Bulgaria

Entering Bulgaria

3 August 2017
After crossing the border with Bulgaria, I again stop by the sea. This time it is a wild, rocky and uninhabited beach. Abundance of plastics, plugs, Styrofoam, ropes and shopping bags nevertheless indicated that an intelligent, technologically developed creature was here. Instead of an active stroll along the sea, I choose to stand in the water and let the waves do this relative motion instead of me. Considering that we all move around the Sun at a speed of 107,000 km/h, any walk, ride or race on our planet is a ridiculous, pathetic task of someone who is not aware of his/hers insignificance.

Wild beach in Bulgaria.

In the city of Kavarna buildings are painted with large images of famous pop-personalities. How convenient! When you take a bit longer stroll in the town bar, order a taxi, and because of too deep look into the glass you don't remember your address, it is enough to say "Jon Bon Jovi" or "Shakira" and they will safely bring you home. In the small village of Topola, I stop at the village market ("Hraniteljski trg" they say in Bulgaria), where the best thing is that the locals don't give a shit about me -  they sit at the neighboring table, involved with their problems and do not give a quid about a tourist trying to get an impression with a racing bike. As if I was invisible!  Wonderful feeling! The road towards Varna runs along the sea and past pine forests - an ideal place for camping. This was the second time that I camp and quietly spend an unproblematic night. No worries - no insomnia.


Pop blocks in Kavarna.

Westward from the Black Sea in Bulgaria. Good roads, not much traffic.

After the Black Sea resort of Golden Sands, where they obviously milk the tourists - I saw a sign for a room for more than 100 levs (50 euros) - I leave the marine scene and go to the west. The road leads through a kind of "mesetta", a slightly wavy plateau without settlements, which rises in mild undulations to 500 m in height, with wheat and sunflower fields stretching to the small hills on the horizon. The situation is appropriate for non-intensive cycling, when you have the opportunity to finalize some of the thought concepts you have recently dealt with. One such thing is the concept that I named "universe trail" and is the last one - I promise, indeed, the last one – of the messages of the Big Picture. Here it goes. The past is recorded as a trail of a four-dimensional space-time. The medium on which this trace is written is not yet known, and for this reason the player of the past of the universe is not yet available. It is unlikely that there exists ethics in nature, but caution with the quality of this trail is nevertheless appropriate. After all, a number of human concepts have arisen from this prudence, apparently different, but in essence a single idea with various wordings, such as: good, bad, fate, karma, reincarnation, god, arbiter, hell and heavens, forgiveness. It is therefore important what kind of trail you leave behind. Because it can not be cleaned afterwards! Everything is definitely and indelibly written on an unknown medium, to which only beings from the fifth dimension have access. I'm sorry, but the trail does not offer forgiveness. Therefore, make sure your trail is clean at all times. This applies to every great or small thing you do; also when you take a downhill on a bicycle: make it in an elegant way. Those who will look on your trail will then not roll their eyes.

Accross undulating hills in Bulgaria.

I have a few days to the city of Ruse at the Danube, which is a borderline between Romania and Bulgaria. The last days of this tour are marked by a heat wave. The temperature rises to 46 degrees C while driving. As long as you are on the bike and the wind cools you down a bit, it's not a problem. But when you stop, it becomes more serious. One such stop is in the town of Davnya, which is the most elusive village in Bulgaria. Wherever I look there is a sign with the name of this city. Left, right, up and down. At the next stop before Novi Pazar, I stop at a kiosk, where local gamma-males meet and try to dominate over other gamma-males. The primary sexual mark of these males seems to be a huge belly - the bigger one you have, the higher you are in the rankings. Secondary status indicators are - surprisingly - shorts and sandals. Childish simplicity in contrast with macho power! The conversation of these males is desperately unproductive, so typical of all the locals of this world. The status of the alpha male is unavailable for them, even the qualifications for beta-males are out of range. The alpha male does not need to show primacy because he has it by definition and can not be taken away by a gamma male. He could be challenged by a beta male, but there are not many of these - there is only one, and only on him must alpha male pay attention. When beta is mastered, all the gammas are under control.

Over Danube back to Romania.

From Novi Pazar to Ruse I treated myself with some Bulgarian culinary peculiarities, such as „šobska“ salad, kebabs (which is a kind of long sausage with a leopard pattern), burek and boza. Before Ruse, I found a room in a hotel with a pool (in the local language "hanče"), where a big party is being prepared. I assume it's a wedding, as some 500 people gather, everyone in white shirts, sprinkled hair and perfumed waiting in a long line at the entrance to the restaurant. In Ruse I spent the last levs for pies and coffee, and then crossed into Romania over a long bridge across the Danube. And I'm already on the highway for Bucharest, which is only 70 km away. Flat road, fairly quiet traffic and hot. While riding, it was up to 43 degrees, but in the hotel in Bucharest it was a real hell; if the elevator broke down, I would have been baked in ten minutes.