Distance: 85km
Elevation: 1.024m
I woke up at 7am which was a little late for me. It took me a while to realize that I had crossed a timezone when crossing into Bulgaria. My body was obviously not yet adjusted.
I packed up and went into the restaurant to pay for my bed. Last night, the friendly waitress had mentioned that she believed it would cost 50€. I was perplexed and mentioned that this must be a misunderstanding because this was way too much.
The lady in the restaurant the next morning was asking for 30€ and we finally settled on 18€. She said „dobre, dobre“ and I thanked her.
I went into the town center and found a coffeehouse to have breakfast. Men were sitting outside in little groups discussing about life, I suppose. I was looked at like an alien.
Dark-skinned women were sweeping the streets with tiny brooms. They were talking to each other but nobody was talking to them. I suppose they were Roma.
Around 9am, I left Tran and ventured into another climbing day.
I pretty much climbed up a beautiful valley all morning. I saw maybe 5 persons during that time.
Every now and then, I came by some relics from communist times.
In hindsight, Tran had be the only option to stay for a night. The other little villages had hardly any life in them.
This part of Bulgaria was like a collection of lost places. Probably all the young people had moved to Sofia which was a modern and vibrant city only 90km away from here.
There was no way that a young person could or should stay in this dying environment.
It was so sad to see so much decay and poverty, it was almost beautiful in a weird way.
After climbing the first pass, I entered into 10km decent which was great fun.
I had a lunch break in a small village that had one shop. Again, everyone stared at me and I greeted friendly.
I figured that these were farm workers who had been brought home from the field in an old Russian Red Cross transporter from the 1960ies. I suppose they were having lunch before going back out on the field for the afternoon.
It looked like people here, mostly older ones, did not know or care much about the concept of maintenance. Most buildings were shabby and dirty. Things were merely fixed but not made right. And also most of the people themselves were overweight and most of them had problems to walk.
I continued my journey South and started to climb up the second pass. Gradually I noticed how nature had changed during the last two days.
The forest consisted now more of pine and oak trees and less of birches and aspens. It felt and smelled mediterranean already.
Around 4pm, I reached Kyustendil, a little town with around 40.000 inhabitants.
I found a bike repair shop that was actually open and made an appointment for a checkup for Rosinante for 10am next day. Thanks to Google translator, the communication with the lady was ok.
The shop resembled more a garage than a workshop as we know it. I hoped they knew what they were doing.
Next, I found George’s Guest House. I would stay here for two nights. The owner was Sif from Israel, nickname George.
He had been an officer with the Israeli army. His wife had insisted that they had moved here a couple of years ago to avoid that their little boy had to join the Army and the war in Gaza.
He showed me my room, the washing machine, and the sauna. So, it was a real thing, not just marketing like in the places before. And all of that for 35€ per night.
This town has existed for thousands of years because of its hot mineral springs. In fact, the smell of sulfur was in the air.
Next, George helped me to clean up Rosinante for the service tomorrow. He gave me a water hose that would poor 70 degree hot mineral water directly from the ground.
After I had started my washing machine, I had a shower and went into town to have something to eat. The air was warm and young beautiful couples with their babies were strolling in a little park.
I only then realized that I not seen young people in days. It was a refreshing sight.
I had dinner in a restaurant in a pedestrian zone. I was officially back in Western civilization. I had a big smile on my face and enjoyed watching the young people walk by and chat.
I had pasta and a salad. It was like paradise.
Francesco had meanwhile entered Romania. Also Christina, the bird watcher, had meanwhile changed her course to avoid the constant bad weather.
She had also crossed over into Bulgaria but was far more North.
After dinner, I went into the sauna. The air was filled with steam and it was hot. It was just wonderful.
I sat outside for a while just watching people.
What a great day this had been again. I was thankful for the weather, the great climbs, the views and my little guest house here in this historic town.