Silk Route

Day 70 - Sat 24 May 08

Sofia

Awoken at 03:00 to get off the train to queue up to get a Turkish EXIT stamp. Why can't they just board the train like every other nation? The Bulgarian side is far easier with just a glance at the passport. Got to Sofia on time(ish) changed $100 at the station and found an agent that would sell me a ticket to Bucharest. Caught the tram downtown and then mis-read my map an walked miles in the wrong direction!

Retraced my steps and found my hostel which was about 300m from were I'd got off the tram. Oh well. Got a shower and did a clothes wash. Sofia is a pretty little city, there's Nebsky Cathedral a low squat affair with dark murals covering just about every inch of the internal walls.

I have two observations about the locals. 1. They cannot walk past a shop window without stopping. This makes walking down the street tricky. 2. EVERYONE smokes, it's impossible to get away from the smell of cigarette.

Walked up to the "Hostel Mostel" hostel which is a much nicer place than where I'm staying. I'm trying to get on a tour to the Rila Monastery - at the moment they only have one person (me), and they need at least another two for it to take place..