After spending almost a day in Veliko Tarnovo, I continued with my solo journey to the capital city of Bulgaria, namely Sofia. There are two options to get to Sofia from Veliko Tarnovo but the train requires a transit at Gorna Oriahovitsa which I felt will be time consuming as I experienced before for my journey from Brasov. Therefore, I went ahead by taking bus instead. And thanks to my host once again for being so kind to send to me to the nearest bus station.
Veliko Tarnovo South (Yug) Bus Station
The issue that I'm facing when comes to travel to least-visited European countries, especially for the Balkans is that most of the information of the bus and train schedule was inadequate and hard to obtain. Unlike those famous European countries like France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland where information is just one click-away and you purchase in advance, but not for the Balkans. Sometimes I need to take a risk by just going to the bus and train station without knowing the actual timetable. If I'm lucky, then I can immediately board after get the ticket or otherwise, I need to spend few hours waiting for the next departure time. Luckily for this journey of mine, at least I managed to purchase the ticket online (a night before the departure date) and it costs about €10 (approx. to RM47) for 3 hours and 20 minutes bus ride.
REACHING SOFIA AND SOMETHING AWKWARD HAPPENED
The bus stopped at Sofia Central Bus Station, which just next to the city's railway station. In order to reach the hostel I booked in Sofia, I should take metro subway, as according to the Google Map. So once I got out from the bus station, I saw a metro station not far away. Just when I thought how lucky I was, I was absolutely wrong. While walking down the staircases to the metro station, I heard something awkward coming from the station. I couldn't see clearly but I can felt it's like very dark and there's no one around except me. As I stepped further, the sound of someone moaning getting louder and louder. Holy gosh! Immediately I turned around and walked up the stairs instead of proceeding to the subway. At the end, I chosen to walk to the hostel for more than 20 minutes carrying a 8kg backpack behind me. So if you are asking me the downside of travelling alone, well now you know one of my stories.
This is where I stayed in Sofia - H2O Hostel
H2O Hostel
Date Stayed: 13 April - 15 April 2019 (2 nights)
Room Rate: BGN32 for a bed in 4-dormitory room for 2 nights (approx. to RM76)
As for the hostel I was staying in Sofia, nothing much to complain about cause I'm not that fussy type. What matter the most for me is that as long as both of the room and bathroom are fairly clean and the location is ideally great, I'm completely satisfied with it. But if I was given another option, I would recommend to book Hostel Mostel cause the location is much more better than the one I booked.
There's a supermarket by the name of Lidl (round yellow sign) not far away from the hostel and look, it's hot mineral spring where the local got their water from. Yes, you can drink it directly.
Nothing much I can do on the first day in Sofia since I arrived almost reaching to 6pm. I just check-in, dropped my luggage and walked to Vitosha Boulevard which is about 12-minutes walk from the hostel. Dropping by few souvenir stores to get some postcards and magnets and as for my dinner, I found a Chinese restaurant. How happy I was when I spotted sweet and sour chicken or pork? Yes, I'm a big fan of sweet and sour when comes to choosing a meal.
Vitosha Boulevard - a main shopping street in Sofia that has plenty to offer. From restaurants and cafes to boutique stores and souvenir shops, this is where I ended my first night in Sofia. Hostel Mostel is situated not far away from this street.
Craving for some Chinese food. Asian will always be Asian. Can't live without the comfort food.
Besides magnets and postcards, I also got myself towels. Now, I prefer to get something that is practical and useful as keepsake.
Initially, I plan to continue this post by sharing all of the city's tourist attractions but then, I think it's best to save for the next post instead. Don't want to cramp everything in just a single post.
Beautiful city. Sofia looks so clean.
ReplyDeleteGood to share a dorm when travel alone. As long it is clean and convenient, I do not mind either. But I never travel alone to foreign country. The most I spent was in KL by myself for 3 weeks. For the first time, I was alone and by myself in KL. But not so scary since I have been to KL few times prior.
I always missed our Chinese food in overseas. However I would try to eat all the local delicacies as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree that buying practical souvenirs and keepsakes are the best. This small towel is great buy. I always bought tote bags as gifts as I didn't see small towels with prints like yours.