Yesterdays storm and stretch of dirt road had turned my bike into a muddy mess again so I stopped at petrol station which had a car wash station. It was insane how much crap came off.
Next on my way was the city Stara Zagora. It didn’t look extremely aplealing so I continued.
After a lot of main roads I was finally directed to the mountains again (on the right in the pictures).
But as I was getting closer to the top of the mountain range I could sense that I was reaching the clouds and they convey that not so nice weather was coming. I was entering a logging forrest and after one hairbend turn 2 big logging trucks came my way. I had to back up a little bit so they could continue their way down. They were signaling something but I just thought that the were giving me instructions on where I could go to let them through. More on that later.
Just as the trucks pass the storm starts to erupt. Yup, the second one in two days time. I quickly change to my raingear but I can feel I am getting soaked again. Some nice thunder and lightning and hail greet me. It was actually not the best place to be, up high in the mountains, surrounded by trees and the lightning trying to find the easiest way to planet earth. Sound travels at about 300 meters per second so I based on that I was trying to estimate how close I was to the centre. Well, there were a few strikes where I could not count up to one 
I wasn’t planning on hopping on my bike and going down either. The road had just turned into one giant stream. Best to sit out the storm. Luckily it passed in about half an hour and I could continue my ride…so I thought. I noticed some windmills earlier on and I was approaching one.
However, there was a gate blocking the road. The was also a giant pile of dirt next to the gate and I figured if I could get my bike on top of the pile, then I could probably squeeze through.
I gave it a few tries but the ground was so soggy that I could not get enough traction and I could not pull off my devious plan. I even dropped the bike when loosing balance at one point. No big deal. So I had to come up with plan B. There were several junctions that were not on my map so I figured, lets try one of them. So I did. The road went up the hill but it was incredibly soggy and sticky mud. As I was going uphill the rear wheel got clogged up with mud and there I was, no grip at all. The front was getting the same mud treatment and soon I was swerving from side to side (going uphill) until it became uncontrollable and I came to some sort of standstill and tipped over the bike. Crap, the bike was now laying with its wheels higher than its saddle, horizontal to the face of the hill. Impossible to lift it up that way. So I had to drag it around so the wheels were now lower than the saddle again. I struggled a bit with this, but eventually got into position and the lift was now easy, gravity did most of the work. I was however covered in mud by all of this. Ok, so plan B didn’t work out. Lets get to plan C, go back the way you came mister. So I went back, with my tail between my legs, accepting defeat. I took it slowly because of the rain that now turned the track into a different beast than it was before. But I managed, until…another gate. But wait a minute. This gate was not there when I made my way up, now was it? I probably didn’t notice it coming up since it had been open. Aaah, those loggers must have closed it behind them. Hmmm. Luckily there was a little gap to the side and after unloading my luggage I could get my bike through. Hooray.
That was a close one. I continued and there were 2 dirt bikes crossing me. I wanted to warn them about the gate but they were already out of my rear view mirror before I could try to convey some sort of sign language message. After a few turns another gate. You have got to be kidding me. Ah well, lets check my bypass options. Nada, zilch, nothing. There was no way to get my bike over or squeeze it through on the sides. This one had to be tackled differently. I wondered how those 2 other bikes tackled this gate. I was looking at their tire tracks in the mud but could not make any sense of it. My ranger skills are limited to opening a pocket knife and starting a fire with fire starters and a lighter.
I could either get my bike on the other side, look for another trail or wait until those loggers came back (which could be days since it was a saturday, I don’t think they work on sundays).
Crap! I measured the height of the gate and the width of my bike and concluded that I could squeeze it underneath. And so I did. Take off luggage again, and gently put the bike on the ground and then start dragging it underneath.
It was not the easiest thing to do, but I had succeeded my little limbo act. Just as I was putting my bags on the bike three elderly man walked by. They spoke no english. I explained them I dragged my bike underneath and then used some gestures to asks if more gates were awaiting me further down the road. They seemed to understand and they indicated this was the ladt one. What a relief !!!
I now take the normal road to my next crazy building…Buzludza. And what a building at that. An old sovjet flying saucer shaped building built to showcase the ingenuity that is communism. Completed in 1981 and left to rot since the early 90’ies.
There was only one slight detail. I could not see it. I was amongst the clouds. So a thick fog (the cloud) surrounded me. I reached the end of the road, parked my bike. Nothing. I waited a few seconds and then the fog cleared a bit and wham, I was standing right in front of it. It was bloody creepy!!!
Luckily I was not alone. There was a german guy and a bulgarian girl and she knew a way inside the building. Hell yes I want to go inside. Everything is closed off except for a broken window that leads to a staircase. To access the window you need to climb on a pile of rocks that have been stacked up by other tresspassers. To my surprise the German and the Bulgarian don’t want to go inside. Well, I didn’t come all this way to see the foggy outside, I wanted a peek inside. I put on my head torch, crawled into the window gap and set foot on the staircase. It was some kind of Indiana Jones experience. First the dirt road that would have taken me there, the freaky thunderstorms, the bloody gates, the dense fog (clouds). Like it didn’t want me to be there, but my perseverance won, I was inside. There are pictures to be found online so I kind of knew what was to expect but oh boy, seeing it with my own eyes was beyond cool. The clouds did make it difficult to get some good shots but with the naked eye it was simply amazing. This has to be the highlight of my trip yet.
Inside you come to this circle shaped hall that has the most amazing communist mosaics that were probably ever made. You see mosaics of Marx, Lenin and Engels, of crazy communist stuff.
Jaw dropping. Some are still intact and are truly amazing. Some of them have been destroyed.
The tiles that the place had been paved with have been stolen. I am sure everything of some sort of value has been stripped away. The ceiling has the old sovjet emblem still present. The roof is falling apart. There are no windows anymore so nature can do what it wants. You have the outside of the building, there where the windows are, and then you have an inner ring. On both sides of the inner ring there are mosaics. It is so surreal.
I could not find any good pictures of the building in its original state. This building has cost a fortune to build and if it was still intact it could have easily recuperated all of that money as a tourist attraction. I still tried to let my mind drift away and imagine being a top leader in communist times and having a dinner with comrades at this place. Not that I am in favor of communism or so, but just the grandeur of this place would have easily outdone any ancient castle in my book. But that is just me talking. I just love the architecture of this building.
After a few minutes inside I get joined by a Danish couple and together we take many pictures and wait for those brief moments that the sun breaks through the fog and really lets the colours shine. Truly frickin’ awesome place.
It is time to go, the waiting game for more sun isn’t paying of and it is getting late.
I decide to go to the nearest town and find a hotel. If the weather is better tomorrow I will return, that’s how cool this place is.
Goodbye working holiday visas, Europe here I come 