Residing in Europe gives an opportunity to fly to various countries you would usually would not plan to travel. One such mysterious land is Bulgaria. We planned an extended weekend trip to this beautiful Balkan nation. Challenge was to see and experience the most of it in just 5 days.
Flying in and out was to and from Sophia international airport. We took a Saturday 6 a.m. flight from Cologne. I usually opt for the park and fly for such early flights as the dependency on public transport diminishes. For a 6 am flight from Cologne it is important that we start at least at 3 am, so for the remaining sleep I used the tenure of the flight.
Day 1
We picked out car which costed us just 105 Euros on check24.de for 5 days including full insurance. In such case the insurances are booked by check24 from a 3rd party hence in case of any damage the amount is initially paid upto 900 Euros and then reimbursed from the insurance company.
A shuttle took us the car rental office and the kindness of the guy who handed over the car convinced me to spend a 40 euros more to upgrade the insurance to a zero liability one directly from the car rental company and by this I could avoid using my Indian credit card for any deposit.
Our accomodation for the night was booked in Plovdiv. From the Sofia airport the drive was just 1 hour and 40 minutes. We had plans to stop by in a old city called Koprivshtitsa. That makes the total drive time for the day around 3 hours and 30 minutes.
The historic town of Koprivshtitsa is very well known for its authentic Bulgarian architecture and folk music festivals. We eventually met people in their traditional clothes in the old town. The city is by the Topolnitsa river and has numerous old Ottoman style bridges giving a hint of Turkish dominance back in history. If you are in the Sofia district this gem of a town should not be missed. Just walking along it streets can easily take you a few centuries in the past.
After spending the day in this pretty cute city we left for Plovdiv. Our hotel, Landmark Creek Hotel & Wellness in Plovdiv was a bit away from the city center. So after checking in, I left for a short drive to a view point in Plovdiv city. The city had many small hills around the center to have a look at it. I randomly chose the Time Hill where a clock tower stands and you get a view of the whole of the city and other hills. I would not say this was the best location to capture the sunset as the direction did not give many shooting opportunites as a photographer. If there were other chances, I would have chosen the ancient theater or the Guard Hill for a great view of the city with the setting sun. Colours were beautiful in the sky so I was not totally dissappointed shooting in the totally opposite direction.
We had the dinner in the hotel with some local beer and wine. It was kind of a 4 star hotel so I cannot gurantee the authenticity of the recipe of the local dish I ordered.
The next morning we gave a slow start. The room had a beautiful balcony with a view of the sunrise. We also liked the breakfast next morning. It was a Sunday, so the visit to the city was easy with no parking struggle. Just a 800 meters of hike and you can see various corners of the city from an elevation. The hill is popular for its clock tower and named as the Danov hill.
The dinner was gracious and peaceful back in the hotel. Kebabs and grilled meat are really good in this country and I chose some lamb kebab with a glass of local beer, Sadly they had only bottled ones but something is better thsan nothing.
Day 2
Next morning was pleasant one, with a quite sunrise over the creek followed by a lovely Bulgarian breakfast at the hotel buffet. The Plovdiv city was yet to be explored. We chose what we usually do when time is limited and we want to know all about a new country- a free walking tour.
The tour was really enlighting with plenty of interesting stories about the city. Out guide took us to very interesting old town and narrated interesting stories about how rose extract has been a symbol of wealth in Bulgarian culture in the past. She also took us through the stories of Roman and later Ottoman influence that defines the faithscape of the city. Mosques and churches coexist and the Turkish coffee shops being the busiest ones especially known for their desserts. The traditional Bulgarian restaurents in the city of course had very interesting craft beers and delicious local food.
We spent some time for some lunch in a very nice local restaurent called Pavaj.
Later before leaving the city had a delicious Turkish milk cake popularly known as Tres Leches in the cafe adjacent to the oldest mosque in the town. The cafe is popularly known as Djumaia Turkish Coffee, Tea & Sweet House.
We had to drive almost 2 hours to reach Sofia. Highways in Bulgaria seemed quite organized and driving was not a difficult task there. The weather deterirated during the drive with heavy rainfall and reducing visibility. The prediction for the evening was heavy rainfall and the weather did stick to the prediction.
