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There is a fair amount of traffic after Prevala as there is only one road here. There was a disturbing number of scantily clad women standing in the byways on the road into Sofia.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4166/3...e6850df5_b.jpgBulgaria-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Hitting the city we arrived on the opposite side to our destination and the GPS wanted to go straight thru town, but luckily we got on the ring road and around in a much faster time. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4252/3...bd7cbe74_b.jpgBulgaria-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We arrived to the same hostel we stayed at last year and Assen from Bumot arranged for us. It is just next door to the Bumot factory. He has planned our a 3 day tour to some of his favourite places in Bulgaria. We will have the day off tomorrow to rest, sort out our stuff, and be tourists. Dan also noted today that after 5 years his Rich’s seat had a seam failure. Well of course Assen says there is a custom motorcycle seat shop in the same warehouse and Bumot. The guy had already taken the seat apart just after 530 pm when we dropped it off and found that the pan was cracked too. He said he would fix it all and have it ready by 10 am and for 25 E. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4175/3...a747f1e8_b.jpgBulgaria-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4162/3...67ef9872_b.jpgBulgaria-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4158/3...3c39f1d7_b.jpgBulgaria-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Welcome drink since its after 6!! https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4161/3...39602534_b.jpgBulgaria-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Since we had the day off today to finally take some time to sort out the gear better and finish a few odd jobs we had rented an apartment with a garage for not much more than the hostel last night. We made a detour to Decathlon so Trevor could pick up a few last minute items (silk sac, sunglasses as he sat on his yesterday, and a warmer shirt). We were very happy to have a huge private garage where we could spread out all our stuff and work on 3 bikes at once considering it poured rain for about 3 hours. We added some heat shield under our seats, installed the Beemer buddies on the grips, cleaned and lubed the chains, and installed some 3M on the panniers to offer some protection for our sticker collection.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4169/3...456b9125_b.jpgBulgaria-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today we start a 3 day ride in Bulgaria with Assen. It is very overcast, but hardly rained. It was however cool. The first part of the day was to scoot down the highway A3 until Dupnica where we changed to the parallel secondary road.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4204/3...38568ba1_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-05-17 at 23.54.51 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4183/3...8572d6fe_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-05-17 at 23.38.25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4183/3...aae4bf3c_b.jpg |
From just before Blagoevgrad we did a 30 km in and 30 km out to visit the Rilski Monastery.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4173/3...3ee40677_b.jpgBulgaria-31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr “ The Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is in the Rila Mountains 117 km south of the Capital Sofia in the deep valley of the Rilska River and at 1,147 m. It is named after the hermit Ivan of Rila (876-946). “ https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4185/3...a0ea8381_b.jpgBulgaria-32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4190/3...bf17ccdf_b.jpgBulgaria-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4275/3...dab8f55f_b.jpgBulgaria-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4248/3...8c580a4a_b.jpgBulgaria by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Returning to the secondary road we rode into the mountains to the ski resort at Bansko for a late lunch break.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4245/3...b39f8d0c_b.jpgBulgaria-33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4182/3...56cf7ec4_b.jpgBulgaria-34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We left this road for an even smaller one to start east at Gotse Delchev on the 197 to Devin after 363 km. We had a few sprinkles, but some really cold wind and at Bansko it was 11 degrees. We managed to arrive to Devin before the real rain. Assen treated us to a night at a Spa hotel. We actually had a small house with 2 bedrooms. The food here was very good too. Rakia and “mixed grill”. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4228/3...1e456ace_b.jpgBulgaria-35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4171/3...523a4382_b.jpgBulgaria-36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4158/3...621463b8_b.jpgBulgaria-39 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4276/3...b1752497_b.jpgBulgaria-40 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Some good news today after the landslide victory in the Iran election by the incumbent. They have announced they will start issuing visas to all nationalities June 6. This is cutting it close for us, but we can at least move forward more confidently now. This means we will apply in Yerevan, Armenia, which is a long day ride from the border we need to reach by the 10th. So things are looking up for us. If we are denied then we will be in the right place to get Visas for Azerbaijan and arrange the ferry across the Caspian with everyone else. .
