked up another couple of people on the way, so by the time we reached Sandanski bus station, the little car was full. Austrian guy was hoping to go to Plovdiv, which meant that for the next stage, we would need to catch the same bus, so we filled in the short wait with a coffee (a plastic cup containing about an inch of the strongest, blackest coffee possible). Our next leg was to Blagoevglad, which I have given up even trying to pronounce. Unfortunately for Austrian guy, the only bus for Plovdiv had already departed, so he headed off back to Sofia to get a connection, and I jumped on the mini bus bound for Bansko. I think I had my best driver yet, so I made a point of telling him so when we arrived safely.

Blagoevglad Bus Station

Due to being stupid, I had booked a hotel at the complete opposite end of Bansko, from the bus station. It was a long walk on another sweltering day but eventually I found the place. They didn't seem to know much about my booking and quoted me less than half of what my booking was, so I wasn't expecting my room to be much. However, I was happily surprised to find one of the nicest rooms I've had yet, with a balcony and a beautiful view out to the Pirin Mountains and Bansko ski field, one of the top 5 in the world. It was 37 degrees today, so there wasn't a lot of skiing going on, but the view is fabulous, all the same.

The Pirin Mountains, Bansko

I went for a walk around town, but as it's neither summer or winter season here, many of the businesses (shops, supermarkets, bars) are closed. There are plenty of hotels and restaurants open, but not a lot happening.

Still, it's a lovely place to while away a few hours, and I enjoyed another Bulgarian lunch which I have discovered is reversing all the weight loss that occurred in Romania.

I've seen several storks nests on my journey, usually on the top of power poles, but this one on the church in Bansko is my favourite so far.

After lunch, I walked up towards the mountains along a road shaded with trees. On the way, I stopped to chat with a couple of local men, one of whom owns a hotel here. I promised to call in for a wine on the way back, but got distracted by a picture of the bar of a luxury hotel, and went there instead. It was lovely, despite the one glass of wine costing me more than my lunch of a full cooked meal, bread, and a drink.

I haven't seen any other tourists here, other than Bulgarians. In fact, this evening, there was just me and the free dogs wandering around the streets in search of water, our heads hanging down and tongues hanging out. Now it sounds like there is a bit of a party downstairs in the mehana (tavern), so I really should be sociable and go mingle with the locals.

The temperatures for the rest of the week are forecast to be 38 degrees, so I'm cutting short my time inland, and heading for the seaside.

Thank goodness I didn't leave Melnik early, or I would have missed out on one of my best days yet.

After breakfast at my hotel, I set out for the monastery over the hill, reportedly a two hour trek. My interpreter last night told me to go early to avoid the heat, take plenty of water, and watch out for snakes. When I said I'd heard the snakes in Bulgaria are not dangerous, she agreed but said there were two that if bitten by them, I would need to get to hospital within an hour. Right. My guide to the 7 Lakes told me the views on the walk to this monastery are best on the way back to Melnik, but by my reasoning, when you're walking along watching out for venomous snakes, the view is the same either way.

Initially, the path is along a road built by the Romans. I found this fascinating, but kept walking into Roman walls that I couldn't get over, and then having to back track until I found the actual path again.

For the first hour, the path was through trees, so it was reasonably shaded and quite pleasant. After that, the climb started and I was met by fabulous views of the sand pyramids that surround Melnik.

It was so peaceful and beautiful, walking along the sandy path, through the trees. I was quite surprised to come across a couple resting on a seat, as even in the shade the temperature had reached 33 degrees before lunch.

When we reached the highest point, there was a seat at the end of a side-trail, under a solitary tree, with an amazing view of the pyramids and the mountains that separate Bulgaria from Greece just to the south, and Macedonia to the west. It was absolutely stunning, and as I sat there looking out towards the other countries, I wondered how I might just keep going. I'm so sad that my journey will be over in a couple of weeks, and I just don't want it to end, ever.

The remainder of the path was slightly more perilous, and parts of it were literally breaking away with the erosion of the sand.

Once over the hill, the Rozhen Monastery was very close. Now that I've seen a few monasteries, I can say with some certainty, that this one is very nice. It's fully enclosed, and having been rebuilt several times due to raids and fires, the colour in the paintings in still quite vivid. Since I had shorts and a t-shirt on, I had to cover up to enter. I had a long sleeved top, but had to put on a long skirt that they have there for visitors. The first one I tried wouldn't fit much past my knees, thanks to all this Bulgarian food I've been eating. Fortunately they had a bigger one with elastic and I was soon suitably covered enough to go in.

