I made it back home safely last night after my quick tour of Plovdiv in Bulgaria (visa trip). Plovdiv is the 2nd largest city of Bulgaria, after Sofia. I chose it as there aren't a lot of options within the country, and I decided Sofia was too far, and Svilengrad, where I went last time, was too dull. The bus ride was fairly straightforward, and cheap (35ytl each way). Left home at 6.45, caught taxi to Metro bus office in Mecideyekoy. Caught the service bus to the Metro Alibeykoy bus station, as directed when I booked the ticke, then sat inside to wait for 9.00 when my ticket said the bus would depart. At 8, the driver of the service came up to me and said if I was going to Bulgaria, I needed to get on another service bus which was leaving then for the main bus station. I guess I was lucky the guy told me, or I would have still been sitting there at 9 waiting for the big bus. Anyway, got to the bukuk otogar, waited a bit, got on the bus, which left at 9.30, had 2 seats to myself and managed to stretch out for the whole journey. Process was the same as last time - 1 stop at the roadhouse about 1.5 hours into the trip, then the ridiculously slow process of passport checks etc at both the turkish and bulgarian border controls. The bus wasn't too busy, so only took 1.5 hours this time. Back on the road, a few quick stops to pick up more passengers, and eventually we got to Plovdiv about 4.15pm. Along the way, there wasn't much to see. Just endless fields of sunflowers, and a few donkeys once we got to Bulgaria.

First impressions of Plovdiv (and the other towns we stopped at) was that it was very characterless. I guess this is the influence of Communism. Tall, grey blocks of apartments. Very little colour, very little style at all.

Got a taxi from the bus station, as didn't feel like sitting on the public bus after that to get to the hostel. I had a map, but no-one seemed to know the hostel, but the lady at the bus office (who spoke bulgarian & turkish, but no english) instructed the driver where to take me. In the end, the driver took me to the ancient theatre instead of the hostel, and because of my lack of Bulgarian, I figured I would just get out and then figure it out from there. Turned out to be very close anyway. Driver apparently ripped me off - charged me 10 leva, when it should have been around 4 or 5 I think. Never mind. Not a lot of money (leva is about the same as lira).

Wandered around the cobblestone streets of the old town for a while, looked at the ancient theatre, the churches, and the many ottoman houses. Walked down to the main street of town and had some dinner, as there's not really anything around the old town, and as it was sunday, everything was closed anyway.

Impressions of the place didn't change much. It seems to be a pretty dull place. Apart from the old town, the only attractions seem to be the casinos and the scantily-dressed girls. Almost every girl seemed to be wearing a mini-skirt with a crop top. Even the older women have it all hanging out. Must admit though, the majority of girls have fantastic bodies, and I was admittedly very jealous. None of the muffin-top that seems to be present on most of the girls (myself included) here. I guess they just don't consume the same amount of olive oil they do here. Billboard advertising also seems to be aimed at the sex market. The majority of ads I saw were of naked women, often holding watermelons. Guess they weren't ads for the local fruit market though.

Hostel was great. Stayed at the Plovdiv Guesthouse, which seems to be very new. Lovely and clean with great facilities. I stayed in a dorm with 8 beds, but there was only 1 other girl in there. Breakfast included, was only 10 euro. Staff were great and spoke excellent English.

Decided there wasn't much to keep me in Plovdiv until the afternoon bus home, so I caught the 11am bus instead. Walked to the south bus station this time, found it with no trouble. Bus came at 11.45, so had to stand out in the 40 degree heat waiting for an hour. Not so lucky this time - bus was full by the time it picked up passengers at the last town, and had to sit next to an old lady who fiddled with plastic bags and papers half the way and kept invading my space. Bus took much longer getting back yesterday, and 2 hours at border control as it was full. Everyone on board had Bulgarian passports, except for me and maybe 2 Turks. Luckily I knew the process from last time, because they didn't tell me I had to go and buy a visa. Just got to control, and I remembered I had to get off and buy a stamp from the little white booth on the left side. Got back to the main bus station about 7, and had planned to catch the service bus back, but since I didn't ask, and the hostess only spoke Bulgarian, I didn't realise I was supposed to get off the bus when it arrived at the lower level. Never mind, I caught the public bus back. Got home about 8.15pm, totally exhausted with a headache and sore neck.

On the whole, the trip was easy, and Plovdiv was pleasant enough, but I wouldn't bother going all that way again. Only benefit is that it's really cheap. Cost me 100ytl in total (including the rip-off taxi), plus food, which was again very cheap.

M

Like the observations! muffin tops and melons... )

There was actually a lady wearing a skin-tight sundress with cut watermelons printed all over it too. Not sure if it's in any way related to the billboards (maybe she's paid to be a walking billboard) but it was possibly the most hideous dress I have ever seen.