Hitch Hiking: A way of travel life.
Trip Start
Feb 15, 2008
1
3
5
Trip End
Ongoing
Devin,
Smolyan,
Bulgaria
Friday, July 11, 2008
Since we've last spoke I have traveled to the Black Sea coast for about a week, and then into the interior for another week or so. I left you last from Razgrad heading to Isperik to stay with another Peace Corps volunteer. Ok. Got it.
I made it to Isperik slowly but surely hitch hiking alone this lonely country road with few cars. It gave me a chance to walk through a few town/villages and see some local country folk and their places of residence up close and personal. On the outskirts of one village a conserned woman came up to me as I had my thumb flashing out in the road trying to flag a ride on the mostly old russian communist era cars sputtering by. If you thought it was an american tradition to SPEAK LOUDER SO THE FOREIGNERS WILL UNDERSTAND YOU...you're wrong, they do it here in bulgaria :-)
The woman wanted to know if I was ok, if I wanted a taxi, etc. but pretty soon I got a ride and was on my way. A few villages and short rides later I ended up in sorry for my memory I have no idea named village. I was riding in a car with a friendly "turkish" guy and an old woman. Few words were spoken after I explained I don't speak Bulgarian however English and Spanish are on the menu. We evenually arrived in a dusty village where horse are something still of the norm and life seems to move pretty slow. After I got out I threw the thumb out there for round 5 or something that day.
After lunch at the monastery!
However after about 10 minutes the same guy pulled up in the car with guests in the back seat. They got out and in broken english this kid who was 16 asked me if I spoke spanish. And I thought after all that time studying and struggling in Madrid I would never use my Spanish in Bulgaria....but I responded with the equivalent of a "HELL YEA I DO!" Turns out this kid, his uncle (who lives in Bilbao), and his father have all spend some years in Spain. The kid spoke about the same level of Spanish I did (but with more slang of course...what do you expect from a 16 year old going to high school in Spain?!) and his uncle more or less the same. I tried to explain I needed to keep going if I wanted to make it to Varna that day, but they insisted on buying me a cola and chocolate and to have a chat for awhile. *sigh* worse things could happen on a scaldingly hot day in the Balkans...so I gave in. Not 5 minutes into the conversation I was invited to their home for the night with dinner and what not. Tried to explain I should keep going cause of schedules and what not...and they insisted further that it was dangerous to hitch hike and blah blah blah... OK so stayed the night. What the hell. A lot of Roma (gypsies) in Bulgaria tend to call themselves Turkish because well the Roma are one of the most highly discriminated minorities in Europe and Turkish just sounds better, even though clearly they "look" Roma. However they speak their version of Turkish in the house (it being their 1st language) with Bulgarian being second, maybe some know the actual Roma language..and then comes russian, english, spanish, italian, etc. I have to say I had a great time in their little village. It really presses the idea further into my head that more than often money doesn't create happiness. I met a good portion of the village and said "hola" and "hello" to more people than I can remember, but everyone was very happy to meet me, exchange a few words and smiles and to share the same space for awhile. White guy, long hair, beard. Yup stood out pretty good there. There was no hiding. Took some pictures with the people, the kids, and of course with the girls. They were curious why I was 25 and not married and if I was looking and here are the ladies of the village if I am looking...hehe you get the idea.
Well we got back to this kid's house and the family had to offer me something. Juice, water, coffee, food.
Awesome community pool!
to which i responded no no gracias estoy contento (no thanks i'm ok). But his mother left and came back with ice cream and chocolates anyways. I guess no isn't accepted as an answer :-)We went out for a beer or two later to kill time while his mother prepared dinner and met some more people. I guess he expected his mom to make something that night but when we came back there was no food...and he explained that they needed to go shopping or something. So she gave us some money to go buy sausages and tomatoes and bread and me and the kid ate until I couldn't eat anymore....and then more...until I explained in my best spanish that I was literally going to explode if i eat more. Only then was I allowed to stop eatting!
The next morning we woke up late having been out late and I was getting ready to start my hitch hiking. Nope, gotta go have lunch in the next village over to meet more family....my god! I mean I like you guys but I gotta keep movin' here! But leaving before going to lunch was completely out of the question and off we went! Delicious lunch of home made "kebap" and tomato/cucumber salad, beer, yogurt drink, and of course lots of bread. Again I ate untill I almost exploded. Ok time to start hitch hiking. Nope. What now!? "we have to drive you to the high way or you'll never make it." Oh and the whole time I was there the only words I understood from all the converstaions were Espanski, Angliski, Americano, Autostop. Which translate to spanish, english, american, hitch hiking. They talked non stop about me the entire time with glances here and there and worried looks on there faces. I tried to explain that its ok and quite safe in these areas. Well in the end they drove me to the highway (I had NO choice beleive you me)...like 10+ miles and insisted they pay for the gas. Its quite humbling to see a family who doesn't have a lot of money insist on driving you, pay for the gas, and absolutely refuse to accept money from you. That memory will always be with me and remind me to always share what I have when others are in need.
Awesome guy
Which brings me to my next point. All you rich bastards in SUV's driving down the road who refuse to pick me up because you think you're too good, don't have the time, I don't deserve a ride, blah blah blah blah. I have gotten most of my rides from people driving the oldest cars on the road, the people with the least amount of money....but AGAIN usually with smiles and their faces and always happy to take a hitch hiker. *sigh* money, happiness, needs, comforts, wants, generosity. Sorry just words there no sentences.
