Drokpa Journal

Dates Traveled: November-December 2009

Hmmmm - where does one start when the last update they wrote was 7 1/2 months prior? I suppose it wouldn’t be as daunting if we hadn’t done much, but Rhona and I spent more than 6 of those months traveling. No, this isn’t going to be easy, which I suppose is why it’s taken me this long to find motivation. Best is to tackle it in small chunks, so these updates are going to come at you for each individual country. First up….Bulgaria.

Norway

I lied. I’d already forgotten that we started our little adventure in Norway! However, since I’ve written about Norway more extensively in a previous update, I’ll simply gloss over our 8 short days there.

My work in the Barents Sea was ending for the season, and the crew change was to take place down the coast, in Bergen, on November 4, 2009. Rhona flew in on the 3rd to meet me, meet the guys, and to get a tour around my floating home/office. I had worked on the Hawk Explorer, with roughly the same crew, for 2 years. That’s a long time considering I’m a contractor who can get work with any vessel/company. I’d had a great working relationship with the crew, and made some good friends onboard, so wanted to treat the guys to some drinks. Let’s just say that Norway is not the place to be generous with the rounds - especially for a group of thirsty guys who’ve been on an alcohol-free boat for 6 weeks. I think the tab was over $400. Ouch!

I also had to keep one eye on Rhona when she’d head away from the table to pick up some beers, or head to the toilet. The bar was full of guys like us who’d been on boats for extended periods, and hadn’t seen women or alcohol during that time. A bad combination, which may explain why there were only about 5 brave women in the bar - one being the bartender. At one point Rhona came back to the table laughing hysterically. It seems a guy had cornered her to explain what he did on his ship, then offered to take her back there to, “show her his equipment”. He didn’t seem to flinch when she said she was married, probably assuming it wasn’t true, or at least the husband wasn’t nearby. Later I headed to the toilet, and when I came out I saw the same guy had found Rhona again - this time on the way to the toilet. As I came out, she went in, and I nonchalantly asked him if he was hitting on my wife. I swear he took off so fast it was like a cartoon exit - Poof! He was gone, leaving only a cloud of dust where a drunken sailor had once stood.

We spent a few beautiful, cloud-free-and-blue-sky days exploring Bergen - wandering along the restored waterfront area of UNESCO-listed Bryggen, popping into museums, and generally enjoying Bergen. We then caught a train/bus combination which deposited us in Gudvangen, where we caught a ferry through the beautiful and UNESCO-listed Naeroyfjord and Aurlandsfjord to the small community of Flam. After a night in Flam we walked to a nearby station and hailed the train (it’s not a normal stop on the route) for the scenic trip up the hill to Myrdal. Switching trains, we made our way through the snowy landscape to Oslo, where we spent our final 3 nights in Norway. The first morning Rhona hit the Kon Tiki/Thor Heyerdahl museum while I attended a meeting. We then met up to check out the Fram museum before making our way by ferry back to the city center. The following day we visited the Nobel Peace Hall, which highlights the previous Nobel winners and their achievements. It’s well done and an interesting place to visit.

We didn’t dare stick around Norway for too long - it’s expensive! I don’t think we ever ate in a restaurant - we mostly munched on things we bought in markets and 7-11’s.

From Oslo we flew to…..

Sofia, Bulgaria

The ride from the airport to the city center was a silent affair, as Rhona and I both took in the drab, run-down outskirts of Sofia and wondered what we were getting into. It didn’t help that it was gray and about to rain. Suffice it to say that first impression of Sofia/Bulgaria wasn’t great. It turned out those were simply the normal feelings of dropping into a new country where you don’t speak the language, don’t know what to expect, and realize you’re about to spend a month there. Gulp! Once we’d checked into our hostel, been given a map and some suggestions on what to see, and had done a quick wander in the neighborhood before the rain started, we were feeling much better and excited to be exploring again.

