Bulgaria - Sofia (Final Part)

Bulgaria - Sofia (Final Part)

On my second day in Sofia, after travelling to the outskirts such as Rila, I decided to go southeast of Sofia to venture into their mountain. Their mountain is called Vitosha mountain and it has been the city's natural barrier against intruders. The mountain is around 2290m above sea level and after having breakfast in the hostel, we got the directions on how to get to the Vitosha mountains.

View of the peak of the mountain

Halfway the journey we got LOST!!! We have no idea how and where we were and we couldn't ask anyone due to the language barrier or people just had no clue on how can we get to the mountain. The hostel reception gave us the wrong directions as there was upgrading of roads and the bus service had ceased operation from the bus terminal that was pointed out by our hostel. We walked aimlessly and was lucky enough to meet 2 grandmas at the bus terminal who spoke english and told us about the situation and told us that there was another bus for us to take which will bring us 3/4 up to the mountain. THANK GOD for those grandmas if not we would not have known what to do.

Stranded at the bus terminal 

Bus Ticket 

Bus that bring us up the mountain

After alighting the bus, we wanted to climbed to the peak of the mountain but decided to hike down all the way and then catch a bus back to the hostel. 

The highest point the bus could bring us 

We met Maya who's a Bulgarian and spoke decent English and she offered to be our "guide" since she often hiked down the mountain. The whole journey took us about 2 hours and we walked a total of 12km, that is crazy stuff and I was not even well equipped. 

Maya our "guide"

Having Lunch halfway down *Mushroom soup was oily*

Shots on the way down the mountain

Eventually, we got back to our place and had dinner at an authentic Bulgarian restaurant before I decided to venture out to the city at night to take photos of the famous Alexander Nevski cathedral which has been the symbol of Sofia. 

The restaurant

Our food Mixed Grill (top), Pork fillet with Blueberry sauce (bottom) and the locally brewed beer Zagorka

Night shot of the city while walking to the cathedral

The cathedral that has been the symbol of Sofia at night

Night shot of a Russian church

The next morning, I felt that its time to explore the city as I have been spending most of my time outside of the city and I couldn't possibly tell everyone I have been in Sofia and not walked around the city right? We went to our hostel for our breakfast and met Kat (from Slovenia) while munching on our breakfast. We decided to go together to the famous Lady's market where there are tons of food and fresh fruits on sales. 

Lady's Market from far behind those trees

Didn't not snap much photos of the market cause I don't want to attract attention from pickpockets and after which, we walked to the Nevski cathedral again for a morning shot. 

Nevski cathedral in the morning

There was a Russian market near the cathedral  and Kat bought like so many stuff. 

The Russian market

The weather wasn't really kind to us as there was showers now and then which made our walking trip around the city kinda sucky, and also we were feeling so tired so we decided to chill in the hostel while I wait for my train to Bucharest which was leaving at 6pm. Kat found a bottle of Jamesons (Irish Whiskey) so we took it and have our last toast (Kat is a whiskey lover and we both love CHIVAS REGAL!!!) 

Kat and my friend (Westerner using chopstick while Asian using fork) -.-

JAMESONS!!!

CHEERS!!!

YUCKU something is Jamesons in their language (totally don't understand *shrugs*)

Last shot before leaving

Time past so fast when you meet new people but it was time to leave and I set off to the train station and Bucharest HERE I COME!!!

Train to Bucharest

My sleeping cabin

Good Night people~ 

So what do you guys think about Sofia after reading my post? Please comment as I would love to hear from you guys :)