Leaving Greece, we drove north into Bulgaria. We had intended to keep going to Türkiye, however it turns out to be very difficult to drive a UK car into Türkiye, and even more difficult to have a friend drive it back out. So, we are leaving the car in Bulgaria, meeting Emma and Mark in Istanbul, and they will track back here to collect it (they’re the best!).
The car has been absolutely great. It’s been reliable, comfortable, and air-conditioned. It’s helped enormously with continuity as we’ve stayed in so many different places; bringing home comforts with us (e.g. Heinz Salad Cream for Shona!). We quickly built routine, using google maps on my phone, plugging into the outdated CarPlay system, music provided by offline Spotify, and with the benefit of our borrowed plug-in cooler (thanks again Al & Jo!), we had a regular supply of cold drinks on hot roads. We drive a hybrid, but we found few opportunities to charge the batteries, relying mainly on petrol. Attempting this trip with a fully electric car would have been challenging and compromising, but we saw renewable infrastructure improving in most countries we travelled through.
We discussed what it’s going to be like leaving the car behind as we head onto the next part of our trip. We both agree that it will be a loss.
While it will be eminently less stressful without the daily planning, booking, navigating, negotiating narrow streets, dealing with mental drivers, and finding parking. It will also be a loss of freedom, of flexibility and of unconstrained time. We haven’t had to operate to anyone else’s demands on our time for a long while now (I know, ‘boohoo’). We’re soon going to be on a new timetable, dictated by others, with early starts, meeting times and alarm clocks…
Bansko, Bulgaria
Leaving Meteora, we had a long drive ahead. Briefly stopping for a small fuel top-up in Greece (€2.30/l), we crossed the Schengen border, gliding straight through into the EU nation of Bulgaria. The roads went from slow to very nicely speedy and our fastest since Germany – 140kph limit. We drove on for another hour or so, stopping for lunch in the strange wee town of Melnik. A pretty place, with giant, ancient sycamores lining the sides of a dry river, woven with rustic restaurants and souvenir shops. We had surprisingly tasty local fayre of Chicken Kavarma – a strong recomend – and lovely garlicky leavened bread, before moving on.
It’s a strange thing, moving between countries. Obvious changes are the signage, the language, and the architecture changes, but smaller things permeate. Passing into Bulgaria, more flowers are visible; gardens seem treasured and colourful. Flags are proudly flown outside houses. You also see a difference in the population, where men are… heavier, and women are skinnier. We felt EU hegemony, but the prosperity that membership can confer was juxtaposed against dirt tracks and ruined buildings. Abandoned cars sprouting foliage in abandoned fields. The average wage here is €16k, a third of the UK.
Another 2.5 hours later, and we arrived in the ski resort of Bansko, 1000m up in the mountains of Pirin National Park. Slightly frazzled and tired after a long drive, we arrived into a bigger than expected town, at the foot of verdant green ski slopes which were topped by big resort hotels, restaurants and cafes. We were staying in the Kempinski, which we’d had the pleasure of once before in Oman. This one, while a little dated, was a nice hotel, with excellent bedding, a balcony and a superb spa, gym and pools.
Making use of the pool, Shona smashed out her customary 2km and me 1km – both of us noticing a drop in fitness (which we put firmly down to the altitude). We took a limp around town that evening, and found that unlike many other ski resorts (c.f. Chamonix & Grindelwald), Bansko hasn’t yet found a way to attract large summer crowds, and many places were closed or boarded up. It contrasted with the endless ‘www.investinbansko.com’ billboards we drove past on the way up the hill – perhaps betraying an over-investment in Bansko?
We ate in the hotel that evening and had a delicious meal. Similarly priced to Greek dining, a meal with drinks cost us around €40/£33 – far more affordable than the cost of living at the start of our travels.
Saparevo, Bulgaria
The next morning, after a visit to the gym and spa, we had breakfast and made our way down the mountain, skirting the base of Rila National Park, we took a detour to visit Stob, the site of the Earth Stob Pyramids, a landscape purportedly reminiscent of Death Valley rock formations and Bryce Canyon-like Hoodoos. We followed directions on Google Maps, ending up along an isolated and extremely off-road section of rutted trail (please, please no punctures!!). We started trekking out along the ‘path’ but after being harassed by local wasps and flies, and melting in the heat, decided that we would just look at the pictures on the internet and retreated back to the car.