We spent three nights in Sofia and walked extensively during the days, exploring the various areas of the city. Sofia’s must-see site is Alexsander Nevski Cathedral, and we caught it on a gorgeous day. It’s a massive, multi-domed orthodox church, with an interior which can hold 5000 people. It dominates the area.

We popped our heads into numerous orthodox churches in our wanderings, with golden onion-domes gleaming in the sun, and beautifully decorated interiors. Not forgetting the other religions, we also spent time in a synagogue and a mosque. For lavish exteriors it was hard to top the national theater, with its friezes and statues adorning the roofline.

For entertainment of a different variety we spent one evening at a restaurant/brewery, where our table came complete with its own beer tap. We continually filled our glasses, watching the little red numbers count ever higher. Like the perfect fill-up at the gas/petrol station, we stopped at exactly 5 liters. I’m not sure what we got in terms of meters/liter while walking home afterwards, but I suspect we may not have taken the most direct route.

Rila Monastery

Rila Monastery, our next destination, was a 2-hour bus ride from Sofia. First built in the 10th century, and heavily restored in the 15th, Rila today is rightfully a member of the UNESCO World Heritage list - it was beautiful. Rila is a walled compound with 4 stories of small cells to accommodate monks, an irregular courtyard of paving stones, and the beautifully painted Nativity Church, complete with 1200 murals. Those adorning the outside of the church were most impressive - bright, colorful, and covering every square inch of wall and ceiling space. We often found ourselves with sore necks and slack jaws from leaning back in wonder at the intricate paintings on the domed ceilings.

Our plan was to stay for only one night, and to stay in one of the monks cells within the monastery. Unfortunately, when we were finally able to track down the person in charge of booking the rooms, we discovered all to be full. There are many rooms, but in the winter they only keep a few open due to the cost of heating. We weighed our options, and decided we’d spend the first night at a small hotel 5 minutes walk from the monastery, but return to spend a second night within the monastery itself. We had to do it just for the experience.

The following morning we got up early to listen to the morning service with the monks chanting, and did a small walk in the area to the cave of St. Ivan. It was a nice walk through the fallen leaves.

Back within the monastery we were shown to our room - our plain, barebones, austere room. As expected. It was nice to see the monastic compound after all the day-trippers had returned to Sofia - we had the compound virtually to ourselves. That gave us more time to admire the church murals, and to shoot far too many photos.

Melnick

A couple of buses later and we were deposited in Melnick, a small community in southern Bulgaria a mere 15 kms from Greece. The whitewashed buildings of the area line both sides of a dry river valley, and it was a great place to spend a few nights. We had no idea where we were going to stay, but were met at the bus stop by an extremely enthusiastic woman who took us into her home. Every home in Melnick seems to double as a pension, but as it was the low season many were closed. We had no common language, but that didn’t stop our host from bobbing her head enthusiastically and jabbering away in Bulgarian. Within minutes of dropping our bags we were downstairs in her wine cellar - admiring the many casks The wines of the region are said to be the best in Bulgaria, so we had to buy a ’small’ (5 liter) sample of the local variety - poured into a large plastic bottle.

We spent that first afternoon exploring the interior of one of the restored period homes, before stopping for some wine in a small cave. The area is mostly sandstone which has been sculpted into sharp points and ridges by the forces of wind and rain. Caves dug into the earth are great places to store the local wine, as the temperatures remain constant throughout the year.

