Bulgaria in a slightly different way. First part - Landing.

These words were written about my experience in 2022. Who would believe it's been so much time since then?

As some of you may have already got to know by now, I am a person who is very addicted and in need of nature. When nature is far from me (I know that nature is everything, but you know what I mean), I feel like I am in withdrawal. I feel such a deep stress, that it penetrates slowly, as if gnawing away at my organs, one by one.

So I decided this time to take a slightly more radical step than usual. I felt a huge need for a little change from the routine I had built for myself in Israel at that time, and after almost a year in a row in Israel without traveling, the urge of movement began to signal and poke, quite aggressively.

So I wanted wild nature, and I came across an interesting Airbnb in Bulgaria.

I decided on Bulgaria because I wanted a flight that is short and cheap, and a place that I could be able to travel for two weeks only and not lose financially while subletting my apartment in Israel.

I came across a house called "Cottage in the Mountains" which enchanted me at first sight, and although I was intrigued by Bansko as the new capital city of digital nomads, I was more fascinated by the desire to be alone in the forest, in the mountains, in nature. I read reviews of the place that made me really excited. The questions I asked straight away were - how long is the walk to the nearest lake and the nearest supermarket, and I realized that I should stock up on food in advance that would last me for two weeks, because the nearest supermarket is about a two hour walk, and the nearest lake is about two and a half hours, which I decided I would definitely go to. So I've of course already sunk into sweet fantasies about the small hikes I'll take around there with my camera, surrounded by mountains and feel like Heidi the girl of the mountains. I immediately booked the Airbnb and a low cost flight and decided that I would manage with just a trolley and buy food in a supermarket in Sofia before I will get on the train.

After I booked everything, however, concerns began to appear - after all, a girl alone, in the middle of nowhere, a language I don't know, people that barely speak English, and also I started to doubt I'll be able to walk around with all the things from the supermarket, and I wondered - how will I manage? As the concerns increased, I went back to reading reviews about the place, and a review was added that didn't contribute at all to my relaxation, and it made me notice something super important that I missed - the cabin has no electricity except solar electricity, and if there are cloudy days in a row, there will be no electricity at all. Meaning - one really needs to calculate the electricity usage. It scared me and excited me at the same time... after such a big reliance on computers, the internet and phones, and let's not talk about Netflix, I might just have to be by candlelight. And the highlight - I have to heat the house (and the hot water in the shower) on my own by chopping wood and lighting the fireplace. It turned me on completely. And scared me.

Autumn vibes in Bulgaria - outside the cabin

The moment finally came, I landed in Sofia. The landing wasn't quite easy for me - I had to take a two and a half hour train and meet the Airbnb host in the city of Pazardzhik (so he would take me from there to the cottage), and that was after a rushed visit to the supermarket, while needing to think fast, carry a lot, and realizing how much the train station felt like a really dicey and unpleasant place, not to mention the unpleasant faces that greeted me on the first metro I took from the airport.

Suddenly my confidence went down to the floor. I was told Bulgaria was safe, but I felt distinctly unsafe. I swallowed, and continued on to the train. It looked very old and cool! Covered in graffiti all around, it was quite difficult to board, and inside it was divided into compartments of six passengers each (or eight, don't hold me to the exact number). I debated which compartment to sit in and finally decided to sit alone in an empty one. A few minutes later, a sweet 16-year-old Bulgarian with a metal T-shirt joined me. Later, at one of the stations, a group of weird vibes people boarded the train and sat in our compartment. I realized they were gypsies only during the ride, through a conversation with a friend who made me understand the situation. No one prepared me for the fact that Bulgaria is full of gypsies and that you need to be cautious of some of them, so I kept an eye on my important belongings. Despite the tickling fear, I took a deep breath and decided it would be okay and that they wouldn't harm me, and to not judge just because of stereotypes. And I was right. Apart from an argument with the train conductor who yelled at them for not paying, the young Bulgarian and I remained completely safe. The group got off at their station, and the Bulgarian and I were left alone with some breathing room. There was something quite penetrating about their energy. I talked to boy quite a bit, and he explained to me how difficult it is for them, how much trouble they cause, and how they are quite dangerous. I won't lie, this situation really got to me... and my sense of security dropped even lower. Even though, trying to remember we're all humans, and as always, I don't like to believe all the dreadful stories. But as a young girl alone, I always have some alertness in me.

The young Bulgarian and the Airbnb host told me that the chance of random gypsies causing harm wandering in the forests and mountains is negligible, and I breathed deeply into that sentence.

The cottage from inside in a lovely time of day

Finally, I reached my station of Pazardzhik. The host waited for me in his car, and after an amazing drive through the trees and forests, while I was half in awe of the beauty and half processing everything I had been through, the host dropped me off at this truly magical small house. The guy was quite impatient, though, as it was already dark and he wanted to go back home. He explained everything to me theoretically without checking if I understood everything clearly, or seeing if I was managing.

And then I was left alone. Just me, the cabin, the cold (about one Celsius degree at night), the darkness, the stars, and the trees I needed to chop with an axe to light the fireplace, without any prior experience.

The story is long, so I'm dividing it into different posts in several parts. Stay tuned for the next post!

*All photos were taken by me, and you can see all of the album here.

Om the way to the cabin

The entrance of the toilet outside

wood I needed to cut