Afterwards, I walked down into the village and found somewhere for lunch. I tried the local soup made with watery yoghurt, chopped cucumber, and twigs. It was wonderful.

Then I decided to take the path over the mountains back, since I'd enjoyed it so much on the way over. By now it was ridiculously hot, and then I fell over. Well, the path gave way under my left foot, and my right knee hit the ground with a crunch. I had plenty of water, so I cleaned all the sand and dirt out and soldiered on.

On a happy note, it now means my first aid kit has not been a complete waste of space. When I arrived back in Melnik, I ran into the woman who speaks good English. I showed her my wound and she said "oh, that's not so bad" in typical Bulgarian fashion. "No, you're not looking close enough, it's quite serious" I thought. "Yeah, it's just a little scratch" I said.

After freshening up and getting more water (by now it was about 36 degrees), I went on a mini trek up the hill behind Melnik to see the ruined fortress and churches. I didn't make it to all of them due to the heat, but I was amazed when suddenly on the path in front of me, I saw a tortoise.

Next on my agenda was the House Museum, apparently the largest of it's kind in the Balkans, with a huge wine cellar below that is perfect for exploring. The wine was pretty good too!

Finally, I made my way up a little stone path to a winery that was built into the hill more than 250 years ago and has now been in the hands of the same family for 5 generations. A group of Americans joined me for some wine tasting, and it was nice and cool inside the cellar. The local wine is free of all chemicals and preservatives and is quite delicious. The man that runs it yelled at me for talking too fast when I said "a glass of wine please", but I chose to rise above it, and by the time I'd finished my second glass chatting to him, he was a lot less grumpy. When I gave him a generous tip, he was positively pleasant.

So, I found plenty to do in Melnik. There are so few tourists here, I felt like I was the only one most of the time. Melnik is most famous for it's wine, but I have been a bit shy drinking it, due to the high temperatures and the fact that I have a big day of travel ahead of me tomorrow. I'm looking forward to dinner and bed.

Melnik

Bulgaria's capital, Sofia, has been a highlight of my journey. One reason people don't like it is because the pavement blocks are all broken and loose. I think that adds to the charm, walking down the street, wobbling and clunking, past Versace and Dior.

My bus wasn't until mid-afternoon, so I visited some of the places I'd seen on the walking tour, but hadn't been into. First, I went to Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. It's much darker inside than the other churches and monasteries I've seen so far. The cathedral was built in honour of the Bulgarian, Roman, Russian, and other nationalities who died freeing Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire's 500 year stranglehold. I sat down for a while taking it all in, and was fascinated by the figureof a young woman with long dark hair, in a full length dress, holding a candle and praying in front of a chandelier of candles. She looked like she could have been a woman from 500 years ago, so serene and still, with her dress trailing behind her. Next, I called into the nearby St Sophia 4th century church, which the city is most likely named after. There was a wedding in progress and it was quite surreal to see the ceremony taking place in an ancient building, with tourists and worshippers coming and going. On the way back to my hotel, I visited the small Russian church, St Nicholas, where a christening was underway.

Back at my hotel, the excellent staff talked me into getting a taxi instead of a tram. I agreed, as it was only a few dollars more. However, I actually felt quite disappointed in myself, as I've really enjoyed navigating the local public transport systems and it's a great feeling of achievement when I make my way somewhere. I kind of felt like I'd cheated by taking a taxi.

My bus journey today was four hours, through more of Bulgaria's seemingly endless mountains. I had a good view of the peaks I'd visited yesterday.

Traveling to Melnik

The further south we traveled, the more dry and brown the landscape became. My destination today, Melnik, is only 20km north of the border with Greece. The bus was a large modern coach, and the journey was pretty good. Once we reached Sandanski (Spartacus territory), before I had time to say “Hey, where's the big bus going?”, my bindle and I were bundled off and onto the Bulgarian equivalent of a Romanian mini bus. In fact, I think this might have been worse. As we jiggled and bumped along a rough country road, I imagined all the components in my laptop rearranging themselves, and I kept checking over the back seat to make sure my luggage hadn't fallen out completely. After staying in a brand new hotel, having a personal guide for a day, and living it up in general, I started to feel a bit miffed about the downward spiral my comfort level had taken. But, then I remembered the taxi and reminded myself that it's all part of the adventure.

Melnik is officially Bulgaria's smallest town. They say the main street is only a couple of hundred metres long, but that must be an exageration. It can't more than 150. Still, its very quaint, and at least I didn't have too far to walk to my hotel. It was fairly late by the time I arrived, so I checked in , and took a stroll around. There are a few souvenir shops and plenty of beautiful old houses to look at, but basically the only thing to do here is drink the famous local red wine and eat.

