20 years ago today - Day 223

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Saturday, October 12th - Razlog to Plovdiv - 13,372 km

I have another long day today so I am up and packed early. Breakfast at the hostel is modest but I still have groceries in my bags that I bought in Blagoevgrad yesterday to carry me through the day. The partiers didn’t wake me last night when they returned. A few of them are up for breakfast, probably those who have come to hike in the mountains before the first snowfall. I return their smiles and nods but they are in couples and groups and don’t stop to chat with me.

The mountain air is fresh and cool at 9 am when I set off to reach Plovdiv. Today's first 'step' is riding over the rolling valley floor to the town of Banya, six kilometres east of Razlog. North of Banya the road enters a shallow canyon that leads east to the Mesta River. Hwy 84, the road I am following, follows the river north upstream through the towns of Yakoruda and Cherna Mesta. I eat my lunch on a park bench in Cherna.


The road has climbed 200 m since Razlog, barely noticeable over 60 km, but after Cherna my route takes me up a smaller mountain valley away from the river and into the Rodopi Mountains. This is pretty country with a mixture of conifers and deciduous trees and the deciduous are in full of colour now. The road climbs to 1400 m, a further rise of 400 m, to reach the village of Yundola, and then it is a wonderful downhill ride to the town of Velingrad, a drop of 650 m.

Velingrad, which has 20,000 inhabitants, lies on the floor of a valley surrounded on all sides by low mountains. There are lots of hotels here, a clear sign that this is a resort town. Towns fueled by tourism generally look wealthier too. I stop here for a 15 minute break.

The road continues east and south through the village of Rakitovo, and climbs through a mountain valley to a small plateau before descending to the north through the village of Batak and into another mountain canyon. It seems this journey through twisting canyons will never end, but suddenly the canyon opens out onto the side of a plain. Although I am out of the mountains at last, the plain doesn't look that large as there are a series of small hills in front of me. When I cross them, I reach a much larger plain that is so wide that the far side is barely visible.

But the valley flows east to the Black Sea, much longer than its width. It comprises about half the area of southern Bulgaria. The largest city on the plain is Plovdiv, the outskirts of which are about an hour's ride east of that last row of hills. Plovdiv is Bulgaria's second largest city. Though it only has a third of a million people, it has been continuously inhabited for about 8,000 years, one of the first settlements in Europe. The Thracians called it Eumolpos, the Greeks called it Philippopolis and the Romans renamed it Trimontium (Three Hills), although it has seven hills in total.

The city traffic is a bit of a frazzle on my nerves after riding for hours on quiet mountain roads, but when I cross a bridge over the Maritsa River, which flows through the centre of the city, I am rejuvenated by a carving of a handsome half-naked man reclining on the stone railing by the entrance post to the bridge. The figure has the classic lines of Soviet portrayals of the muscular, hard-working Proletariat, but if this guy is working it wouldn't be in any legal profession.

I capture him in a photo and continue to the historic medieval centre of the city. I get directions to the tourist office from one of many hotels in the centre, and from there get directions to the youth hostel. There is plenty of room so I pay for two nights. The woman manager shows me to the storeroom where I can leave my bike. “No need to lock” she tells me. “One key—me!” she reassures me that no one else can get into it. She leads me to a six-bed dorm room which I have to myself. This will be my first two-night stay anywhere since Thessaloniki. From here I will aim for Istanbul where I expect to stay at least three days.

For a city so old, very little remains beyond the last two millennia. There is a Roman amphitheatre and a smattering of other Roman ruins, some Byzantine churches and the more-intact medieval walled city from a few hundred years ago. I have no chance see these today as the city is already half dark, but I will check them out tomorrow. I have dinner in a Greek restaurant, a lamb dinner with moussaka and a salad. There is definitely more food here than in Petrich, but still there are many shortages. I hope things get better for these people soon.

I wander around the city near the hostel. I find my way into a bar where I can order a drink. There are mostly guys here but it’s not a gay bar. Bulgaria is still conservative. Although women get equal education, socially the country is still conservative and I doubt there are many places where they can hang out with the guys. That must make the dating scene here very different. I doubt there are any gay meeting places in Plovdiv. I did not expect to pass through here so I didn’t copy any pages from the Spartacus Guide, if there are any.

There is a television on in the lounge at the hostel, but the channel playing is in Bulgarian. A few residents are watching it. They look like working men who are staying here while they carry out a contract or look for work. They are not interested in me and make no effort to say hello.


PHOTO 1: outside of Razlog
PHOTO 2: stone house in Banya
PHOTO 3: Yakoruda
PHOTO 4: entering the Rodopi Mountains
PHOTO 5: in the Rodopi Mountains
PHOTO 6: a contrast with conifers
PHOTO 7: bright colours in sunlight
PHOTO 8: on the plateau before the canyon
PHOTO 9: sex worker on the bridge
PHOTO 10: street in Plovdiv
PHOTO 11: medieval Plovdiv