Our hotel was 12 kilometers away from the main city of Sofia. It lies in the hilly district of the city known as Vitosha. Since it was already evening and raining cats and dogs, we did not plan to go to the city center and rather reserved it for the next morning.
For the evening we visited a very traditional and famous restaurent in the Vittosha district, called Vodenitzata. Famouse because it was visited by notable personalities from the world including the great actor Ben Kingsley. The other and most interesting feature of this restaurent is that after 8 pm, there are local artists performing traditional song and dance show for the guests. The food indeed was awesome. I choose a local lamb dish and it was so much the middle eastern kebabs cooked in the grill with traditional spices and enjoyed every thing with a glass of traditional beer.
After the dinner, since the rain had taken a pause, we took a short detour to the city center as it was quite late and the streets were empty enough to park just in front of the famous Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky, take some photos and eventually left for the hotel soon.
Day 3
This was the last day with my wife in Bulgaria as she leaves and I stay back a couple of days for the mountains. We woke up in the morning, had breafast in the hotel, again it was pretty good.
We checked out and left for the city. We again had a waling tour booked. Since it was a Monday and the meet up point was in the center of the city, I chose to par the car in a paid parking garrage. Her flight was at 18:00 so we had enough time to explore the city as the waling tour started at 10:30 am in the morning.
The free walking tour, Sofia was again a lovely experience. To know about the Bulgarian capital in and out from a local who had lovely presentation skills was indeed worth the time.
The highlights of the tour were:
1. Sofia as a city is just like a cake, i.e. every layers of it shows different eras in history. Even the latest of escavations revealed an underground Roman theatre.
2. Sofia is famous for its thermal baths and mineral water hot springs. The baths are no more part of the city center but the springs still exist. We even filled our water bottles from it and the taste was indeed lovely.
3. Bulgaria was one of the only nations which did not hand over the Jews during the world war with wit and trick and still Sofia is one if the most multi religious cities in the world. The old town square had, a catholic church, an orthodox church, a mosque and a synagogue.
After a brief tour in the city we decided to enter some of the old churches, especially the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky which had lovely interiors and worth some images to take back. The last stop for us in Sofia was a traditional restaurent called Izbata. Its stuffed pork meat was worth a try.
I dropped my wife to the airport and headed towards Melnik. I had my night booked there. This regions is full of sandstone structures naturally formed and giving the valley a very unique look. I was quite late for the sunset so stopped by at times on my way to capture some light when it was gorgeous. This section of Bulgaria was very different from what I had seen so far. Every 50 kilimeters the landscape changed. The drive time was almost 2 hours 30 minutes, and from the highway I could easily see the snowcapped mountains of the Rila national park where I had my plans for the next night.
I reached Melnik quite late so after a brief walk in the small village, I chose to go to a restaurent run by a family. Melnik is also known for its wine. The grape production here is claimed to be very different. I did encounter some beautiful wine gardens on my way.
In Melnik I stayed in a guest house. A single room with bathroom. It was very well located with a clear view of some sandstone peaks.
In the restaurent I tried some pork and lamb grilled kebab with local wines, both red and white. I ended the evening with a Rakia-a strong Bulgarian drink I had been hearing from the walking tour guides all this while.
Day 4
The booze was strong last night, but I woke up early in the morning. It was a grey morning with non-stop rain. As the neighbourhood did not provide much scope for photography, I decided to drive up hill to the Rojhen Monastery. Up there, the scenes were totally dramatic, with cloudplay accompanied by sun and mountains playing hide and seek. I spent the morning there happily, walking around and svaing myself from getting drenched with sudden rain. The fog, mist and cloud was a constant.
After returning back to the hotel, I completed my remaining sleep and geve the body some rest before I drive to the Rila National park. I had booked a mountain hut near the seven Rila lakes. Usually, it takes 25 minutes to reach the top when the cable cars are running.
I was very hungry as the hotel did not have major breakfast option. Since I took the route mostly avoiding the highway, there were many local, roadside eateries-this was very strong similarity with that of India.
