Southern Bulgaria

We rode through the Balkan Mountains - not very high, but pretty, down into a valley where we dropped into much more humid surroundings - getting close enough to the Black Sea that it's definitely a more maritime atmosphere.

Pretty rolling countryside.  Much less prosperous than what we saw to the north - though still with the large fields and mechanized agriculture.  However, around the small towns were smaller farms with plenty of horse-drawn work going on.

Talked to a British ex-pat who lives in the area - says that 7 years ago the area was largely forested and pastureland.  With Bulgaria joining the EU, money has come in to improve roads and therefore access to markets, and more importantly, crops can be sold throughout the rest of Europe - so crops like corn and sunflower have become much more profitable and the whole agriculture has changed.

The last 2 nights we've stayed at hotels where no one spoke any English - Google Translator came in quite handy.

A few really run down villages on today's ride - not seen in Bulgaria to the north of the mountains.  One drunk guy stood in the road and tried to tackle a rider just behind me.  Anil, our rider, demonstrated his Rugby skills and left the drunk (who demonstrated the weakness of an arm tackle) spinning about in the road.  Good on 'ya, Anil.