The last stopover of this trip was a ski resort, Razlog. The city must be packed in winter with skiers. In August, it was a quiet place with few visitors. The city center is a nice place to take a walk.
Razlog has a viewing platform on top of one the mountains. The hike to the platform does not take long and it is worth the effort.
I spent the night at Villa Mura. It was a private house that I found on Booking.com where the family rents out the rooms. It was 32 levs ($17), cheap, and the amenities were basic, a downgrade from my luxurious room at Provence Hotel. Switching from the outhouse to the penthouse and back is typical for my trips and I simply take it in stride. The room itself was decent. However, I did not get much sleep because of a dog that barked outside all night long. I got up and looked out of my window. The dog was lying on the road and lazily barked at nothing in particular.
My trip ended in Razlog. From there, I was going back to Byala, a town on the Black Sea where I have an apartment and where I usually spend summers. The distance from Razlog to Byala is about 500 км (300 mi). I wanted to cover it in one day which depended very much on the public transport schedule.
The first leg from Razlog to Plovdiv was easy. The bus followed the switchbacks through the Rhodopi Mountains, I enjoyed the views and life was good. At 11.30 am, I was in Plovdiv. There, I learned that all bus tickets to Varna were sold out for the next 4 days. I crossed the road to the train station. Hooray, there was a train to Varna at 1.10 pm. I even had time to swallow some food that did not taste good but I could not to be choosy. The historic center of Plovdiv is wonderful with excellent restaurants; I visited it several times. The area around the bus and train stations is a different story – lots of trash everywhere and cheap eateries.
Seven hours on the train in a stuffy and hot carriage were tough. I listened to an audiobook on my phone, fell asleep listening, woke up to check the progress and drifted off again. Unlike the road in the Rhodopi, the views from the train were not interesting. However, everything comes to an end. I reached Varna and from there, took a taxi to Byala.
Thank you, everyone, who read my trip report! Happy travels to you too!
Thanks for the story, it was fascinating to read! Good, that you has come safe home. Have a great autumn season!
Thank you for reading and commenting!