Day 21, November 11, 2005, Bulgaria

I tweaking the photos for our day in Bulgaria. It seems that my pictures keep getting worse and worse, the farther east we go. We were warned about pick pockets and so I even changed the CF card, in case I lost my camera, I would not have lost all of my photos. We were told to not take anything with us. Apparently a colleage of Doris' (seasoned traveller) had lost his money and what ever he had earlier in this area.

I saw no evidence of pick pockets. On our first coffee stop, I was talking to one of the vendors who was selling her grandfather's wood carvings on ebey. I have her card somewhere. What a treat to hear that!! The people are really poor and the country needs some serious money for it to become whole again. Our guide was excellent, he was from Scotland and had married a local girl who had been his climbing guide when he was visiting. They have since moved back to Bulgaria. He really likes the place. Says that it is going to be the garden of eastern Europe. The wildlife and natural flora are coming back to this land that goes uncultivated. The towns and cities are more modern, but still have a long way to go to restore any buildings they may have left. In the country, they use horses and carts for transport. The roads are in desperate need of repair everywhere.

This was a most interesting day. Too bad my photos don't show the contrasts, and real wild beauty. I was unable to capture any of the hawks or other birds I saw from the bus.