Paul and Jean tour Bulgaria: Day 5 - Plovdiv and Bachkovo

We started the day with a walk up Liberators Hill where there is a monument to the Russian Liberation of Plovdiv from Ottoman rule, which was erected in 1881 in honour of the Russian Soldiers who died. It was very hot and sunny and we had good views of to Rodopi mountains to the south and the Balkan Mountains to the north.

We then made our way to the bus station and caught a bus to Bachkovo, to see the monastery which as founded in 1083 although most of the buildings date from the 17th century. This should have been a 45 minute bus ride to the south of Plovdiv. However 5 kilometers from Bachkovo the bus stopped in a line of traffic, in a mountain tunnel. Gradually cars in front of us turned around and the bus moved up until we were just at the exit of the tunnel. Fortunately this kept the bus in the shade and a lot cooler than vehicles stopped in the sun. We were stopped for 90 minutes and we didn't know why although there were 2 road signs ahead, one saying roadworks and the other saying danger of falling rocks. When we eventually got moving we saw that it was the falling rocks that had caused the problem and heavy vehicles and equipment had been moving the debris. There was a lot of damage to the road surface so vehicles had to drive very slowly through.

When we finally got to the monastery, it was lovely and peaceful and there were very few people around. We walked around the buildings and grounds and took lots of photos. Then the floodgates opened. Obviously behind us in the traffic queue had been many tourist buses on the way to the same location. This included a big party of school children. We walked around a bit more then went on a fairly short walk in the mountain to a waterfall. It was very peaceful there with beautiful mountain scenery and the coach parties did not follow us. We found our way back to the bus stop and caught the next one back to Plovdiv.

We went back to the hotel for a rest and to freshen up and then explored the Old Town a it more before finding somewhere to eat.

Tomorrow we have a few hours in the morning to discover more of Plovdiv Old Town before getting our lunchtime bus to Nessebar on the Black Sea for our final leg of our holiday.