An insight into the Thracians, as we head towards Greece!

We are back on the road, leaving the Black Sea behind and making our way west through Bulgaria - destination Greece!  We have had a lovely month at our apartment at Sunny Beach, but it's great to be back in our little home on wheels and back on the open road.  The season has come to an end and all the holiday makers have gone and things are getting flat packed for the winter, it’s a shame that it is such a short holiday season here - mid May to end of September, although some people do live in our apartment block all year round.

It’s funny to see when all the holiday makers have gone, the seagulls decide it's their turn to take to the sunbeds!

We love the way the Bulgarian translations work on signs.

Interesting English translation

Ravda is the next village to Nessebar and we chuckled when we saw where this helicopter had been parked up - only in Bulgaria!

Pomegranates - a first for us seeing them growing on the trees

Leaving the Black Sea we made our way to Alexandrovo Campsite (N41.98714 E25.72641), about 145 miles drive (232kms) - a place we stopped at last year.  It’s a lovely peaceful setting, in the East Rhodope Mountains of the Haskovo district and is run by a very friendly family - Matt (English), his wife Keiko (Japanese) and their daughter Skye.  They bought the property and land in 2005, which was a run-down farm and they have lovingly restored it over the years.  It has a shower, toilet and washing-up facilities, a lovely seating and barbeque area and a fantastic decking area overlooking the valley - and all spotless!

Decking and field at the back of the campsite, with the Thracian Museum (white building right in the middle) on the hill

Although, the season technically finished for them on 30 September, they were still accepting guests. There were 8 bikers from the Czech Republic with tents, who had spent the last 3 weeks travelling from Prague through Iran and Russia and were now on their way back - they certainly had some interesting tales to tell!  John and Shelly in their camper van, who were also English and were making their way to Greece like us in, and Vera, an English lady travelling in a motorhome with her dog Woody, and was currently looking at buying a house in the village for 10,000LV (5,000 euros) certainly a bargain but needs lots of work doing to it. 

Vera's potential house, with beautiful views across the valley

Alexandrovo Campsite, the derelict building opposite the campsite  (on the left of the picture) used to be a school

In the village is a Thracian Tomb, dating back to 4th century BC and once used as a temple and mausoleum.  With its well-preserved frescoes and architecture, it ranks as one of the largest and most remarkable discovered in Bulgaria.  It was discovered in 2000 by archaeologist Dr Georgi Kitov and his team, and is now sealed off and surrounded by special installation to preserve the remaining artefacts.  Most of the frescoes are highly sensitive to light and so may fade, therefore visitors are forbidden to enter.  Unfortunately, the original tomb was attacked by treasure hunters many times over the centuries and the only things to preserve now are the frescoes and burial stones. We tried to get close to the mound (Roshavata Chuka), which is 15m high and 70m in diameter but it is surrounded by CCTV and a burly Bulgarian who was guarding the area blocked our way.  He didn't speak English but the body language made us know we couldn't go any further!

Roshavata Chuka - central mound behind the museum that houses the Thracian Tomb

The museum was built in 2009 in front of the mound, and inside is an exact replica of the tomb, and the frescoes.  Funding came from the Japanese, as a token of friendship between the two countries.  The only bit missing is part of the corridor to the tomb, which has been deliberate to allow public to walk through.

Replica of the tomb

Entrance to the tomb

Very little is known about the Thracians but the frescoes give a good insight into their way of life,  They loved their wine – our kind of people!  and also, visible from the frescoes are that they were people who battled and hunted.

Silver and Gold Findings

Walking back, we stumbled on a few of these interesting insects - not quite sure what they are though.

After the walk we wondered through the village (which only has a population of approx 200) and enjoyed a beer outside the local shop (Tonka’s), which doubles up as a pavement café - although I use that word very loosely.  There are some old chairs and tables outside and we had two beers which we had to drink out of the tin!  Tonka, the owner was very friendly, and although spoke no English whatsoever we managed to have a bit of a laugh with her.  She is an excellent seller, we only went in for a couple of beers and bread and came out of the shop with 2 big carrier bags of food!

Outside the local shop/bar

Last night we enjoyed a fantastic barbeque, courtesy of our hosts - Matt, Keiko and Skye, joined by Vera, John, Shelly and the dogs!  We were later joined by the Czech motorcyclists for drinks - who had gone out to the local restaurant to eat.

We move on tomorrow towards the Pirin Mountains, although we could quite easily stop here longer - it is so peaceful and relaxing!

Sally x