Well I made it to Varna! A nice hot shower, a walk on the beach, and dinner at a favorite spot of my couch surfing host and the scene was changed. A new town, new people, faster life, zoom zoom zoom. I am a person of extremes and its awesome to go from the village life one moment to the busy rush of the city and "taxi taxi! you need taxi? cheap taxi? you have dirrectioms? I take you there no problem!" Obviously the large backpack on my back gave me away.
Varna was ok, only there on my way south to Primorsko. Well I arrived in Primorsko the next day for the "childrens folklore festival." Which was kind of a dissapointment. I had heard it was going to be live music and dancing but in the end it was recorded music and dancing. Don't get me wrong it was cute, kids dressed up in traditional costumes dancing traditional dances....but after a few songs I was like.....I came all the way here to tourist land for this? oh well
Opps back up. Where did I stay in Primorsko? Well I was wondering around the city looking for free wi-fi with my travel companian mini computer when my bulgarian friend "Emi" whom i met in spain called me. We proceeded to have a nice chat in spanish. When i was finished, however, this guy came up to me speaking in itialian. I was like...dude I don't speak italian. Ohhh i thought you were speaking italian...nope sorry man...better get workin' on those italian cd's my friend. Well I spoke my spanish and he spoke his italian with a few spanish words thrown in there with maybe an enlgish word every so often and we established that I was lookin' for a place to stay. 5 min later he talked to the land lord of his flat i was standing in front of and $30 later I had a room for too nights that she often rents out. Cool. Oh by the way this guy was a gypsy and so were most of the people living in this apt building. Ya know from all the bullshit I've heard from the Romanians and Bulgarians about how worthless and no good and stealing cheating lying theiving the gypsies are....I have found them to be quite warming, welcoming, and eager to help someone who doesn't mind chatting them up. Sorry bulgarian/romanian friends...just the experiences i've had...I'm sure there are whole other sides that I may never experience.
Anyways two nights in primorsko was MORE than enough to tourist land that I could take but I did lye on the beach, I did go swimming, I had a beer on the beach, etc It was cool I suppose, but i was ready to go.
Off to burgas! Now here was a good time! Stayed with couch surfing host Elena who was awesome. We went to kareoke the first night and then the JULY MORNING the next night! So we've got the "july morning" song by purple haze is it? Well Bulgarian have taken this song in like it was the theme song to a cult. Every June 30th they stay up allll night and wait for the sun to come up, hence the "july morning" name. Oh but did i mention the beach PARTY? Live rock and roll, lots of beer, camp fires, and swimming? Oh yes my friend, this shit was a serious party and we partied seriously :-)
Ok already written alot so lets see still have more to go...damn i should update more often my hands are cramping. I hope you people enjoy this blog cause its for you! oh ok and for me too...i'm sure i'll enjoy reading all of this down the road since i can't for the life of me write in a physical journal...not my style *shrugs*.
One day in Burgas i decided to check out Nesebar which is maybe 40km away and is this picturesk little peninsula with traditional houses from back in the dayssss and some ruins of churches from I don't know we'll say they were originally built in the 6th century..something like that. Cool city...for a couple hours to walk around. Then I saw the dive shop..
Diving!
Oops thats where the wallet starts crying. Walked in, talked to this american/british/polish mix of a sort guy who talked me into doing some wreck dives (since there is absolutely nothing else to see in the black sea for diving). Cool. I like wrecks. At this point I was a little bored and thought what the heck lets spend some money. Waste of time. Damnit. Winds were up, seas were rough...so we did a shitty dive in the bay the "petrified forest" which was a bunch of old stumps at the bottom of the sea and we dove on a wreck that they actually just sunk 3 hours ago...yup 3 HOURS ago....*sigh* so much for that adventure.. I think i'll be a little more choosy and plan ahead more the next time I decide to spend a weeks travel budget on a day's dive trip. I've got the med, thailand, and australia to look forward to diving and i think they will be much more worth the money....much more....sorry black sea but you get a thumbs down :-(Well I didn't have a place to stay the night of the diving so the dive instructor gave me a place to stay (ok so the dive package gets a little better) which was in a hotel with hot shower, freshly made bed....and some beers on the beach...well i had to pay for those...but all in all it was ok despite the face i was in the most touristy fucked up location ever....this crazy crappy consumeristic hole called "sunny beach" yeaa i hope the name gave it away.
check out some pictures on goggle images and you'll see. i wanted to throw up.
Folk dancing in Primorsko
but free places to stay come with a free grain of salt on your pillow...so i took it.then i discovered the events portion of couchsurfing.com and discoverd an event in the heart of the rodope mountains in a town called "Devin." the event promised hiking, biking, swimming, caving and good times. Well lets just say its like 5 days later and i'm still here. Well there was a day of hitch hiking that went bad (hardly any rides in remotes locations) where i was trying to get near the capital to meet a friend and that didn't work out but I camped next to a river and had a campfire and cooked over an open fire, stars, sound of river, good times, run on sentence.
Well my hosts here in Devin have been amazing and suprisingly enough there is a jazz festival about 40km away that we went to last night and will return again tonight for the "international jam session" if you know me you know i'm excited....very excited!!
Tomorrow brings a long hitch hiking day to the capital, Sofia, for a couch surfing meeting which means meeting hosts and travelers and good people...should be accompanied by a few beers laughs smiles and good times.
Well I hope this update finds everyone in good health and the travel bug itching up their leg...as it should.
Adios for now,
dylan
Comments
Hilarious...
You've got some great hitchhiking stories, and some great photos, good for you! I enjoyed reading about your adventures
Louise Brown
TravelPod Community Manager