Bulgaria day 3: Thunder in the mountains, pyramids and monks

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Bulgaria Day 3: Thunder in the mountains, pyramids and monks



The weather forecast said there would be nothing but thunderstorms from 10am right through the night. Quite a lot like being at home then and very like the weather we encounter on our holidays. Ce’st la vie and all that.

We were going out in the car and had a bit of a drive so maybe the weather would be better....

Rila Monastery is not too far away as the crow flies but I’m not a crow and some numpty has stuck a mountain between us and our desination. I don’t know how long it took driving the long way round but it felt like forever. The roads aren’t too bad here but can be very bendy so it takes longer than you’d think to get to places. So who wants to own up to the mountain fiasco?.

We also stopped off on the way to take photos and have a drink but I was very tired by the time we got there. It cost £2.50 to park but then entry into the monastery was free so quite a bargain. As the sun beat down we took photos of the spectacular monastery which is well worth the trip.

The top three floors are still used by the monks doing monk things but you can wander round the courtyard and visit the chapel. The museum is £4 each so we gave that a miss. The monastery is very photogenic and colourful so we spent some time taking pictures.

As the rains started we moved on. We had intended to visit the Rila seven lakes but this, despite its seemingly close proximity, was apparently a couple of hours away plus lots of walking after.

We are adaptable though and so decided to visit something we’d seen back down the road-Stob’s Pyramids. We parked up and had some food and drink in a local cafe before paying our £1 each to begin our trek to the ‘pyramids’. Having learnt from previous follies I bought us some water to take and even Claire said I’d had a good idea. Permission to write home immediately as Baldrick said....and I suppose I am at the moment...

Anyway, we set off in the rain with umbrellas up...and then the rains stopped and it got hotter....and hotter.... It peaked at 26 degrees which isn’t THAT hot I know but when you’re from Stoke it’s the equivalent of standing in a bottle oven during firing. Add to that that some idiot had put these pyramids up some steep hills and we had no sunscreen because of the thunderstoms..... Oh and I hadn’t brought my hat...

Claire lent me her cap and used her brolly as a parasol so maybe we won’t be too burnt... We did have water though, which was my idea....did I mention that?

The pyramids are actually strange rock formations, some looking like those in Cappadoccia and some pointy bits. I found them interesting and the view was superb so well worth the trip again.

There was one point which said DANGER Terrain but it didn’t actually say do not pass so we did. It wasn’t too bad but I’d give it a miss if you don’t like heights. Not sure we should actually be scared of terrain though...it’s pretty much everywhere.... There were lots of colourful lizards, butterflies and flowers in the mountain as well which made things more interesting.

When we got back down we decided to try again with our new hobby of urban exploring and began to look out for abandoned buildings. We found a school which looked like it had only been abandoned last year as there was a 2017 calendar inside. Sadly we only saw this through the window as the door was jammed and I didn’t want to force it too much as people were watching (not that I would do that or advocate such behaviour of course....).

We took some photos of the building and an abandoned cuddly toy on the floor that we could photograph through a broken window pane. The playground out front was rusting away already so we took some photographs of course as we could get in to the front yard.

At a crossroads later on there was an abandoned house so we stopped and fought through brambles to take some pictures of that. As there was no front door or walls downstairs I suspect it had been unfinished when they gave up. The collapsing roof should make for some interesting pictures though.

As we drove closer to Borovets it was like driving back to Stoke...the clouds gathered and the rain began to fall in earnest.

Which meant there were no raodside jam sellers left....just after I decided to buy some and Claire had her heart set on some of the fancy looking honey. We had to buy some from T Market instead.

I love shopping abroad and visiting foreign supermarkets is something I look forward to...weird I know....so making a decision on which one to visit can be a BIG decision. I like visiting LIDLs abroad because you have something to compare to but actual supermarkets in their country of origin are also fascinating. There was also a Brilla supermarket but I decided to go for T Market although I’m sure I’ve been in one of those in another country...somewhere....

Claire even let me have a trolley so my day was made. The shopping was reasonably priced and we managed to get some jam and honey too. What a day! I even bought a reusable shopping bag to show off next time I’m in Hanley!

What a time to be alive!

After dropping our shopping off at the apartment we ventured out to a wooden hut restaurant that had wi-fi so we could dine, write and upload our blogs. The food was good with Bulgarian mussaka being superb with the traditional shopska salad very good too. A pancake with honey and walnuts for £1.50 was a cracking end to a great meal. The place is called Hrima in case you’re passing.



I haven’t been in any of the receptionists today so have managed to stay relatively calm. It’s actually been a good day so if you were hoping for my usual rants, tough! Let’s see what tomorrow brings.....

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