The street in Melnik

Since I'm absolutely hopeless at doing nothing, I thought I'd cut my stay here short and leave again in the morning. However, the hotel proprietor is being so kind and bending over backwards to make my stay as nice as possible, that I haven't got the heart to leave early. He even asked a local woman over to translate, since he doesn't speak a word of English. She's given me some ideas of things to do tomorrow, and let's face it, there are worse places to be than eating dinner and drinking wine on the balcony of a traditional tavern in a tiny Bulgarian village, watching the warm summer evening air sparkle with fire flies.

Dinner

I treated myself to a private guided trip with Traventuria today to see the 7 lakes in the Rila Mountains. Although it was quite a lot for one person to pay, I figured it's the same price as a nice pair of shoes (which I probably wouldn't wear) and I may never be back again, so I want to make the most of it.

Since it was just me going, I asked for the tour to start half an hour later than advertised so I could have breakfast at the hotel, which was totally awesome. When I saw the buffet, I wondered how I was going to eat so much in only half an hour, but I had a good go. When my guide arrived, we headed south out of Sofia into the mountains for about an hour and a half. When we got to the chairlift to take us up the mountain, it stopped working. Although we didn't know why at the time, the winds were a bit strong up the top, but after maybe an hour, we had our ticket and off we set. I don't know how people get on and off those chairlifts so casually. My heart was thumping waiting for it to collect me on its way past, and I had visions of getting tangled in it and dangling all the way up by just one foot. Getting off was just as nerve wracking. Guess who's not a skier.

The ride up takes 22 minutes and it was actually quite relaxing. On the way down it seemed a lot longer when I could see how far I was from the ground. Once we were safely up the mountain, we just had to climb for another hour or so to get right to the top. The weather was absolutely perfect with gorgeous blue skies. For a start, I was a bit surprised at how small the lakes are, but when I started to see them from different view points, they were quite beautiful. The glacial lakes are situated between 2100 and 2500 metres above sea level and each have a name according to their shape. This one is called "the kidney". Fortunately, the lake is a lot prettier than its name.

This past winter in Bulgaria was severe, with ridiculously low temperatures and huge snow falls. Two of the lakes were still frozen over, and my guide was quite surprised at the amount of snow still around. Several times we had to walk through it when climbing up and down from the peak, so rather than end up on my butt, I just clung on to my guide's backpack and used him to stay upright. This lake is called "the eye", due to its shape and colour, but it was all closed over by snow and ice today.

The climb up to the highest point was fairly steep, made slightly more difficult by the loose rocks we had to walk over. Today was the first day the chairlift was going since winter, and being a weekend, there were a lot of people around which added to the atmosphere, and the views were spectacular, so it was a great experience.

We didn't stay too long when we reached the top, as the chairlift was only operating until 4pm, and we had an hours walk back down the other side. It didn't seem as hot up there as it has been lately, but I certainly got burnt. My haphazard method of applying sunblock means I now have legs like a patchwork quilt. My guide was really good, a local who has been doing this for years, so we had lots of interesting conversations and he managed to get me back off the mountain in one piece, without having fallen face first in the snow.

My original plan for today had been to visit Bulgaria's most famous tourist destination, Rila Monastery. However, I think I made the right choice leaving it out so I could visit the 7 lakes instead. They really were beautiful and it was a great experience, that I will remember for a long time to come. Plus, I will sleep very well tonight.

I've just been out for a delicious meal in Sofia. I could definitely live in this city, it just has a great feel about it. I love the people, the atmosphere, the food, the weather, the fashion, and the location. It's Saturday night so everyone is out and about, including a few weirdos. Whenever they ask me for money, I panic and blurt out "I don't speak English". Fortunately, neither do they.

I took my first taxi ride today, since it was a fair hike to the bus station. During the short trip, we pulled over and picked up the boss of the taxi company, who appeared to be waiting for a bus? It was a pretty cheap ride and saved me lugging my backpack uphill for 20 minutes.

The next bus didn't leave for another hour and a half, so I stored my luggage and went for a last stroll around town. It's a nice place, but there's clearly never been a town planner, as "turn left at the corner" always seems to have about three left options. I guess these towns are so old the streets just sprung up as they were needed, rather than being planned.

