Onward and Upward

It's now the morning of the 12th Feb, the wind could be heard howling outside from my bed, wondering what it was going to be like up the mountain, as soon as we had finished breakfast, off we went. The long and winding road all the way up to Buzludzha was interesting to say the least.. At the lower part it was clear of snow and I was becoming quite concerned that there wasn't going to be any at the top.

As we drove up we saw locals on donkeys, and wondered where they might be going? and then a few minutes later saw some guys stood at the roadside next to a raging fire to keep warm, as the temperature was now at -6 and getting colder the higher we went.. They were lumberjacks, a pile of newly cut trees lay at the side of the road, while neatly sized bundles stood in a line, already prepared and waiting for collection, like these ones which were on the street outside our hotel. Theses guys are tough working in such conditions.

Steeper and colder, the road was now covered in snow, and again I am extremely grateful that Les is doing the driving, it is treacherous in places where the gale force wind has blown the new snow. 

The temperature has now reached - 10 almost at the top becoming  harder every corner turned, at one point Les had numerous attempts to get through a section where snow had collected and with only one set of tyre tracks already through it, he found it hard to stay in the tracks, but he did it.. I was holding my breath each time.

I was excited to see Buzludzha and Les was too even though this is his 3rd time here.. haha.. The enormous futuristic monument, has been on my list of places to visit for a few years now, after first seeing it I was drawn by its magnetism,, there is something magical and addictive.. not quite put my finger on it yet but I'm sure I will once I'm in there..

I see the structure right in front of me, it takes my breath away,  I am witnessing it with my own eyes.. such grandeur, a regal feel of power as it is perched right on the edge at the very top of this mountain.. it's imposing tower almost out of sight with low clouds moving in quickly.

There is a turning to the left where another part of this monument stands,, of two fists holding torches, which you can see here just to the left of Buzludzha, I can not tell you how windy and cold it was just to stand there and get this shot.. but the thrill of being here somehow, managed to control my shaking long enough..

Where we left the car

Did I know how hard walking up to Buzludzha was going to be..NO..all wrapped up and ready to go, tripod across one shoulder rucksack camera bag on the other, all the layers I could fit, scarf, bandana, coat gloves and off we go..

One step at a time keeping my head down and trying to follow Les in front without lifting my head too far.. The wind was biting feeling like needles in your face.. the nearer we got the harder it seemed. I have never (and neither has Les, who as I mentioned has been here twice before..) felt wind  like it before..We had to keep stopping along the way.. to catch our breath and rest, standing with our backs to the wind.. Les's face was bright red, he looked as if he'd just been on a beach all day in 80% sunshine..he was having to guard his face from the wind with his hand as we walked, but it still got him. I was ok my hood came down right into my face and protected me, I just couldn't see anything.

You can just see the tower popping up over the horizon.. I'm getting too excited! 

We are at the steps, they were the hardest part for me.. huge steps, built as if to keep people away, needless to say there was no-one up there that day.. which I am glad about.. It was great to have the place to ourselves. I really wanted to get some shots of Buz as we approached it for the first time, but there was no chance in that wind. I wouldn't even be able to hold the camera, these shots were taken on my Sony A600 which weighs next to nothing so I had it round my neck. 

Such a relief to get out of the wind.. Wow.. take a deep breath before the climb inside through a small hole in the wall, which bears a black hole drop beneath where you climb in.. it looks worse than it is. We quickly get inside, and immediately Les is on his arse, having slipped on the ice covered floor, which in turn made me not want to stand up once inside.. I dread falling on ice and could see nothing else.. it resembled an ice scaring ring. 

Past that, we next encounter steps which are also covered in ice, we crawled up them very slowly, with bags and tripods attached to our backs hoping not to slide down.. phew.. we managed to get up them.. the rest were fine. Now the moment I have waited for, which seems a lifetime..entrance into the arena.

Once again it's mesmerising, I take a moment.. its so quite even with the howling wind outside.. I feel like I'm making a connection. If you close your eyes you can imagine this place in its prime and splendour, the mosaic stories being told which cover the walls on both the inside and exterior of the arena, (although a lot have succumb to natures elements and have consequently been destroyed over time). The ones remaining are stunning, though currently covered in snow and ice I have no doubt I will see them in a different light before leaving here. 

Through the wind the sun attempted to show its face, but the wind won that one.. there were times we had no visibility whatsoever outside.. I wondered how the day might end.. but we were in there and if we couldn't get out that day we would have to deal with it.. I had already found myself a warm (well, not warm) but out of the wind, space which seemed warm in comparison.. 

