Idilevo – Veliko Tarnovo

22nd September 2014       15-29℃      169km
Idilevo – Veliko Tarnovo

After saying goodbye to the guys at Bulgaria Motocamp, I headed out on the winding mountain roads to Buzludzha.  Built on the top of a mountain peak by the Soviets during Bulgarian communism, the spaceship looking structure opened in 1981, and was promptly abandoned soon after, in the fall of communism.    Now unmaintained, it has been locked up for safety and to prevent vandalism, although there is a small access hole in one side of the building and I was able to climb inside to explore.   It is amazing to walk through this abandoned building, mosaics of Marx, Engels & Lenin lining the walls.  The ceiling has began to fall in, bringing with it the environment, snow in winter, rain in summer, slowly destroying what is left of the building. Concrete, carpet and paint rotting away, stalactites forming from the stairs as materials drip down through the floors.

Leaving Buzludzha, I rode on to Veliko Tarnovo and the city festival which had closed all the roads, forcing me to cut loops for 30 minutes trying to find my way into the centre, where I eventually located a great hotel with a rooftop view of the castle and settled in for the show, celebrating the city.