Monday 18th June 2012


I woke up this morning to the sound of the shepherd herding his goats past my open window. The bells on their necks clattered away as they made slow progress through the village of Idelevo.

View from my bedroom window this morning

I missed morning coffee and shower as a power cut had taken care of that so we got our riding gear on and set off for the monument at Buzludzha (click here for a link to Wikipedia) which has been abandoned by the Bulgarian government and is now in disrepair - but impressive nonetheless.

Doug was kind enough to lend me his Garmin sat nav which had the Bulgariaqn maps that mine did not and soon we were off to the Shipka Pass via a network of back roads that Doug had programmed in.

The road leading off the Shipka Pass to Buzludzha was a 12km potholed affair but the BMW's coped very well and the awful road was worth it when we reached the monument perched high on the hill like a spaceship looking out over the surrounding beautiful scenery.

Approaching Buzludzha...

We were the only people there and it was indeed abandoned - the concrete was gradually failing and it won't take many winters before it starts to literally fall apart. 

The views from the top of the hill were magnificent and we stayed a good hour or so just taking it all in before heading back to the Motocamp by a different route.


By the time we arrived back the sun was blisteringly hot - nearly 100 degrees farenheit today and not a cloud in sight. A quick shower and a beer soon put the world back on its axis.


Tomorow we head for Greece - we have shelved the idea of going to Turkey and the Gallipoli peninsula mostly because I have already been there in 2010 and there is not much scenery once you get there. So another country in the morning.