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Bulgaria Beginnings

Biser, Bulgaria

Yet again we take the risk of sharing monotonously similar observations about a border crossing.
We cross and everything changes. It’s happened every time, and we keep expecting that one border crossing will not bring stark differences, but it was not to be this one.

Bulgaria is noticeably poorer than its Greek neighbour. More Mongolian-like actually. That is to say there is quite a bit of rubbish lying around and many fences are made with irregular planks of wood. Other fences are in varying states of disrepair, as are the houses. Few houses are painted, or even plastered. Wooden beams filled in with sundried-mud bricks or kiln-fired red bricks present a study in deduction – it is hard to tell which part of some structures is providing the support – it *all* looks ready to fall down at any moment.
The late model flash cars supposedly driven by aggressive armed organized crime figures are nowhere to be seen – just old clapped out cars or carts pulled by either horses or donkeys, none of which look aggressive.
The extra half-lane running down the side of most Greek roads disappeared at the border. While the road itself is in reasonable condition, even if not exactly wide, we will soon learn it is the Very Best Road in Bulgaria, even better than the motorways.
Roadside shrines also disappear. Just like that. One minute you are passing them frequently, the next they are gone. All it seems to take is a manmade line marked across the hill.
Evidence of people providing for themselves lines the street, garden paths, porches and sunny-side ledges of houses – pile upon pile upon pile of pumpkins are drying out, ready to be stored for the winter. Almost every backyard, and front ones too, is filled with fruit trees (mostly peach and apple) underplanted with cabbages, corn, tomatoes, watermelons and yet more pumpkins.

 

 


                                                                                            next door

It may seem a particularly short post, but our initial impressions were made both over a short distance and in a period of only a couple of hours before darkness fell.



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