During our only full day in Melnick we walked up a dry riverbed, then climbed higher through the sandstone formations, to Rozhen Monastery. The walk was beautiful as we looked down on the sculpted landscape, and the monastery was a serene place with beautiful murals. However, my memory of that day will always be tied to my lovely wife. Rhona found a small piece of green/white stone glinting in the dry riverbed. Having seen raw jade in China she became convinced this was it, and so she dug, only to discover that what she had seen was the proverbial tip of the iceberg. By the time we got the full stone out it was larger than my two hands put together, thicker than my arm, and weighed several kgs. As we found it early in the hike, we had to carry it uphill towards the monastery. At one point we’d stopped to rest and admire the view. Rhona agreed that it may not be practical to carry the entire stone, so she tried to break it, to no avail. I didn’t think she was using enough force, so told her to stand back. I threw it down violently onto large stones half-buried in the path, only to crush those stones. The stone we were carrying barely chipped. This happened several times before we resigned ourselves to carrying the entire rock. The plan in several subsequent cities was to take it in and have it tested. However, when you don’t speak the language, or don’t have a lot of time, checking large stones for authenticity never ranks highly on the list of things-to-do. And so Rhona continued to carry ‘Melnick’. In Moldova we had a good internet connection so checked the properties of jade - hard and cold were two of them. After crushing the rocks while trying to split ‘Melnick’, we could vouch for the hardness. It was also a very cold stone, which I’m sure had nothing to do with the foot of snow and below-zero temperatures at that time in Chisinau. Anyway, research didn’t rule out jade, so she continued to carry her pet rock. She subsequently wavered and decided that it probably wasn’t jade, but by that time she’d been carrying it for so long that she couldn’t part with it. Which is why, on February 8, 2010, after carrying the several-kilo stone since November 17, 2009, we posted a rock to Australia. If we ever become instantly rich, you’ll know that ‘Melnick’ proved to be jade. Otherwise, we’ll simply have a good laugh, a good memory, and a good story every time we look at it being used as a doorstop.

Bansko

Our next stop was Bansko. Situated at the base of the Pirin Mountains, Bansko is primarily a ski destination. In fact, it had put a bid in for the 2014 Olympics. It was the first place in Bulgaria, though certainly not the last, where we saw numerous half-finished hotels and resort complexes, which look as though they’ve now been lying dormant for years and will never be completed. The money simply dried up. We only spent one night in Bansko, but enjoyed wandering the small cobblestoned lanes. Hitting it in November put us after the summer tourists and before the ski season, so the lively ‘mekhanas’, or tavern/restaurants, weren’t as raucous as normal. Still, we enjoyed a leisurely 2 or 3-hour meal - sampling several local dishes and washing it down with a variety of drink. A nice night.

Plovdiv

From Bansko we took the scenic train to Septemvri, and then switched trains to Plovdiv. Plovdiv was probably our favorite Bulgarian city, and we’re not just saying that because of all the amaretto ice-cream we consumed. Plovdiv consists of a modern city, with a good pedestrian-only strip of shops and restaurants, as well as a well-restored and interesting old town. There are Roman ruins dating from the 3rd century, when the area was known as Philippopolis, as well as Thracian ruins predating the Roman by thousands of years.

We spent three nights in Plovdiv, and never tired of wandering aimlessly through the maze of streets in the old part of town - basically an open-air museum. Cobblestoned streets and beautifully restored houses - their second floor overhanging the first, were the norm, and all proved extremely picturesque. The ethnographic museum was well done, with good information and photos, but the house alone would have been worth the price of admission. Built in 1847, it had some incredible flourishes - most striking were the intricately carved ceilings in many of the rooms. We popped our heads into a few of the restored homes in the area, as well as into several churches. Also prevalent in the old town were antique dealers, so we wiled away a few hours thumbing through items and trying to understand Bulgaria’s past. One owner took a liking to us, taking the time to explain everything in great detail. It’s amazing what you can learn about a county’s past by visiting an antique shop with a knowledgeable, friendly owner.

Another highlight for us was the large Theater of Philippopolis, an ancient Roman theater perched on the edge of the old town - and directly above the tunnel of the busiest road in Plovdiv. It was one of the first ancient theaters of our trip (though we’d eventually tire of them in Turkey) and so we enthusiastically snapped photos and imagined some of the events that were staged there. It was also nice to sit around the edge at a small cafe, sipping wine while watching the sun set over the ancient seats.

