BULGARIA, Part 8: Train travel in Bulgaria - an experience of a different kind . . .

Train travel in Bulgaria can be quite exhausting. Most trains are old, dirty and run-down, and even the few newer trains used in the local transport of Sofia are not in good condition after ten or twelve years of operation. The comfort and standard of the trains are far below zero when measured against Central or Western European standards. In second class, passengers are squeezed together in compartments of eight, while first class, which I mostly used, with its compartments of six, is not much better. Since most long-distance trains consist of only four or five cars and the Bulgarian State Railways offer only four or five connections per day on the most important domestic routes, the compartments in first class are relatively crowded as well.

The compartments can often be stuffy and hot, as some of the half-windows do not open properly. On the other hand, some of the half-windows cannot be closed, which I find quite amusing in winter at minus 30 degrees Celsius. A careful look through the compartments is advisable after boarding, as not always the finest and most pleasant people in Bulgaria use the train. And there is certainly something more beautiful on a journey than spending several hours in a compartment with uncultivated-looking people.

Although smoking is prohibited in the trains, people stand lined up along the aisle and smoke out of the window of the moving train. When facing a strict-looking conductor, they hide the cigarette for a short time or temporarily extinguish it. Some conductors look away and say nothing. Anyway, the strictest conductors I have always encountered were female conductors.

However, it is an uplifting feeling to see the beautiful landscape of Bulgaria from the train. To ride along the Balkan Mountains, over the Balkans themselves, to the Danube or through the truly breathtaking Iskar Gorge.