Day 32, from the mountain hotel to Efrim

October 2, 2019

Day 32, from the mountain hotel to Efrem.

We hiked for hours on forest trails through oak forests. Once again, we got lost on this day! So we had to go back to where our path last made sense - but we couldn't find another way. So we went back to where we had been before - the path simply took us too far away from our route. What now? Shortcut over the mountain. But we couldn't continue because of the thicket on the mountain. So we went back down and back again to where we had been twice before. Finally, we saw a completely overgrown path branching off - we wanted to try it! Bramble bushes everywhere - oh man, it hurt on our feet and hands! There were sections where we could make some progress, and there were other sections where blackthorn bushes, sloe bushes, and other thorny shrubs were in the way! This whole "finding the right path again" action cost us a lot of energy and took about 1.5 hours! When we reached a road after 18 km, which led to our destination for the day, the village of Efrim, we were really exhausted! We hoped to hitchhike the last 4.5 km to the village. No luck: there were no vehicles on the road, so we had to walk this distance as well! In the village, we had booked a whole house for €50 through Booking.com! But it was the only available one in a wide area. The photo of the house on Booking.com was not really inviting - but what can you do if there is nothing else available. I knocked on a door, a woman in a bathrobe who only spoke Bulgarian opened the door! I explained to her that we had booked one night through Booking.com - she called someone and showed us a room where we should both sleep! No, we want two rooms, after all, we have booked a whole house with 4 rooms and 9 beds! She tried to call again (she was visibly overwhelmed by the situation and probably wanted to reach someone who speaks a bit of English), okay, now we had at least 2 rooms for our €50 and a shower 🚿, if the plumbing would provide water! But complaining was out of the question, because finding a reachable alternative with public transportation 🚍 within about 20 hours was simply hopeless, and it would have taken at least 8 hours on foot 🚶‍♂️ as well. The situation was really strange 😳! The rooms all seemed to be occupied, private clothing was hanging everywhere and personal items were lying around everywhere! The terrace railing would have been suitable for a fatal fall - lean on it and you're gone. I could only try to make the best out of this situation. The positive thing was that the owner made us dinner 🥗🍲🍺 and breakfast ☕🍞, because we wouldn't have gotten any food in this village with only 35 inhabitants.