Day 212 – EU – Bulgaria [Kulata to Kresna]

21/09/20

49.3km

  From Kulata (Bulgaria) to Kresna (Bulgaria)

Europe

A long and hilly run in the valley, running on dust roads surrounded by the mountains

Something stung me as I headed out of the door this morning which I hadn’t felt for months: the cold! It was around 12 Celsius as I hit the road at 7am and long sleeves were in order. Good thing that I had collected my winter clothing last week. I found it very pleasant. The first part of today’s road was run on trails and dirt roads. The tiny villages I passed by looked rather poor and usually there was just one main road of asphalt, the rest being dirt.

The landscapes though were absolutely stunning. Wide prairies, vineyards, the mountains around… it being late September it is currently grape-gathering season and there were loads of workers around in the vineyards. I used to work the grape-gathering season in France, when I was a student, to earn a bit of money before the Uni year started. I remember it was really hard work. Waking up early, working all day in the fields, bent double in the cold and often rain. That was money hard earned!

Anyhow, after about 30km I was back on asphalt and it felt much easier. On my right side was the Pirin Mountain range, with its highest summit, Vihren, culminating at 2,914m. I had been skiing at Bansko some many years ago, which is part of the range and stands at 2,880m. I tried to spot the summits today, but having only seen it in the Winter, covered in snow, I could not quite recognise the geography of the range.

On the left side was the Ogradzhden mountain range, which marks the border between Bulgaria and Macedonia. I was running in the valley between the two ranges, I felt very small! I am getting reacquainted to being a foreigner again. I don’t speak Bulgarian and I am having to use different ways of communicating. A bit of re-adjusting is required I guess.

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: