The main attraction of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria is Tsarevets Fortress. I had specifically picked my hotel for the balcony view overlooking it.
I saved visiting the fortress until my last day, when I had several hours to kill before heading to Istanbul.
Today I woke up in Sofia, Bulgaria and attempted to go to the bus station. At first I could not find the tram station. Then I got on a tram going in the wrong direction . Of course I did. I finally got to the bus stop, bought a ticket and I was on my way.
Before arriving, I was all kinds of confused about the bus station in Veliko Tarnovo. It appears there are two bus stations, the South bus station (Yug) and the West bus station (Zapad). I was never sure which bus station I would be getting out at prior to getting there. When we arrived in Veliko Tarnovo, I wasn’t even sure we were in Veliko Tarnovo since there were no signs.
It turned out that my bus didn’t drop us off at either bus station. Instead, we were dropped off at Hotel Etar, which is used as a bus stop for only one bus company (Etap.) I didn’t even know this stop existed at all. Note, this is way more of a convenient stop than either bus station.
At the time I got off the bus, I was so confused about where the hell we were since nothing matched the map I had. Rather than deal with it, I took a cab to my hotel. It cost me $4 BG which is about $3 US. The driver even tried to give me change from a $5.
This morning, I woke up late and had to rush to the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral to join up with the tour group I was going to be traveling to the Rila Monastery with. This was my first time joining a tour group. I had originally wanted to go on my own and spend a night at the monastery (how cool is it that you can sleep there??) But as I went about fine tuning my itinerary, it turned out I was not going to have enough time for this. Getting to the monastery on a day trip seemed like a complicated nightmare. So tour group seemed to be the best option. I was kind of hesitant since the introvert that controls me thought it would be hell on earth. But it turned out that the only downfall was for the other people who had to deal with me being late to meet them, causing us to leave a few minutes late.
So remember when I went to Europe back in May? And I posted about it regularly? But then I stopped suddenly and never finished it? Well I think that was because subconsciously I did not want the trip to end. So if I held out forever, never finishing up blogging about it, it would not be officially over. But now since 2013 is dangerously close to being over, while I still have four more trips left this year, I figure it is time to get cracking.
When we last left off, I had returned to Sofia from Belogradchik. I also got to use my very first squat toilet. Oh the adventures one has when one travels.
I had originally made an “out-of-chronological-order” post about my trip to Belogradchik, which you can find here.
I loved it there so much that I could not wait to do it in chronological order. But there is some information I would like to add, specifically about getting there and back.
When I was researching this, I found out there was a bus. But the information was really lacking and completely conflicting. Now that I have been there, I can help.
I was taking a 4:30 am bus from Niš, Serbia to Sofia, Bulgaria. My Niš apartment was on the third floor of a building that had a cement spiral staircase, and no lighting at all in the hallway. Being that I am leaving at this ridiculously early hour, there is also no sunlight in the hallway.
I gave myself an extra half an hour to sit down on the stairs and scoot down them with my suitcase in tow, to avoid breaking my neck and killing myself. It is times like these that I almost wish I were not solo, just so that someone else could witness how stupid my life is.
I am going to be going out of chronological order with this one but I am just dying to post about it.
Yesterday afternoon, I took a bus from Sofia to Belogradchik. I got picked up at the bus station by the owner of the guest house I was staying at (Drakite Guest House). For a whopping $19 usd, I had a very nice room with private balcony and a shower so big that you could take every shower I have had to so far on this trip and fit them all inside.
This morning I am up so early go to see the fortress. I cannot wait. I pause to take a morning photo from my balcony.
Then off I go. To get to the fortress is a very strenuous walk uphill. Up many hills. But the walk features GOATS!!
