This morning was the Islamic religious holiday of Eid (Bajram). I knew it was going to hit this week so I was worried about the buses from Bulgaria being sold out. Also I expected it to be Wednesday which is when it is being celebrated in Canada but I was told it would be on Tuesday.I asked when the prayer would be and was told 5am which seemed very odd before even the morning prayer call at sunrise. Everywhere else does it from 7.30am onwards. I've never been in...

Today was the last leg of my journey by bus from Plovdiv Bulgaria onto Istanbul from where I would fly home on Friday. This week is a week long religious holiday in Turkey so I was worried the buses might be sold out.When I first got to Sofia I bought my ticket from Plovdiv to Istanbul for three days later. As I wasn't buying a ticket from Sofia at first they were confused and I thought they would say I have to buy it in Plovdiv.She checked on the phone and sold ...

In Sofia I kept hearing about a free walking tour from some of the people on the bus to Rila yesterday. At my hotel was a flyer for the Plovdiv free walking tour so I wanted to join thisI could have done it all myself but its good to have a guide show you first with explanation then do it again myself since I had the whole day.At first I thought I'd be the only one. Then suddenly a group of about 30 people assembled at 2pm from out of nowhere. Our guide spoke per...

This morning I get to leave the scary city and head further into Bulgaria to Plovdiv not knowing what to find next. My hotel is only two blocks from the bus terminal and they leave every hour so I was trying to get the 10am to arrive 12pmI'm also low on cash and trying not to exchange more money before I cross the border next into Turkey. I exchanged a 10 euro note and got 17 Lev. The bus ticket was then 14 Lev ($10) wiping out any cash gains and leaving me with ...

Today I had booked a tour to the Rila Monastery which is a famous Unesco site and important location for Bulgarian culture. Originally I wanted to go here but decided not to as it was out of the city and I wasnt sure how to get there.Luckily my hotel had a flyer for day trips to the monastery for 25 euros ($32) so I wouldn't have to worry about getting there. Also as I had a spare day having booked three nights in Sofia I had time to do it as I did all the city s...