Continuing the journey.

Well, this is long overdue I know, but climbing a mountain is hard work in deep snow, (hence I was too tired) especially when your not used to it, or have a fitness level of zero.. (like me) sometimes we would venture up there twice in a day.. it was almost 3 times one day, but much to my relief it was too late after arriving back from another trip, which I will talk about soon.

After meeting up with Les at my hotel (Ibis Airport) in Sofia (which was extremely new and very comfortable) I must say...
We chatted for about 10 mins.. before setting off..(I think he was making sure I wasn't some kind of weirdo/pshyco..) I hide it well...:)
The journey was about 3 hours to reach our destination in Shipka, where fortunately for me Les had booked the same Hotel. As we set off through Sofia, it only took 5 mins for me to be thankful that it was Les who was doing all the driving, after witnessing the lunatics on the road, most of them drive in the middle or on the wrong side.. In which case I would probably have been ok..

It was late in the afternoon, the roads out of Sofia were long, and with nothing much to see, It resembled the long stretches in America you see in films..since I haven't been I'm just guessing.
The sky was cloudy and as the sun was going down, gorgeous rays of light were streaming through the broken clouds, which spread to almost the full width on the horizon.. I commented to Les about this, and when he glanced he wanted to stop to get a shot.
Fortunately we approached a petrol station with a Burger King lurking behind.. this was a perfect place to stop, as we had neither eaten since early morning, and there was a car park.

We both grabbed our cameras quickly so as not to miss this amazing setting, and took a few shots from the main road.. The foreground was not as spectacular as the sunset behind, but we can do wonders on photoshop these days.
A quick bite to eat, coffee and away we go again, Les didn't want to be driving in the dark, due to past experiences, of hitting huge man holes in the road when his sat nav took him down an alternative dodgy route.

We arrive safely, and drag our cases up to the 1st floor on marble steps-NO lift, the fitness regime starts here. We ask if there is a chance of food and humbly our Hotel owners, Tosha and Ivan readily agree, we have half an hour until it will be ready, so unpack and freshen up after the drive. Dinner was ready on the dot, and it was amazing.. in fact it was so good I'm having it again tomorrow.

My room is spacious and basic, but I have my own bathroom and view over the rooftops in the village. Thankfully I had taken my own towel, which I'd wrapped my tripod in, I was glad because not only would the largest of the 2 complimentary towels not have gone around me, but they resembled coarse sandpaper, but came in useful when I flooded the bathroom after having a shower.. Oops!

I hadn't realised how far from the hotel Buzludzha actually was, and now even more grateful for Les being at my Hotel and very kindly offering to take me up there. I had looked on google maps before booking and thought it was just a short walk, when in fact it was about 8-9 miles..Arghhh.. If it wasn't for my hero Les I would probably not have even got up there.. The village of Shipka is remote and scarcely would you see people let alone a taxi or bus.

I'm sorry guys, but its 1am again, and my eyes are closing.. long day today marching with protesters all day.. but that's another story for after Bulgaria.
More soon.