Thank you Google

Did I mention Bulgarians love their statues?

Even while sitting in the main square of the central Bulgarian city of Kazanluk the distinctive saucer of Buzludzha is visible. We were getting some respite from the heat after descending from the mountains where Buzludzha lies, a rather meandering and intricate journey. We left a completely different way to the way we came, descending to the south. An imposing statue stands on the plain shortly after the very base of the mountains, beaconing, or threatening the prospective traveler in the style typical of Bulgarian Communist architecture. The statue is grey and austere but at the same time artistically striking. Juxtaposed against the bright purple of the lavender crops this makes for quite the stunning sight.

Leaving Kazanluk we headed towards the ancient city of Plovdiv, known for its Roman centre. Curiously we saw at least five huge bird's nests, at least one metre in diameter, constructed on top of power poles of all places. Only in Bulgaria. Nowhere else in the world have I seen Pelican size sea birds balancing a nest of that size on top of a tiny pole. It seems to be such a common phenomenon that someone has actually mounted rings of wire on the summit of the pole to assist the birds in their efforts. 

We got into Plovdiv as the sun was going down, luckily still leaving plenty of twilight to explore the city. To get there we took a collection of narrow, poorly maintained roads that wind through the hills and you supposedly need a Vignette, a highway ticket, for. I didn't see any vignettes on other cars, perhaps because people see no reason to buy one when the government obviously does nothing to improve the roads with the money they receive.

Plovdiv is a sprawling mess with few signs. We parked, supposedly in the old town and assumed that we'd easily be able to find the Roman Theatre. How wrong we were! After about an hour of marveling at the ridiculously bumpy, undulating cobble stones of the old town and asking at least three people we finally arrived. Without being there at the time of an open air opera or play you can't even pay to enter the theater to get a good look. Yep. They have a two-thousand odd year old theatre dedicated solely to local small time operas and plays.

We slowly wandered back through the streets, via a much faster route this time. On the way there we walked three times the distance we had to. The old town is quaint but doesn't really offer anything of outstanding value despite what the plaques on private residences announcing their past owners might have you believe.

Near the car we found a bar with a rough hewn inside. It had multiple pools of water, rock-cut tunnels and numerous holes, extending at least two stories, that you could sit under on the ground level and see the night sky. We couldn't resist. We sat down and got ice-cream. In Bulgaria it becomes habitual to not be too picky about where you go as everything always seems to be much cheaper than you expect.

The following morning we started making tracks towards Macedonia. We decided to take a slightly different route, crossing some lowish regions of the northern mountains of the Musala massif. After several wrong turns onto interesting back streets, typically filled with cattle, we were heading up into the mountains in earnest. There were no views. The road was inclosed by dense pine forests. After 40mins in the mountains proper we came to a flat area by a small creek where people had obviously camped before. With sheltered, grassy sites and the constant, soft sound of water sieving through rock we went no further that day. And the next day we almost didn't move either. We stayed until at least one, basking in the sun and dipping in the freezing waters of the river.

And one morning we woke up in a field full of "herbs"

When we decided to move on an interesting thing happened. Within a couple of kilometres we came to what I can best describe as a secret hideaway bar for old men, far from anything. Then the “road” degraded to a track, heavily overhung by branches. In another kilometre it ended at a concrete weir with a well constructed, small bridge. Again at a random spot in the middle of nowhere. Google maps had sent us on a road that doesn't actually link up!

A map of the area a few kilometres back had showed the road was missing a kilometre or two. We hoped to god this was an old map. But it most certainly wasn't.

We retraced our steps for around 60km on slow roads before getting onto the roads that would take us to Macedonia, not as great of a loss as we had expected. We ended up crossing the border at around 6:30, well before dark. The lines at the border were considerable but 40mins later and after being forced to buy a Vignette for our experiences on Bulgaria's sub-standard roads we were in this southern former Yugoslav republic.