-Getting Lost-

6-5-2007
Things here are moving along; I am instinctively starting to think about life after Peace Corps. I have been struggling to maintain freedom from these thoughts; but I suppose it is in my best interest to secure at least a contingency plan for the future. Lately, I have been pondering the idea of attending grad school; in contrast I have also been thinking that it may be about time for me to take the plunge into the working world. I have not had a real (career type) job yet, so in many ways this is long overdue. I am planning on sending out a few grad school applications this fall; which means if I do miraculously get in somewhere…….I may be hitting the books again starting fall 2008.
In other news my buddy John will be heading this Direction next week; which should be a good time. I have been planning a few trips for us to take including a whirlwind trip around the surrounding countries (Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia), as well as a quick trip to Rome,Naples-Pompei.
Good ol President Bush will soon be gracing Bulgaria with his presence. He will arrive in the Bulg early next week, and be staying in Sofia for a couple days. Today I received an invitation to the official ‘President Bush meet and greet’ at the US embassy. I decided to go, and will be heading to the US embassy Monday morning for the event.
Last weekend I was feeling a bit antsy, and felt a vital need to go for an adventurous hike in the Rodopi Mountains. I was in desperate need of some sort of physical activity in order to release an abundance of pent up energy and aggression/stress. I was in search of some natural caves and land arcs that are supposedly located between the villages of Zaburdo and Erohkavo. After hours of searching long and hard on the internet, I eventually found an article about a guy who hiked from Erohkavo to Skalni Mostovo(land arcs) and stayed at a nearby hizja(mountain hut). So according to the info I read; the trip would take a bit over 4 hours, and I would conveniently be able to crash at a mountain hizja for the night. I found the newfound info promising and decided to give it a go. I left Chirpan Saturday morning and headed to the Rodopi bus station in Plovdiv. I was able to find a bus that stopped in the town of Hkavoino (5miles from Erohkovo). I made it to Hkavoino at around 11am and began my hike into Erohkovo. I passed a couple serene villages on the way, and viewed many farmers tending to their crops along the windy river that cut sharply through the rocky canyon.
My first hint of trouble struck me as I was desperately trying to gather information in the village Erohkovo. I desperately wandered around the village, and asked several groups of people if they knew anything about a trail that connects Orehkovo to Skalni Mostove. Most of the people I approached greeted me with friendly smiles, but immediately chuckled when I told them of my intentions. I was told over and over again that Skalni Mostove is a long ways away and that they did not know of any trail for this hike. As I was nearing a disappointing failure, and close to calling it a day; I came across a few farmers who told me that if I took the logging road at the end of town I would most likely run into a hizja.
Well…………that was enough for me…………..I tend to be a bit driven/stubborn and overly adventurous at times, so in consequence I departed along the logging road through the thick trees. After about 1.5 hours I saw a giant rabbit, I originally thought that it was a small deer hopping around but it turned out to be some sort of super-rabbit. About 15 minutes after the freakishly large rabbit sighting; I came to a fork in the road. Straight/right/left……………what will it be???????????? I decided to choose straight. The trail was a bit steeper and less groomed than the others……….but my logic told me ‘up’ is usually a safe direction to go while hiking. –HUGE MISTAKE-……..As I continued on my solo journey through the land of the giant rabbits; I kept finding these damn forks in the road…..and I of course was forced to make educated decisions each time I came across one. After a few obviously wrong decisions, and the fact that I was constantly losing the trail and finding new ones,……………I came to the realization that I was lost. It was about 5:00pm now and I was starting to get panicky; Where was I? Where the hell is the hizja? What will I do if I don’t find the hizja?
I had no choice but to press onward! I was starting to get a bit tired because I had been hiking non-stop for over 5 hours: my feet hurt, my knees hurt, I was thirsty, and also a bit hungry. The latter two became a problem. I was desperately trying to ration my minimal water supply, and was not able to stop and eat. This was because of the horrible horrible flies! I kept running into groups of flies that were completely relentless. So here I was in the middle of the woods, tired, hungry, thirsty and in need of a breather, but I was unable to stop because if I did; I would be attacked by crazy mountain flies. It really was horrible, I had to carry around a stick and wave it in front of me to keep the flies out of my face. I solved the hunger problem by walking and eating at the same time. That’s right!........ my swatter stick in one hand and my delicious sandwich in the other.
OK…..it is now about 5:30pm and I had come to another fork in the trail; up or down? Up meant a chance at victory and a cozy mountain hut with water and hot soup, but could also mean a night sleeping in the grass amongst the giant rabbits and annoying flies. Down meant failure, but the certainty of safety and the reunion with civilization.
I failed!!! I gave up and headed downhill; I knew for a fact that if I kept going downhill I would run into the main highway eventually. As I was walking down the logging road I noticed two large wild boars across the meadow about 200yds away. I found this moderately interesting, but did not break stride. After all I had been walking non-stop for over 6 hours, and now had my mind and body set on finding the main road. The goal was to reach civilization before nightfall; and if all went well, somehow get a bus out of the mountains.
As I continued on my downhill journey, I came across an old farmhouse connected to a large barn. The upper pasture was filled with cows, the barn was surrounded by dogs (tied up), and there was one large horse tied up near the dirt road. I expected the horse to ignore me and let me pass peacefully, but the horse determinedly kept walking toward me until I had to change directions in order to avoid this massive beast. The horse was probably just bored / or perhaps it wanted to brutally attack me( I am not a big fan of horses). Anyways…….so as I walked past the dogs, one in particular took a curious interest in me. It looked like a miniature Doberman but was a bit on the chubby side. But his weight was deceiving, this guy was quick! He kept darting at me and turning away at the last minute (he did this while following me). After about 2 miles of this, it became clear to me that this little monster had no intention of biting me. I gave into the canines’ persistence by stopping for a moment to pet the attention deprived rascal. The dog must have enjoyed the brief attention I had given him, because he continued his hyperactive sprints every which way, and stayed within 50 feet of me at all times. I was now about 5 miles past the farm house and my little friend appeared to have no intention of turning back.
My fatigue was horrendous at this point; but my second wind kicked in when I ran into the original trail I had started on. I now knew where I was and became eager to hike the trail all the way back to Orehkovo. As I turned around the corner on the logging road switchback, I came across two large wild Boars. This time I was only about 60yds away, which I found to be a bit too close for comfort. What now? Unfortunately in my upbringing I was never briefed on what to do when coming across wild boar……….So….I then picked up a rock threw it toward the boars and started yelling really loud. This did not help! In fact the boars seemed to be angered by this act of aggression and in reaction began to furiously growl and slowly walk along the trail toward me. That was enough for me………I immediately sprinted downhill and cut through the steep mountainside until I reached the trail again. I must say…….that really freaked me out! I have no idea how dangerous wild boars are, but I do know that they are large, and are not domesticated enough to hug and pet in the wild. The boars were dark grey in color and must have been around 400lbs each. Shaken yet energized by the adrenaline; I continued my quest. Meanwhile the crazy dog is running and jumping all over the place and darting by me so close that I almost stepped on him a few times. About 30 minutes after the wild boar episode I ran into another problem. About 50 feet in front of me on the trail was a baby boar………… I thought it was a porky pine at first because it had puffy white and light grey fir. I immediately started thinking like a chess player; I was able to think about 4 moves in advance. This is what I predicted immediately.