While in Plovdiv we also celebrated our 8-month anniversary with a drawn-out dinner and some wine. We hopped around the menu so much that we had our waiter thoroughly confused, but we enjoyed ourselves. We naturally topped it off with a stop at Affredo’s. We loved that place - hitting it three times on one day. They did icecream, they did it well, and they had amaretto flavor. ’nuff said.

Smolyan

From Plovdiv we headed south to Smolyan - gateway to the Rodopi Mountains. We stayed at the Three Fir-Tree House and would highly recommend it to everyone. The owner was a fantastic woman who took pride in her pension, and even more pride in her cooking. We normally take our meals outside of where we’re staying so we can have some variety. However, after one meal at the Three Fir-Tree we knew we were eating every meal there - the food was local, delicious, and the courses just kept appearing in front of us. We had to do the two full days of hiking that we did to justify eating that much food each night! The hiking itself was nice as we got up to some points where we had views over the valley, and we also hiked up to some waterfalls. Like Bansko, the area near Smolyan is full of skiers in the winter months, but we hit it nicely before the mad rush and had the place to ourselves.

Ivan Vosovo

From Smolyan we passed back through Plovdiv on our way north to the small village of Ivan Vosovo. We had elected to CouchSurf with a local family there to get a feel for what rural Bulgaria had to offer. Atanas is a retired air force pilot in his late 30’s, with a wife and two children. The day we arrived he took us to a few nearby Thracian ruins, as well as to a winery for a tour, tasting, and dinner.

The following morning we got up early. Atanas mounted up to take his horse for some morning exercise, and Rhona and I were given mountain bikes to follow along. It was a nice little ride through the surrounding farm and pasture land. We next drove to the town of Sopot for a hike up to a waterfall, followed by a drive over the Shipka Pass for some buffalo yoghurt. Tasty. Atop the pass we checked out the large Freedom Monument, honoring those who took part in a Russian-Turkish battle in 1877, and watched the sun set. Back down in Korlova we had dinner at a great restaurant - a place that would become our haven the following day as well, but I digress. We finished the day by driving out to a small hut in the middle of a farmer’s field. Bulgaria seems to have natural springs everywhere, some of which spewed hot water, as was the case with this one. Rhona and I went to the far side of the building, stripped down, and gingerly walked into the darkened room - headlights helping little. It felt great to sit in front of the spewing water, enjoying our first ’shower’ in several days.

Kazanlak

The following morning we said goodbye to Atanas and his family, walked out to the main road, and flagged down the first passing bus, which took us as far as Korlova. Unfortunately, it didn’t drop us at a station, so we had to start the slow process of trying to walk to it….walk a few hundred meters, say the words for ‘bus station’ listen to a whole lot of Bulgarian, none of which we understood, but taking note of which direction they’d point. We’d then walk a few hundred meters in that direction and repeat the process. We finally found the station, only to discover the next bus going to our destination, Veliko Tarnovo, would be at 8:30 the following morning. This was at maybe 10:30 in the morning, so we had a long wait. Not satisfied with that we wandered to the train station - repeating our GPS-like navigational procedures which worked so well getting us to the bus station. We discovered that we could catch a train at something like 5:30 PM which would at least take us as far as Kazanlak, but that’s as far as we’d get that day. Sold. We bought the tickets, stored our bags at the station, and managed to find our way back to the restaurant where we’d eaten the previous night with Atanas. We ate a leisurely meal, then turned on Rhona’s laptop to kill 5 hours and try to plan our next moves.

Our intention was to stay the night in Kazanlak only because we had to - we were leaving first thing in the morning for Veliko Tarnovo. However, the more we read, and the more we talked to reception, the more we wanted to see the area, so ended up spending two nights. In the morning we set out exploring - first stopping in the interesting museum, which housed some of the finds from the numerous Thracian ruins discovered in the region. The Thracians occupied the area roughly 6000 or 7000 years ago - around 5000 or 4000 BC. Crazy timeframes. We next walked up the hill to Kazanlak’s main site - the UNESCO-listed Tomb of Kazanlak. Considerably younger, dating from the 3rd or 4th century (so ‘only’ 1700-1800 years ago), the tomb had some beautiful paintings. However, as breathing damages the paintings we were limited to only a few minutes inside the walk-in tomb. Realizing this may not be enough time to take in everything, the authorities have built a replica tomb next door in which you can spend as long as you like.

