Iztochni Rodopi Travel Guide

 desert_princess Says:  Than the road continued in a tunnel of green , descending at places steeply in direction of the Dam wall of Studen Kladenetz. It started raining, and rained all the way through the evening. The rest of the trip was a dirty muddy ride through small villages, with the most... 

 desert_princess Says:  A natural phenomenon , result to the geological past of the region.The Mountains were believed to be an ocean ground once.The legend about the "stone wedding "says that the gods petrified the bride, the groom and the whole wedding procession, because of the groom father's... 

 desert_princess Says:  What I found on top of the hill was enormous....Not a temple, but a whole city....here's what you can read on the sign at the bottom of the hill at the start of the trail leading you to Perperikon -"Traveler from distant lands, Welcome to Perperikon!Once upon a time here was... 

 desert_princess Says:  "Po Jitsata" - Jordan Yovkov. My mind makes sometimes the most unexpected associations , go figure where he comes up with all this...But this is one of the most famous books from the Bulgarian Revival period writer Jordan Yovkov. 

 desert_princess Says:  After filling myself with impressions and energy from Perperikon I jumped on my bike and headed on the road with my thoughts as company.....Even tho I was on my own there were always people from the group that you will catch up, or others that will pass by arriving from the... 

 desert_princess Says:  This strange mosque was in the village of Kanjak and it's a Tin box with a cone roof and a loudspeaker. A ladder takes the Hodja to the top.It reminds me of a bird's house somehow...Population in the Rhodopa Mountains is muslim. That's why you will see a mosque , sometimes... 

 desert_princess Says:  There you go , my weird mind popped with this association of a petrified city, inhabited by strange stone creatures.....There were stone arches, stone houses, stone streets,stone mushrooms with mysterious niches....everything you need for a city of the... 

 desert_princess Says:  I left the campsite before everyone, because I didn't want to be the last one like yesrurday.Following the instructions I passed through the village and some abandonned house in the way to the valley and it's where I got lost... I took the right trail instead of the left one... 

 desert_princess Says:  The entrance of the cave was nothing I had expected. You need to climb in a crack and hang on a tree ,some 2-3 meters above the ground in order to enter the cave, plus there are no signs to direct your way....If I wasn't with people that knew where they were going, I would... 

 desert_princess Says:  After a pleasant downhill among fields and some road , me and my friend arrived at sunset at Perperikon , where our camp will be for the night. The guys took a shortcut way , but as I have been told I will need to carry my bike for about an hour, I voted for the other... 

 desert_princess Says:  This was the river to be crossed, no bridge of course, but no high waters either....That's when a part of the group joined me, as I felt releif that I am on the right way, and not being lost again... 

 desert_princess Says:  After an insane downhill ride from Utrobata cave through some steep trail full of rocks, mud,running water and some more miles through cow herds , a bridge and some asphalt road,we arrived at out end goal for the day - Kroushka village. We built the tents as the sky was... 

 desert_princess Says:  This is the most common form of thansportation in the Rhodopes, even tho what is unusual here is that the donkey is being ridden. Usually the people are sitting in the back in the carriage. We often switched asphalt roads with Black roads like this one.Very ecological... 

 desert_princess Says:  Hodjovtsi village is perched on a mountain ridge , being accessed only by a pedestrian trail. I haven't seen any other road leading there. They had a magnificent view to the whole valley of green. The few houses of the village were all made out of stone,the fences,the... 

 desert_princess Says:  Somewhere on the way we met this beauty - a colorful Rhodopa cow. I though - "that would make a nice pic" 

 desert_princess Says:  The dam is big and I particularly liked the island in the middle that you see on the photo...A good place to have a property ... 

 desert_princess Says:  Even tho it looks like a giant flute, this is a watering point for cattle. It's just the shape that is unusual ;))) 

 desert_princess Says:  Somewhere deep in the land the signs are only in Bulgarian . This one says - Village Kanyak, road with decreased capacity