Around here, we drove through some very depressed areas, remnants of failed industry rusting along the roadside; crumbling soviet-era tower blocks still partially inhabited. Dangerous, ruined buildings mixed amongst lived-in dwellings. It was quite sobering and we both became a bit quiet and melancholy about the poverty on the drive to our Airbnb in Saparevo, a sleepy town with only one tarmaced road. We were staying up a dirt track, but were relieved to be greeted by a lovely chap called Tihomir, whose purpose-built two-bedroom annex was a lovely oasis in a somewhat dilapidated town.
After a night’s sleep in the ‘oasis’, we had to revise our assessment. Being in a very rural, and quite hot area, things came alive at night. We don’t exactly know what things, but what we do know is that the neighbourhood dogs (including Tihomir’s) did not like said things. Combined with a very ropey mattress, sleep was a fleeting friend for the next couple of nights.
On our one full day here, we struck out, backtracking our way around the Rila mountains, and headed up, up, up to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Rila Monastery, the site of a c10th monastery, rebuilt in the 13th and 14th century (and several times since) with 60 monks now in residence. It sits at 1150m above sea level – they love elevation, these monks. This is an important pilgrimage site for Orthodox Christians, and the queues to get into the main church were testament to this. The buildings themselves were beautiful, with the frescoed church and 1334 Tower of Hrelja surrounded by vaulted arched terraces comprising the residences of the monks.
We next wound our way back down the mountain, stopping briefly at our flat for a change of shoes, and headed back up another mountain to the base of a chair lift, taking us on a 2km journey up to 2100m to start a hike up to the Seven Lakes, the most popular hiking area in Bulgaria. With a broken toe, we sensibly only got up to the first of the lakes, but it was a very pretty area, and we enjoyed people-watching on the way. Also, we were entirely underprepared, with others bringing coats, gloves, hats, etc and us in shorts, T-shirts and sunglasses. Fortunately, the weather was kind and we avoided the harsh conditions that often plague this area.
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Dining that evening in the nearby town of Sapareva Banya, we left the next morning, driving along sketchy, very potholed but fast roads, stopping for some cheap fuel (€1.53), and arriving after a couple of hours in Plovdiv, our destination for the next two nights.
On arrival, we passed through a barrier into the Plovdiv old town, climbing up roughly cobbled stones to the boutique Hotel Gallery 37, a lovely old townhouse converted into a beautiful small hotel, full of the owner’s art collection. We managed to get parked nearby – amazingly given the restricted area, and settled into our room before going out to explore the local arty area and having a good lunch. We then explored the fascinating town, repleat with hills, valleys and stunningly preserved Roman ruins for a few hours before enjoying a meal back in the Kapana area that evening.
I went for a run the next morning (fitness definitely slipping). We then joined a walking tour for a few hours, led by Tsvete, a tour guide with impeccable English who enthusiastically showed us around the city. It was an excellent free tour and we got to learn about rich history of the longest continually inhabited city in Europe (over 8000 years).
Plovdiv is a city built amongst several modest hills, some with ancient fortifications, some with old towns repleat with well preserved wooden buildings, others left as natural areas, with monuments or a clock tower. A river runs through the city, and this compact set of geological features combine with a deep and rich history with added exposed Roman archeological ruins to create a fascinating, walkable and very visitable place. We really enjoyed our time here.
Sofia, Bulgaria
As we learned in Plovdiv, the country is still transitioning from its soviet past, casting off the shackles of extreme socialism, with recent generations really starting to breathe into a society of expression, individual liberty and commerce. Tsvete spoke of a country coming to life, but also warned about the strong ties back to Russia, the continual propaganda, and the open rise of far right extremism which has its grips here as in many parts of the globe.
Our final stop in Bulgaria is Sofia. A couple of hours by car on much busier roads, we entered a proper city, showing all the signs of westernisation. We drove into the centre, and explored around the shopping area, having some lunch and me grabbing a dashing haircut before visiting the iconic St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a stunning tiered affair with copper and gold domes.
Collecting the car, we stopped to get it washed before a short drive to the airport, where we’d booked parking next to the terminal. We emptied the car of everything we would need until Christmas (which turns out to be A Very Lot), and said a slightly emotional goodbye to our reliable steed of the last two months. A short taxi ride and we checked into our airport hotel for the night, ready to fly to Istanbul tomorrow.
Addendum: Time allowing, the next post will be from Türkiye, but should we be having too much fun, it may be a wee while later. We fly from Istanbul to the Stans, and it may not be possible for me to post for a while.
Travels with Sklaroffs 