We headed to a bus stop and caught one out to the village of Shipka. We really didn’t know what to expect there. We’d been using the Eastern Europe Lonely Planet, which has smaller sections on each of the countries - considerably less information than a Lonely Planet dedicated solely to one country. We’d heard about a church in Shipka, though our book didn’t even mention it. We had time, so figured we’d head out there to check it out. It was beautiful, and we caught it in perfect weather. The church goes by a few names - the Holy Christmas Church or the Nativity Memorial Church. It stood on a hill overlooking the village and dominated the landscape - onion domes gleaming in the sunlight. It was well worth the trip.

From the church we walked a few kilometers to the Kozmatka Tomb, a large mound-type tomb for the 5th century king Sevt III. That was less than inspiring.

Veliko Tarnovo

We caught a bus to Veliko Tarnovo, got ourselves settled into a hostel, and went wandering. VT, as it’s affectionately known, has a nice setting over a winding river. We spent a few days wandering the streets, eating good food, and checking out all of the real estate listings aimed at Brits. It was amazing how cheap things were in Bulgaria. It made me want to rush out and buy a house. We also spent the first night hanging out with others at our hostel - drinking and talking into the early morning hours by an outdoor fire.

One of the days we began by exploring the Tsarevets Fortress, which occupies the high ground overlooking a bend in the river. From there we dropped down to cross the river, then climbed the other bank, eventually making our way to the village of Arbanasi. We were there to see the Nativity Church, which has an interior completely covered in murals. Unfortunately, it was closed on that day - we were told to return the following day. Disappointed. Still, we had one more day in the area, so did opt to walk back the following day to see the inside of the church. The ceiling and walls are completely covered in colorful murals. It was impressive, though the actual quality of the painting wasn’t overly special.

Nesebar & Varna

Throughout our time in Bulgaria we’d had unseasonably warm weather. Everyone commented on how lucky we were. That luck ran out as we hit the Black Sea towns of Nesebar and Varna. Most people flock to the Black Sea coast in summer to loll on the beaches by day, and to hit beach nightclubs into the morning hours. It sounds like everything happens during the summer months, but we can safely say that nothing happens in November & December. Nesebar, a UNESCO World Heritage site with history dating back to 3000 BC, was a ghost town. We spent a few days wandering around in the rain, getting lost in the narrow lanes, and seeing numerous old churches and ruins. But we spent most of our time simply relaxing in our room. We’d been on the go for a month and we were feeling it, so it felt good to do nothing but watch TV or movies on our laptops. I think we were also seeing the end of Bulgaria after a month, and were longing for something new to sink our teeth into. Nesebar may be nicer in the summer months, though I suspect it would just be more crowded and not overly spectacular.

Up the coast, Varna has a reputation as one of THE spots you have to see while in Bulgaria, but again that’s all tied to the beach/nightclub scene in the summer months. There was nothing to hold us there in December, so we simply made our arrangements to catch a bus to Odessa, Ukraine.

Bulgaria is….

For me, Bulgaria is large orthodox churches with golden onion domes shining in the sunlight; natural springs; and fields of grapes. It’s cheap real estate and half-built apartments and hotels. It’s ancient ruins and a modern desire to be a bigger part of Europe. It’s friendly people and some great towns, such as Plovdiv. There seems to be some good hiking in the country, though we weren’t able to do much - only a few days in the Rodopi Mountains around Smolyan and some short jaunts at Rila and Sopot.

We spent just under a month in Bulgaria - 29 days, and I’d definitely return.

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