Category: Orient Express

Our last full day in Bulgaria. The route continued to offer up the varied interesting fare this developing country offers. 10km of getting out of Burgas: it has cycle lanes to be fair. Yellow lines painted on the pavement. I think Cardiff copied this model as they switch from left to right and encourage you to cross the traffic flow. It is interesting to see the occupations along the way, mainly light industrial and manual.

On a down note, we were diverted around an accident early morning. Turns out a bus with illegal immigrants was evading the police. It rammed a police car trying to stop it, killing the two police men 40 and 30 year olds with family. First fatalities in the police for a long time. Reminds you as we tour along there are some serious things happening.

Then into the country. Men in a fishing competition by a lakeside just like in UK, with all the same paraphernalia. Up into the country I should have said. The ascents through woods gave the local knats time to feed.

Lots of border police evident. Speculation is it is to control Syrian refugees entering from Turkey. Where we’re staying tonight is required by the Army from tomorrow. There are elections in a month and the army is deployed to stop corruption, we’re told. The “lower” classes sell their votes: the army will seek to stop this. How I don’t know.

Something missing from the photos of Bulgaria is churches. Much fewer than Romania with religion on the decline. Unlike smoking which nearly 40% (cf UK 15%) do.

First heavy downpour just after we arrived. Welcome too!

Tomorrow country no 8 Turkey. Destination Vize.

A route change.  The original planned finish has been requisitioned by the Army. So we’ve headed to the Black Sea and Burgas.

The city is surrounded by the Burgas Lakes and located at the westernmost point of the Black Sea, at the large Burgas Bay. LUKOIL Neftochim Burgas is the largest oil refinery in southeastern Europe and the largest industrial enterprise. The Port of Burgas is the largest port in Bulgaria, and Burgas Airport is the second most important in the country. Burgas is the centre of the Bulgarian fishing and fish processing industry. God ol wiki!

So a longer day,  with some lush descents through forests onto the plains. Which become plains like. Grapevines appear: the only “properous” looking town is near there.  The villages are poor on the whole. 

First sign of industrial farming with a combine harvester hoovering up the dead sun flower stalks. That’s one of the surprises for me on this trip: the majority of the acreage of crops is sunflowers. Another is all the roads in Bulgaria have tolls. The cameras catch them.

Horses too today and yesterday, cantering along the road. They avoided the busy highway we were on for a good while. The relief when we turned off was short lived: now quieter and a headwind. No complaints though as it becomes a tailwind to hasten our descent to the Black Sea. The sound of the waves is always good to hear.

A day on very quiet country roads. Very quiet as in not maintained making for some bumpy surfaces. The best of those was the stone road out of Veliko Târnovo.

Our attention was on two things. The lovely scenery through wooded landscapes; the lovely vertiginous hills we rolled up and down. So coffee stops whe we could get them was the order of the day.

Most villages appear poor. The folks are friendly and inquisitive. More cattle and other animals than we’ve seen hitherto. Some curious sights along the way.

First solar power farm we’ve seen for a long while. The local fuel is wood. Most labour is manual, including loading the logs onto the timber wagon.

Tomorrow a diversion for an early dip (for some) in the Black Sea.

Our first full day in Bulgaria took us into the rural North. Lovely ride with the oven temperature slowly increasing and the best hill saved for the last miles.

Poor or changing. Massive derelict factories on the edges of towns; huge well cultivated fields (with no signs of the major machinery needed); horse n cart; deserted villages in places, as though the population has moved. Road side shrubs of apple, sloe, damson. Still all litter free. Good 5G.

The region we’re in is famous, apparently, for rose petal products. For an explore tomorrow.