One last look at Veliko Tarnovo - town of the Tsars

For the first time since the Czech Republic, my bus was a big modern coach. However, there seemed to be a glitch with my seat, so whenever we went uphill I lay down, and whenever we went downhill, I sat up again. Bulgaria is mountainous. As much as I as struck by how green Romania is, I'm surprised at how much of this country is mountains. We drove through them for pretty much the entire 3 hour journey, only coming out into flat ground when we reached the capital, Sofia. As with Bucharest, I have read so many times how awful Sofia is and not to bother coming here. And as with Bucharest, I couldn't disagree more. Sofia is beautiful. I did have a small nightmare trying to figure out which tram to catch into the city, when everyone told me a different number, but I got there in the end. I think my timing is lucky too, because the street which normally only allows trams down it is under construction, so it's completely traffic free.

Vitosha Boulevard, with Mt Vitosha in the distance

After checking in (to a rather nice hotel), I had a couple of hours to fill in before I joined the city walking tour. The shopping here is amazing, but more expensive than you'd expect for Bulgaria. I think if I did a trip through the Balkans countries, I'd finish in Sofia, just to enjoy some shopping before heading home. I don't think I've ever seen so many shoe shops in one place.

There was a big group for the walking tour, but we moved along quite quickly, as there is a lot to see here including Roman ruins, a 3rd century church, a mosque, synagogue, beautiful theatre, and of course the iconic Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. It's even more impressive than it appears in photos and as the sun was just beginning to set, the light made it quite an amazing sight.

We also passed the presidential palace, being guarded by a couple of Bulgarian soldiers in their parade uniforms. We were told photos were OK, but not to get too close.

During the tour, we heard and saw a large stream of people moving along a nearby boulevard. This was the third day of protests against the government's decision to relax laws prohibiting development of natural reserves, including Vitosha mountain which lies inside the city limits and is a favourite hiking spot for locals and tourists.

Although it was a peaceful demonstration, and there was a large police presence, I was a bit dismayed when the guide said I should just walk down the boulevard through the crowd to get back to my hotel. Fortunately, a British couple were headed in the same direction, so we decided to walk together and we skirted around the edge via some side streets. It turned out we were staying at the same hotel.

I really like Sofia. In the city centre at least, it's lovely. The people seem happy and relaxed, there are loads of high end shops, and of course lots of places to eat the wonderful Bulgarian cuisine.

I've been staying at a great hostel in Veliko Tarnovo, Hostel Mostel. It's in a lovely old building and despite the heat, I've had a great sleep both nights.

Hostel Mostel

Since they had no planned tours today, I decided to walk a 4km path over the hills to a village called Arbanassi. A kiwi woman I met on the tour yesterday wanted to do the walk too, so we set out together. I'm really impressed by this woman, her children have grown, so she's sold her house, quit her job, and set off around the world for a year. What an amazing thing to do.

We both had visions of it being a lovely winding path, but as soon as we got off the road, we were in for a rude awakening. It was mostly uphill, though long grass, prickly twigs, trees with thorns, and just generally scratchy things. The wild flowers were lovely though, and the views pretty good. We could see 65 km across the valley to the abandoned building we visited yesterday.

The walk to Arbanassi with a pile of rocks marking the "track"

After about an hour, the path disappeared and we carried on blindly, aiming for the houses high on the hill above us. We only saw one dead snake. Eventually, we climbed up over what I am pretty sure was a hotel's compost heap and onto the village road.

Arbanassi was a favourite village of the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century, before they destroyed it. Today, it is a collection of old houses, churches, monasteries, and holiday homes of the wealthy from Sofia. Our first stop was a restaurant recommended by our hostel for lunch. The salads are fantastic here, but I always get carried away and order another dish as well.

After lunch, we wandered around the streets, with not another tourist in sight, admiring the old buildings, stone walls, and cobblestone streets. We stopped to chat to a few local artists, but both felt guilty that we're not buying anything for fear of adding extra weight to our backpacks.

Most of the historic buildings have been converted into hotels with mehana (taverns). As with everywhere I've been so far in Romania and Bulgaria, they have flowers everywhere and lovely outdoor dining areas. I liked this little wagon filled with flowers.

By early evening, we decided it was time to head back to Veliko Tarnovo. The only problem was, we couldn't find the track. We ended up asking a front-end loader driver who thought we were completely nuts walking over the hills. He couldn't speak a word of English but was having a fit and making hand gestures that roughly translated to "you're going to get eaten by something" much to his friend's amusement. Once we did find the trail, we were off and racing. It turned out the guy could have been right, as when we got back down to the road, a rather large wolf looking dog was blocking our path. We scrambled around in the stinging nettle arming ourselves with big sticks in case he threatened us, but fortunately a few cars passed and he moved off the road.

