On the coach again!

When my mom informed me she'd signed us up for a three-day coach excursion through the Rodopi Mountains, Mark and I were quite skeptical, to say the least, as we were still tired and cranky from the never-ending flight from the States. We were, however, totally flabbergasted with the incredible panorama of the Rodopi mountain range. The views that particular part of my country had to offer made the earsplitting din of some fifty vociferous teachers on the coach worthwhile.
The trip started off at Perperikon, an ancient Thracian city considered to have been Dionysus' oracular sanctuary. It's perched on a rocky peak at 1,400 ft above sea level, which we climbed, I'm very proud to say. After examining the whole place, it was time to get back on the coach and head over to our next destination. Since we'd hiked for about two hours, it is perhaps unnecessary to mention the kind of aroma that filled the air on the bus. Well, we survived (although the AC did not quite work), and got to the next place called Tatul. Tatul is situated in the Eastern Rodopi Mountains in Southern Bulgaria. An ancient Thracian tomb was discovered there and it is thought to be the shrine of the lyre musician, Orpheus. Amongst the various places we got to see, including wonders of nature, traditional Bulgarian as well as ancient Thracian and Roman architecture, the scariest thing I'd ever encountered in my life was The Devil's Throat. Yeah, it sounds nasty and it is. The Devil's Throat, one of the Rodopi Mountains phenomena, is a cave in which a winding, almost vertical concrete staircase goes up as high as a 20-storey building. I'd really recommend refraining from looking down since not only it's a dark, cavernous abyss, but the roaring of the river underneath and the 18 waterfalls that it forms contribute even more to the sinister feel of the whole place. The biggest colony of cave bats in the Balkans spend their winter period in this cave. The trip ended with a visit to Plovdiv, where I'd attended college for about three semesters. It's a beautiful city that subtly combines both modern and ancient. Mark and I went to see the Roman Amphitheater and for the symbolical price of 3 lv we actually had the pleasure of walking around it.
So all in all, the three-day coach excursion happened to be an incredible experience for both Mark and I. It was nice to get to know my own country a bit better.