Пътят до София беше... - Пътеписи

Пътеписи за София | Коментари, мнения и пътеписи на хора от цял свят посетили София, България
Напиши своя коментар за София!

Фетиш клуб
Открий своят Фетиш
на бул.Витоша 4!

още

Коментари, мнения, пътеписи за София

Wednesday, Nov. 14th, 2001
www.cockeyed.com

The ride to Sofia was about as rough as a train can get. The train came to a screeching stop about every 20 minutes. At the Greek-Bulgarian border the train stopped for 40 minutes on the Greek side and 45 minutes on the Bulg side, from about midnight to 1:40am we were sitting on the desolate border. Alexander, the Spanish guy, expressed concern about having his passport out of his hands for so long, but the Greek guy and I assured him we would get them back without a problem. We left the border, I locked the door and got some sleep. About an hour before arriving dawn broke and my eyes were open. I was excited about what the exotic ex-soviet Bulgaria held in store.

The train arrived in Sofia at about 7:30am. I said goodbye to my travel friends and strolled out of the station. Before I got very far I was approached by the friendly but desperate Sachko. He was offering me a room and was anxious to have me read all about the reviews he was getting in a little hotel registration book he kept. I was actually happy to see him, getting a hotel could be a big hassle. I was interested in the price, which Sachko gave immediately in US dollars. Ten bucks a night for my own room with a shared bath. He assured me that a Japanese guy was already there, and went on and on about how great it was, but I was pretty much sold. I figured if it totally sucked, I could move the next day. On the way out of the station, we passed a panel of exchange rates for different currencies. I wanted to pin him down on how much the room was going to cost when I paid him in Bulgarian Lev, and he let me set it at 2.2 Lev per dollar. He led me out of the station, I tossed my backpack into his trunk and climbed into his car.

The first stop was at an atm. I lied and said that my card was in my bag so that he couldn't drive off with it. The ATM offered 5 quick-withdrawal amounts, 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 Bulgarian Lev. I chose the greatest of these, which was worth about US$23. Next we stopped at a government office for 3 minutes so he could deliver some hotel-related paperwork to the proper authorities. I hopped out and took a picture of his license plate. Did I mention I was nervous about getting robbed? Then we drove for about 15 minutes, which meant that I wasn't exactly in the middle of Sofia, but it was close enough by tram, Sachko assured me. We arrived at the Hotel Horizon-T and immediately I liked my room. It had a little table and a desk and two single beds. I met Sachko's wife, who asked me if I was going back to sleep or perhaps wanted breakfast. I got breakfast, which turned out to be a pretty good feast with great coffee. After breakfast she cleared my tray and gave me a little lesson on getting around in Sofia. Tram 5 & 19, buy your ticket first, watch for pick-pockets....that kind of thing. I asked her about laundry and she told me she would do it & that there was a per-item cost. Laundry is one thing that I dread doing on the road, so this was good news for me.

Soon I was in the middle of Sofia, wandering around. The city had a fairly distinct central area defined by a few churches, government buildings and pedestrian underpasses. What Thessaloniki had offered in automotive and engine parts, Sofia had in Lingerie. Hundreds of shops. It was a shame they didn't have more auto-parts, because there were plenty of people stopped with their hoods open, trying to fix something.

I wandered around looking for a certain KFC which my guidebook said had an internet cafe next to it. Slowly I got myself oriented.

At about 11am I ran into Alexander, the Spanish guy from the train. He had an exciting story about hustlers at the train station offering to move his bags from the train for 10,000 Drachma ($25). He was mild-mannered but obviously annoyed at this attempt. We each had coffee and sat for a while discussing our early impressions of Sofia. He thought the people were unhappy, and I had to agree. We finished the coffee and Alexander picked up the tab, 80 cents. A guy could make a lot of friends in a country like that.

The day was beginning to get colder and wetter. I was wearing a sweater, but I needed some kind of waterproof shell, so I went to a street market (called the Ladies Market) and shopped for a light jacket. I didn't find one, and instead bought a heavy cotton shirt. A wind started to blow and just as I was bordering on miserable, I found the KFC and the internet cafe. I camped out there for a while, got some cheap chicken dinner and caught the tram home. It was early, around 6pm, but it was very cold outside and the rain was really coming down. I stopped in at a little market and got a couple of beers and a Fanta.

In my room, I didn't see any sign of my laundry. I read up on Sofia and tried writing a little, but I still fell asleep at 9 to the sound of stray dogs barking.