I Made a Pass!

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OK, it wasn't at anyone, and it's not the first pass on this journey I've made so fare but this one, the Troyan Pass separating the Sredna Gora mountain range and the Balkan range, I managed without pushing my bike. Yay! The Rila/Pirin and Rhodope mountains in particular, had left me slightly jaded and traumatised because I'd spent a considerable time pushing instead of riding and so thought that I didn't have it in me. Going over the Troyan Pass has reestablished faith in my abilities and highlighted too that the passes in the south must have been desperately steep - and endless.

And, I'm happy to report that the hound situation has not been so much been appeased - there's still too many of them around and they are still seeing me as a major attraction - but I'm not giving into their fear mongering ways. No! I just cycle on ignoring them and it seems to work. Although, it needs to be said that strangely enough in this part of the country they don't appear to be as aggressive. Explain that one.

I won't give a blow by blow description of where I've been and what I've done but since Plovdiv I've cycled to Karlovo and Troyan and am now settled in Veliko Turnovo for the next couple of days. In Troyan I stayed in a Turistichnaya Dom (a Bulgarian Youth Hostel) which, apart from being full of Bulgarian school children endlessly saying "hello/goodbye" to me, had very friendly owners, Maria and her daughter Valentina who made me feel very welcome. I was invited for dinner and rakia (plum brandy) which, after two glasses (!), made me totally oblivious to the kids' screaming and ensured a good night's sleep.

The reasons I came to Troyan were twofold. A Swiss busdriver in Melnik warned me against going over the Shipka pass as this is the way I had intended to go initially. He said the road was very narrow and it carried a constant stream of buses, trucks and fearless Bulgarian car drivers and, basically, there was not much space for error. Hmmm. Not a consoling thought really.

Troyan is also the place where most of the ceramics sold by the roadsides and in any of the tourist shops is made. As I have an interest in studying ceramics I thought I might be able to speak to someone at the school there.

As it turned out, I made the right decision going over the Troyan Pass. Not much traffic of any kind and although I never did manage to speak to any artist, teacher, nothing I did probably have one of the best Bulgarian experiences of hospitality since I've been here.

I had the good fortune to meet Gabrielle and her son, Momchil, at a cafe in Troyan town. When I asked Gabrielle why there were so many people at the cafe at 11 o'clock and not working she replied "holiday". Yes, it seems all of Bulgaria is currently on holiday as the cafes are always brimming and appear to be the only place doing a roaring trade. Anyway, Gabrielle took me in her car, a trusty beat up Lada, to the ceramics school trying in vain to find someone to speak with (to no real avail). We then drove to Troyan Monastery which I was willing to bypass having already seen 3, following by an excursion to the Bulgarian National Art and Craft exhibition which was very interesting. Bulgarians are great craftspeople using the most of the material around them and there was a great display of woodwork, weaving, metalwork and ofcourse ceramics. We also went and had lunch followed by a quick trip up to Baba Planina from where we had a lovely view of the mountains around. The rain then descended and it was time to return to Troyan. As a parting gift Gabrielle and Momchil had bought me a tiny pottery vessel as a "surprise" and parting souvenir of our day together. How sweet!

Yesterday I decided to try to make it to Veliko Turnavo. It was 100km but I thought if I broke the day up in to segments it wouldn't be such a mind-numbing thought. Sunny skies and a lovely flat road made the first 15km really pleasant. Then the road climbed, but not unbearably so. Just one of those uphills that you can't see but just feel. Then ofcourse it was downhill. Then uphill again. Then downhill again. Then, the sky kind of changed. Not kind of. It did. It became darker. And then darker still. Then there was thunder. And a bit of lightning for good measure because well, there ain't no thunder without lightening . And then, to top it off, about 18km out of Veliko Turnavo I heard a slow pssssssst. I thought it was a truck coming up behind me. How wrong can one be? It was coming from me. Well, not me exactly but I consider my bike and extension of me and so, looking down, there it was, a completely flat back tyre. I guess I could have sat down in the rain and tried to fix it but I continued on, pushing my bike, like a wounded soldier, into Veliko Turnavo.

Did it all end there? No, an ordeal is not an ordeal until well, you've suffered considerably. I don't quite know who decides this but obviously I had not put up with enough just yet. Next I had to fend off locals trying to sell me their private rooms. When I explained that I was making my way to the Hiker's Hostel they asked but why, you can have comfortable room to yourself with shower, TV. Why you want to share with many people? I explained that I had made a reservation. That did not seem to put them off. They continued. I then told them I already paid. That shut them up. As their own little payback though they never did divulge where I could find this hostel. But, after endless asking I managed to hobble in at 8.30 last night, UP a ridiculously steep cobblestoned street very thankful that they had a bed.

Today I plan to get a couple of spare inner tubes, recover and dry out everything. Skies are looking ominous again now. Sight seeing I can do from the patio here. We have a wonderful view of the fortress and surrounding hills and I am very pleased that I made it to here. Actually, pleased is quite an understatement. I am ecstatic and it is a very beautiful medieval little town with lots to look at - much better than being stuck in some non-descript Bulgarian village with nothing to look at and no one to talk to.

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