The weather was incredible that day, so unpredictable.. I watched in amazement as the wind blew clouds across the valley between the mountains. 

This was the view out of the windows.
Les showed me a shrine in a dark passageway downstairs, which had been placed there following the death of a young man, it was supported by a cross, a photo of the man and a book, which had somehow been destroyed.

The wind blew around inside, it was sheltered more on one side than the other, so we generally stayed in that area, although at some points I had to go inside a narrow dark passageway to get away from the bitter biting wind and thaw my hands out. The water we had taken with us was now frozen in the bottle, and my lens had got covered with snow in the wind and that also began to freeze, as you can see in the next shot (right hand side- looks like vignette). I hadn't realised my lens was freezing, I thought the snow had got worse until I checked.. I changed lens and hoped that my tilt shift would be ok when thawed out, but that wasn't going to happen until we were back at the Hotel.

These shots show how cold and frozen the inside of Buzludzha was, the next shot shows my lens when it was freezing.

After almost 5 hours inside, and many many shots later, the sun was about to set, Les had mentioned wanting to capture this and I didn't want to get the same shot so took shots of the other side where there is an array of wind turbines in the distance, surprisingly they weren't turning.. god knows how in this wind. The sky was amazing that evening, gorgeous clouds and varying colours filled the horizon and a full bright red sun which resembled a humongous red nose in the sky.. well it made us smile :)

As the sun left us Les decided to try and get some shots from outside but we would have to be quick, the sun goes down like its being dragged down, you can literally see it disappear its that quick. We grabbed our bags and tripods, I didn't want to be a hindrance to Les getting the shot he was after, so tried really hard not to be such a girl and just get on with it.. Les forgot about the ice covered steps he was in such a rush, that he slid right down them and his bag followed. Out set camera up and shoot, it had to be that quick, i'm even typing quickly now because I'm talking about it.. haha..

I'm not sure if Les got the shot he wanted, I got a couple which I was really happy with, it was one of those situations where you have the most perfect sky before you and want to get the shot both inside and out, but the time it takes to get out of there, you need to have magic powers or be able to transport yourself from one place to the other..

All I can say is: WOW  what a day.. and massive thanks to Les I'm so happy he contacted me regarding my photography achievements with the BIPP but I'm not sure he thinks the same.. 

Les Johnstone you are my hero.. I would probably have never fulfilled my dream of paying this astonishing monument without his help, and its not over yet,, theres lots note stories to follow.

Starting now. On our decent, in the glow of that mesmerising sunset, the wind still fierce in our faces but its much easier and quicker going down hill, we both keep glancing back for one more look, as the sky just glowed, we wanted to get more shots but the wind and cold had got to us and all we could think of was getting back to the car and out of this wind.

The car- what a sight, yes now finally after freezing all day we could have some comfort and warmth, I was also desperate for the loo, I considered finding a quiet spot in Buzludzha but the thought of taking two lots of thermals and ski pants down and manage to not get any of them wet, or for that matter, I just decided to hang on. (Brave me)

What could go wrong after a perfect day, well we could get stuck in the snow, and we DID! 

No way, Les set off to turn the car around, and stuck we were. Wind blown deep snow had surrounded the car, and wheels were just spinning, I spotted some twigs, and grabbed them shoving them as far under the back wheels as possible, and crossed my fingers. Nope it didn't work, we both snapped branches off trees, used the mats out of the car under each wheel, got on our knees and tried digging the car out by hand, then used my tripod, and then found a pick in the boot,, this would surely work, Les hacked the ice that had formed round the wheels (it was that cold) but we were still stuck. I tried driving while Les pushed, and visa versa, but my energy levels were by now faded into obliteration. We sat in the car to give the matter more thought.. Les is a quiet well mannered and calm personality, but I could see he was getting stressed about the situation, I however knew we would get out.. 

Two hours later we were still there digging our way out, when a car came by, omg A CAR! No way.. it was now about 8pm.. and where we were no cars pass by, so this really was very lucky. Tow young men got out of the car and tried by pushing, then driving and resolving to using a tow rope, that did the job YAY we were out and couldn't thank the guys enough.

Down the long and winding road back to our cold Hotel, we come across the two guys who just helped us, they had gone round a corner too fast and ended up with the front end of their car buried in the snow.. It was our turn to return the favour.. after all one good turn deserves another.. I bet Les (being Scotish)was spewing though cos he gave them some money for helping us but they didn't give it back when we got them out.. 

It made us chuckle,, and we returned to the IT Shipka Hotel safely in the end..