Back at the hostel, we had a dinner of Bulgarian Bean Stew and Beer waiting for us. After our adventure, the beans were pretty good, and the beer was bloody great.

In the evenings, Euro 2012 games are being shown in the hostel courtyard. I tried to watch one last night, but fire flies kept appearing and it was all I could do not to chase them around and squeal with delight.

It wasn't quite so delightful to wake up this morning to no water. You can imagine 22 backpackers in 35 degrees, and not a shower between them. Apparently it happens once a month here, when they have to turn the area's water off to patch up the last patch up job they did on the ancient system. Since I had plans for the day and having had recent natural disaster experience, I managed to go without.

A small group of us joined the hostel's Great Tour, which is an understatement to say the least. First we headed up a forest covered mountain, past Gypsy camp sites and views over the Valley of the Roses, to Shipka pass, the highest point between northern and southern Bulgaria. It's a special place for Bulgarians and a monument sits at the top to commemorate the local heroes who died in a lost battle against the Ottoman Empire there. Further on up the road was our first destination - Buzludzha. Built by the Russians in the early 1980s as a symbol of their friendship with Bulgaria, it was a strategically positioned conference centre, set high on a mountain in the hope that the backlit red star would be seen as far away as Turkey. The shape of the building may be due to the space race at that time.

From a distance it's impressive, from close up, it's even more imposing. It cost the Russians 7 million euro, and was used just half a dozen times before the Berlin wall fell, and the Bulgarians fell out with Russia.

Today it is abandoned and totally gutted, with the locals, vandals, and Gypsies having stripped everything of any value from inside it. In its day, it was adorned with white marble walls and floors, red velvet ceilings, and colourful ceiling high mosaics depicting scenes from Russian history.
Once we had marveled at the outside, the door creaked open and we slowly ventured in. Inside, it was dark, cold, and spooky. I couldn't see a thing, was cursing how dull my torchlight was, and we had to be very careful where we stepped with the debris and rubbish scattered around the floor. After about 10 minutes, I realised I still had my sunglasses on, so removing them brightened things up a bit.

It was eery though, and just a little bit scary. We went down just one of about 9 underground floors, as the others are too dangerous to reach now. Then we climbed whats left of the staircases to the main conference room, or what remains of it.

The building won't last much longer. What people haven't already stripped, the weather is eroding every day. Soon the roof and floors will collapse and it will be just a ruined momento of communistic madness. I declined the offer to go further down into the basement and was pleased to be out in the fresh air and daylight.

Next stop on our Great Tour was an excellent restaurant where I enjoyed my first proper Bulgarian meal. Forget about leaving this country early, I have to stay and eat. I had milk salad which is very like Tzatziki, a very tasty garlic bread, and a vegetable and meat dish called sach. One of the guys had mish-mash which looked nothing like I expected, but I definitely have to order it once. Bulgarian food is divine.

After far too much lunch, we walked across a little bridge and into a museum town where local artisans make crafts in traditional houses from all over Bulgaria. There were potters, turners, weavers, and all sorts making their wares on mostly water powered machinery. I made my first official purchase, a gorgeous sterling silver ring, in a style unique to the maker, for only about NZ$25.

After a couple of hours wandering around (and stocking up on Bulgarian sweets at one of the shops) we were back in the car and off to our next destinations, Bacho Kiro Cave and Dryanovo Monastery. The cave was once inhabited by 3 metre tall bears, and evidence of Neanderthal communities has been found in it. Since it was getting late in the day, we just did the short tour but it was interesting to see and a nice break from the hot humid conditions outside. After the cave, we took a stroll around the monastery which again, is an important historic site for Bulgarians, due to another losing battle with the Turkish invaders. It's nestled in the top of a horseshoe of towering cliff faces and it's no surprise the soldiers hiding out here never stood a chance once they were discovered, there's nowhere to escape.

It was a brilliant day out, and after 10 or so hours we were all pretty quiet on the drive home. Fortunately, when we got back, the water was back on and a lovely hot shower awaited us. I was just enjoying a nice beer, updating my blog, when the tell-tale sounds of church bells began to ring and we raced up the hill to see the light and sound show. This is where they light up the entire fortress and hill it sits on with laser beams and blue, red, green, and gold lights. I tried to capture it on camera but couldn't so just sat back and watched in awe. It was something I really wanted to see, so I'm thrilled it was on while I was here. After my less than enthusiastic start yesterday, today I saw a fascinating side of Bulgaria and am looking forward to exploring the rest of the country.