I was looking out the window of another train, watching the green farm fields of northwest Bulgaria pass us by. Suddenly, a donkey cart could be seen trotting down a nearby road, with an elderly owner patiently riding the cart to wherever he was going, reminding me that we were not chugging across the plains of the U.S. As we stopped at the next small town station, I was sure to read the station sign – mercilessly presented in Cyrillic and Latin characters -to hopefully pick up some ability to sound out words in Bulgarian. Finally we arrived in Орешек (Oreshek), simply another small town, but our stop to get to the remote outpost of Belogradchik 10 kilometers away.
Upon arrival, we were hoping to get into the Lonely-Planet-promised bus that meets the train to take us to Belogradchik. Seeing a minivan, which looked much like minibuses we have seen in other countries, we approached and were able to make out БЕЛОГРАДЧИК (Belogradchik) on the windshield. Turns out, whether he was full, not interested in taking foreigners or just not going there, we were able to work out that the only way we were getting to our destination was to pay a few extra dollars to take a taxi. As we walked over, the car was at least 20 years old and I quickly realized it was the infamous Russian brand, Lada. The ride was short, but we were fascinated to be reading Cyrillic (sort of) and riding in a Russian car.
After departing the taxi, we had to take a walk through town to find a hostel. At first, things did not seem very good. A long walk down the main road and we did not see a single hotel or hostel. But just as we were running out of steam, a municipal map appeared on the corner, which not only showed the city, but also the hostels! A quick check and we were on our way. After stops at a couple of locally-owned hostels, we picked the first one, with a nice older woman running the place. The room was quite comfortable and was decorated with carpeting and furniture that looked to come from the 1970’s.
We came to Belogradchik to see the amazing rock formations and they didn’t disappoint. Huge, red rocks seemed to be balancing on the top of the surrounding mountains. They made for fascinating scenery and we had much fun walking across the hills and through the forests, marveling at their beauty.
Perhaps the most awe inspiring site at Belogradchik is the town’s hilltop fortress. By itself, it is not very different than many other fortresses that we have seen on our trip. Just a ruin of rocks that were stacked up a few hundred years ago providing excellent looks at the city below. But the Belogradchik fortress was built into the rocks, which seemed to be used for intimidation or maybe as viewing points. The postcard perfect views of the front of the fortress will not leave us for some time.
Belogradchik provided us with the most wonderful blend of true Eastern block culture, mixed with amazing scenery. It is a town where the attraction has not taken over the city and most people just live their normal lives. We were lucky to see this firsthand.
As we approached the bus station to make our way back to Sofia, we found our trusting Lada cabman, ready and waiting. We deposited our bags in the trunk, hopped in and traveled back in time as our 30 year old chariot transported us back across the mountains to Oreshek.