Feb 19th, 2024

Здравейте from Sofia, Bulgaria! I am loving this city. The night bus was a bit rough in terms of sleeping and also arrived two hours early, dropping me on the streets of Sofia at 5am. I trekked to the hostel and was lucky enough to be let into the common space, where I napped for a few hours before checking in. Slightly more rested, I set my sights on the nearby mountain towering over the city and took flight. I must say, I do love the habit I’m picking up of submitting the big mountain that cities are build at the foot of. 

The hike was magnificent. Fourteen miles and 4500 feet of elevation in, I was atop a stunning snow-covered paradise strewn with rocky crags, giant rolling hills, and piercing sun. From one of the peaks I was treated to the most steep, top-down, birds-eye view of a city I’ve ever had. It’s hard to keep putting into words the beauty of these hikes with the dual view of stunning nature and the whole view of the city. I opted to take a public bus down instead of hiking. The trams and busses have a charming post-soviet feel that I just adore. This brief description does not do the hike justice, but that’s okay, I’ve written a lot for work today. 

I had an early night and slept like a stone before waking up on Sunday. My Sunday was mostly spent on a day trip to the Rila Monastery, a beautiful and ancient (860s) religious fortress deep in the mountains of Rila national park. Some friends and I did a hike a little ways into the mountain as well, and enjoyed the long drive back to Sofia. It was such a great chance to see more of the reality of Bulgaria, outside the capital. This country is really charming. It feels so clean and safe, especially in contrast to the relatively stressful traveling environment of Turkey. I’m sorry to be leaving the country so soon, but I’ve booked my stays a bit too far in advance to be very flexible and stay. Plus my swift Bulgarian departure feels like I’m just forcing myself to come back later on. Yippee!

Another reason I’ve been having such an amazing time here is the fantastic community of other travelers in the hostel. There are fascinating, engaging, kind, and fun people from all over the world who are open and want to hang out. Last night I went to a club with some of the worst DJing I’ve ever heard. We had a lovely pregame at the hostel with a couple bottles of wine and rakija with the most fantastic conversation and banter. I’m just filled with so much happiness connecting with all these people. Richard, an 80-year old Scottish guy who hiked through rural Indonesia in the 80s and has seen most of the world, Will, an Australian philosopher, Maja the kindest who I stayed with in Izmir, Doug, a super interesting American guy who I have taken great inspiration from, Alfredo, an El Salvadorian Johnny Depp lookalike who self-branded as Johnny Deep (hes a troublemaker), Ernesto, a Mexican guy who  is so well traveled and asked everyone at the big table to write a note in his book and collects banknotes from everywhere he goes, Demir, a Croatian superman, Joe who put me on to ambient music and is hilarious, Vito a dutch teacher, and many more amazing people. It is a beautiful cast of people who I have been so happy to hang out with in a lovely city!

Where Istanbul felt so modern and so ancient, both in the extreme, Sofia feels like neither, but the middle area that it is feels so well kept and warm. I’m off to go find a terribly ugly baseball cap to add to my collection before doing some more work.