Photo Credit: Edal Anton Lefterov via Commons.wikimedia.org
Hi guys,
I realized I haven't written a travel blog lately, and the fact is, I haven't stopped traveling either. I continue my trips/holidays/excursions as usual. Whenever I have more time, I'm able to make longer trips, and from time to time, I enjoy one-day experiences to a closer location.
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One of the last places I visited was planned exactly the same - a trip for one day, visiting the center of Sliven. If you're wondering where that is, Sliven is a city in my home country - Bulgaria and is at around 110 km from Burgas, the city I'm living in now.
The town of Sliven is located in the sub-Balkan area, about 300 km east of Sofia and 115 km west of Burgas.
Video Credit: Nina Nikolova via YouTube.com
To be honest, I didn't have anything better to do on that day as it was Saturday and I was off from my projects - nothing interesting going on so I decided - why not make a short holiday and change the atmosphere a little bit? It's always a good thing to travel, you gather different experiences and meet new people that are just a bit strange enough and differing from the ones you live with, in your own city.
The Beginning
So, I was traveling by train. I had to wake up early to catch it, and luckily the trip was only an hour or something. That went well. I was a bit worried before arriving that I might not be able to find my way to the center. But, I checked on Google Street View and it appeared that in order to reach the center of the city from the railway station, you need to just walk straight, no crossroads, no turns, just straight ahead. And I'm proud to say that during my initial walk I didn't get lost, not even once. I stopped at a small shop to buy breakfast and was ready for my adventure.
The Wandering
I did make a walk through the entire central part of Sliven, full of small shops, bigger shopping centers, people, monuments, etc. Actually, my main purpose of this trip was to visit a lift which climbs up the mountain and enjoy the fresh air there. However, in order to reach this destination, I had to continue my way straight and turn left at a certain crossing. As I was walking, I was quite sure I'm on the right path as I noticed the same scenery I previously saw on the map. What I didn't calculate was that actually, this road was leading to an abandoned fortress in the middle of nowhere, in the outskirts of the city, literally in the field.
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To reach from the fortress to the lift station was almost impossible as there was no path, only grass, and small hills. Well, that was my first time getting lost there. I was surprisingly calm, even for myself, and I decided to turn on the location on my phone so that I hopefully can find a proper route on the map. No matter how many times I tried, I got that error: "Can't find location" or something similar. Later on, when I got home in the evening, I realized I actually turned off the location settings myself, so that I'm not bothered by notifications. But when I was there in the field, I was so excited from getting lost that I didn't even remember to turn it back on. I just though my phone is broken or something similar. And I thought I was calm.
Anyway, I decided I'll be strong and not ask anyone how to reach my destination, but instead, find it myself. Taking a direction the one I was sure I should take, I started walking through valleys, a tiny river, a landfill, graveyards, a meadow. Well, it was kind of fun, if we exclude the dogs barking at me that really scared me at one point. And finally, I was at a place that was familiar to me - the end stop of the buses. I went behind all the buses which were parked there and noticed a narrow path between the houses of the people. Not sure that was exactly the place to be I continued following a person walking in front of me.
The Lift Station
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"If he is walking this way, it should lead somewhere", I thought. I was so happy to see the sign indicating that I'm near the mountain, in a national park, and the lift station was clearly visible. Soon enough, I was in front of it. At first, it looked like it's abandoned. I was still the end of the winter and not many people were on the mountain at that time. As I reached closer I spotted the working time - it was clearly written that the lift station is working all year round and until the afternoon. By the time I was there it was already noon.
So I climbed the steps which took me to the start point and the first seats of the lift. I was greeted by 2 or 3 men, who were very surprised to hear that I want to use their lift to go to the top of the hill. They warned me there is a lot of snow up there, and were a bit worried about my shoes (I never wear mountain shoes, nor snickers). Luckily for me, they agreed to give me a ride with the lift, even if I was the only customer and they even made me a discount.
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The Lift
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Yes, it was amazing. And yes, many people called me crazy when I told them the story. But the truth is, it takes a crazy person to create an adventure. The lift is open and at first, I was afraid to even move so that I don't slip out. I was so sure I will make a lot of photos and videos but once there, I was scared that I will accidentally drop my phone, considering that my hands were freezing from the cold. 20 minutes later I was at the end point on the top of the hill. Lots of snow, lots of cold, and a cat, whose owner greeted me and explained to me I had to go back not later than 2 hours from now. That sounded so funny to me because I was only planning to make 10 minutes and then go back.
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On my way back I was not scared anymore. In fact, I was even a bit bored at one point, having no patience but go to the end. So, I was back down from the mountain, my hands were freezing, my feet were freezing, and I wanted nothing more than a hot coffee and a nice lunch.
Photo Credit: Edal Anton Lefterov via Commons.wikimedia.org
The Center
It took me some time to find the center again - after all, as you know, I'm an expert in getting lost in unexpected places. Once there, I found a fancy little pizza place, where I almost overate and managed to get warm. After lunch, I had some free time to visit the shops. I had no choice - when you're at a new place, you just have to buy something. I bought myself new jeans and shoes for the winter. Soon it was time for me to go back and catch the train to Burgas.
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It was a lovely and exhausting day. I estimated I was walking for 8 full hours, don't want to know how many kilometers are those. I really enjoyed it.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading! See you!
Photo Credit: Bre McCallum via Commons.wikimedia.org
- NinaB