-their was definitely a big momma boar nearby
-I was in a dangerous position because of this
-boars are horrible tree climbers
-the crazy, overly hyper dog would soon dart at this baby boar and try and play with it

So as I brilliantly predicted, the foolish dog starts sprinting toward the baby boar (At this point I am looking for a tree to climb). About 5 feet before the dog reaches the baby boar; big momma boar comes out from the trees above and starts chasing the dog back toward me. So now I am about 30 ft away from 400lb charging wild boar…..scared…and full of adrenaline I climbed up a 10ft high steep semi-cliff and prepared myself to jump onto the tree in front of me. The boar had chased the dog away but was now 12 feet below me on the trail and snorting/growling angrily. At this point I felt prepared for the boar and thanks to the tree in front of me did not feel that I was in much danger. After getting stared down by the boar for about 5 minutes (I kept quiet and did not move); the boar slowly turned around and walked down the trail toward the piglet. So yeah……….. there ya have it……that was officially the climax of my hiking story. I was almost run down by a wild boar because of my hyper little hiking companion. After about 7 persistant miles it seems that being chased by a giant wild boar was enough of a reason for the dog to head home.
I eventually made it back to Orehkovo at around 8pm and was completely exhausted. I have never hiked that much in a day before and was now in desperate need of a pochifka(break) Unfortunately this was not in the cards;………I had another 5 miles to hike before I reached the main road. I walked about 2/3 of that distance with my thumb in the air, and was finally able to hitch a ride back to Hkavoina.
I was now on the main highway but it was about 8:45pm, which means I had missed the last bus to Plovdiv by about 2 hours. Even though I had not ruled it out completely; I decided that hitchhiking back to Plovdiv would be a better move than sleeping on a bench along the roadside.
After a long day of strange and frightening adventures in the woods; luck was now on my side. A truck picked me up around 9:20pm and took me all the way to Plovdiv. I was then able to catch the 11pm train back to Chirpan, and rest peacefully in my wonderful bed far away from the flies, giant rabbits, and wild boar.