I had not heard of the Rhodope mountains before coming on this trip. They are stunningly beautiful, quite remote, the home of lactophilus bulgaricus, the birthplace of Orpheus, and high though not of Alpine height. They border Greece and were in the land of Thrace. Of course I had heard of skiing in Bulgaria. Now we have seen some of the ski mountains, although now with no snow.
After leaving Macedonia, we stayed in an establishment with an Olympic swimming pool. It was also an ordinary hotel and like them all here very good value for money. It is not high up.
So, to get high up. We ascended the Popski pass, more that 1000 metres of climbing, the road often above deep ravines and the views amazing. Near the top, our batteries ran out and we relied on our muscles only. We now really knew the value of electric power! Our bikes do not have a "granny gear" and are heavy. We had to push for most of 2/3 km. At the top a cafe, soup, salad and recharge.
Downhill was spectacular, to Goce Delcev. We had found another place to stay, a bit further, Ogyanovo where there are hot springs. Most hot spring activity had been siphoned off into hotels, but there was a large public hot tub, about 40 C, which was great.
The next day more climbing and fantastic scenery, to Dospat. A mixture of pine forests and meadows. Cows just wander anywhere and it is all rather bucolic. And beautiful.
The next day was another high up. At the end, downhill spectacularly and into the spa town, Devin. We stayed in a more expensive place, for use of a hot swimming pool. It was only just warm, but there was a sauna. Then found we had left our guide to EV13 where we had had lunch. Not too far back and nice to ride my bike with full electric power and no luggage!
More high Rhodope scenery the next day, to Smoljan.
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