I reached the foothills at around 4:30 pm. As I reached there, I got the information that the cable cars are not operational during off season and . I had to walk the whole path. It was a steep path with a total kilometers of 3.5 km. It took me almost 3 hours to reach. I would say the path was damn challenging. I had the time crunch to reach before it gets dark so did not waste much time in waiting to take photos or longer breaks to to rest my legs. The last 1 kilimeter was over thick layer of snow with no visibility of the trail. Hiking in such condition was made more dangerous with slipperry rocks and icy track at some points. Gladly I was carrying the bare minimum to spend the night along with my gadgets.
When I reached to the top, there was a apocalyptic orange light over the snowclad mountains. The wind was killing the tired me every moment. Except the first 20 minutes which gave me hope and motivation, the rain and the wind were my constant companion. The wind got fiercer at the top.
I was about to spend the night in the Rila Lakes Chalet. I just booked a bed there and it seems that I was the only one there. An old lady who spoke only Bulgarian was there to welcome me. We had difficulties to make conversation but sign language was pretty helpful for both of us to place our requirement.
I had chicken soup with some breads for my dinner and a glass of Rakia to heal my tired body. Besides the old lady saw me limping and helped me with a pain relieving ointment.
Day 5
Next morning, me and my legs both woke up fresh and pain free. I woke up preatty early and started my hike towards the lakes. The possibility was high that most of them would be all frozen and covered by the fresh snow.
A short hike and I could witness a divine sunrise behind me and the clouds were sprayed in its orange colour. The scenes were gorgeous enough to make me stop and embrace the moment. I continued my hike only after the orange light started to get lost. The sky above was clear and the clouds seemed to had descended to settle down in the valley. I could see the lake at the lowest altitude, popularly known as the lower lake. It was lucky enough to be not frozen and shining in the light of the day. The hike was not that easy especially because the trail was not visible. I made only till the kidney lake and drank some water from its unfrozen sections. At a distant I could see the center point of the seven Rila lakes which could have been my last location but I could see no proper path that would take me to the fish lake and the trefoil lake, which were just beside another mountain hut, but both of them were all frozen.
Getting down was easier as I could trace the path I walked up. I had a heavy brunch before starting descend further. Tourists had already started to come up in good numbers and some off road jeeps were dropping them just 400 meters away from the hut I stayed. It was a bright sunny day up in the mountains so 3.5 kilometers descend did not take me more that 1 and a half hour with some halts.
My flight was in the evening so I packed my bag in the car took some rest and started my drive to the Rila Monastery. This deroute will cost me almost an extra 1 hour but I had time and space not to miss out on this UNESCO heritage.
The location of the Rila Monaster was very impressive. Nestled in valley of these mountains I came down from, this place of orthodox worship was worth the stop. Time to drive back to the airport, I did not miss out to take a quick stop at a Bulgarian kebab place to relish this delicacy in a local way. I think if I get a chance, I would love to come back to the Rila mountains during the summer to see the lakes in their real form. As a feedback, I just loved the people from the country as they were very hospitable and nice to tourists.
For true colour hi-resolution images follow me on Instagram at travel_india2world
' fill='%23359391'%3e %3cpath d='M46.1538462%2c43.5714286 L41.5%2c50 L36.8461538%2c43.5714286 L36.8670256%2c43.5714286 C36.3173077%2c42.7142857 36%2c41.6851429 36%2c40.5714286 C36%2c37.4854286 38.4535641%2c35 41.5%2c35 C44.5464359%2c35 47%2c37.4854286 47%2c40.5714286 C47%2c41.6851429 46.6826923%2c42.7142857 46.1329744%2c43.5714286 L46.1538462%2c43.5714286 Z M41.4294872%2c39 C40.6150641%2c39 39.9487179%2c39.675 39.9487179%2c40.5 C39.9487179%2c41.325 40.6150641%2c42 41.4294872%2c42 C42.2439103%2c42 42.9102564%2c41.325 42.9102564%2c40.5 C42.9102564%2c39.675 42.2439103%2c39 41.4294872%2c39 L41.4294872%2c39 Z' id='Location-white'%3e%3c/path%3e %3c/g%3e %3c/svg%3e)
