Day 11 is by far my best day of riding and also longest. I was planing to ride around 60K but ended up 89K. That because I was having trouble navigating out of Haskovo and also going back to get my helmet which I left behind at a shop.
Earlier I had a nice breakfast with Teri and Ivan before saying our goodbyes. Steve, the Canadian tourer left earlier for Erdine.
The intended ride towards Asenovgrad was more or less the same. Flattish with a few rolling hills. The road condition varies from good to ok to bad.
Just outside of Asenovgrad I took a detour to visit the Arapovsky Monastery. A small but very interesting monastery. The inside of the church was beautiful but I was not allowed to take any photos. The monastery was built in 1800s. One of my aim is to stay in a monastery so I asked if I could stay and if they offer any accommodation. They said no and I moved on.
Once reaching Asenovgrad I starting looking for a suitable place to stay. I didn’t find any and decided to head to the hills and see if I can find some wild camping spots. It was already 530 pm getting dark soon and I have little time left. Luckily I met a leisure cyclist on the road call Dimitre and he told me that I could stay at Bachkovo Monastery. Oh joy that’s what I was hoping for.
Bachkovo Monastery was founded in 1083 so it’s really ancient and claimed to be one of the oldest Orthodox monastery in Europe.
I had to wait about 1 hour before speaking to the Preist in charge to register me. I had to pay 15 Lev which is equivalent to around 7.5 Euros for a room. What a bargain ! The room is very large with 3 beds attached bathroom and beautiful view of the mountains.
I was happily settled in for the night and had a simple dinner of Cheese and tomatoes before turning in early.
Lions Project : RM 46.41
Reflective Saddle 