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Today it is much warmer and sunny. We started out the day on the “macaroni” road essentially all down hill and very curvy. This passed 3 dams. We did not meet a single car on the way down! Epic ride.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4164/3...803bcdaa_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-05-18 at 22.43.16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4247/3...29f77f70_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-05-18 at 22.33.45 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4179/3...4439a54e_b.jpgBulgaria_ by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We had a big milestone for the F800 today it turned over 200,000 km just before Plovdiv!
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4252/3...1ae7d8e5_b.jpgBulgaria_-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4200/3...3acf5214_b.jpgBulgaria_-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4267/3...fc7d9872_b.jpgBulgaria_-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We then had a shorty stint on the highway and turned north to cross the plain. after lunch we spotted a sigh that said “Valley of the Thracian Kings” and so we had to make a small detour to check this out. From the road it just looks like a pyramid shaped mound covered in grass, but it is actually a 2500 year old tomb found intact. It was never pillaged. There is no mortar and the dome is held together by the weight of the perfectly cut stones only.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4252/3...c5acbb32_b.jpgBulgaria_-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4220/3...f49b180b_b.jpgBulgaria_-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4252/3...af845d27_b.jpgBulgaria_-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4202/3...a3a59ec6_b.jpgBulgaria_-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4196/3...f5f93cfd_b.jpgBulgaria_-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
You can no longer get inside thru the front door as it is almost in ruins. There is a way to sneak in but it involves some serious drops and climbs. Trevor did some recognizance for us. It was very windy here and a chilly 8.5 degrees.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4203/3...46342969_b.jpgBulgaria-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4166/3...17e4a3ab_b.jpgBulgaria-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The road from here is patched patch and leads to the next peak where there is a war memorial. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4176/3...bf2da0086a.jpgScreen Shot 2017-05-18 at 22.38.10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4226/3...be22529f_b.jpgBulgaria-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4157/3...53270a3f_b.jpgBulgaria-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Then we had an almost unobstructed ride down the other side of the mountains. Our next stop was to see the castle In Veliko Tarnovo. Now it is almost 7 pm and we are making for Motocamp Bulgaria.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4273/3...d34e2ffd_b.jpgBulgaria-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had an amazing surprise when we arrived as Orvar (king of Sweden) had beat us there by 40 min. He had pushed another 650 km with no lunch to meet us. We are very thankful to Ivo and Polly at Motocamp for their hospitality. The whipped together a very nice dinner for us with very little warning. Ivo has also been getting our green card insurance for Europe in the last 3 years. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4180/3...63726c60_b.jpgBulgaria_-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We were also served a very nice breakfast here to start off our day. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4177/3...d276680b_b.jpgBulgaria_ by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4174/3...ec6934dd_b.jpgBulgaria_-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today’s plan is to get to the black sea on the “Macaroni roads”. There is a nice curvy small road leading out of the village towards Elena.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4196/3...313a6663_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-05-20 at 15.50.11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4170/3...47cd366b_b.jpgBulgaria_ by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4187/3...3da7c28e_b.jpgBulgaria_-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4231/3...4196d284_b.jpgIMG_0396 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4179/3...660243c3_b.jpgBulgaria_-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4276/3...1ef44ca4_b.jpgBulgaria_-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The really good part is between Elena and Tvarditsa. Then it is time for gas and a coffee break.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4170/3...a8220403_b.jpgBulgaria_-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4180/3...9a677dbc_b.jpgBulgaria_-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4164/3...4fbbef50_b.jpgBulgaria_-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4183/3...62299fac_b.jpgBulgaria_-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4174/3...c539d547_b.jpgBulgaria_-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
By the time we got to Silven it was after 2 and we has lunch in the main park. This involved a bit of illegal riding thru the pedestrian area, but we finally found the grounds keeper who showed us where we could park.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4269/3...7ff51973_b.jpgBulgaria_-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Now we wanted to make some miles so we hopped onto the secondary highway and joined the main highway just before Burgas. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4174/3...ccd28f89_b.jpgBulgaria_-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr From here it was a 30 km ride to the beach town of Sozopol. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4171/3...2c8f4c67_b.jpgBulgaria_-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The first place we booked using the wifi in the square turned out to be way out of town and when we arrived they seemed surprised someone had booked…weird aparthotel. That cancelled we headed back to the town and Assen rode about for 15 min and found a nice small hotel where the neighbor across the street agreed to park his car outside so we could put the bikes inside. We are not as concerned as everyone else seems to be about this issue. Assen did have to park outside, but we used one of our bike covers and cable locked it to the fence. |
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