pics #1735 - #1798

Saturday October 29th - Red Planetary Moon
Out of the hostel in the morning, I am looking for a bicycle repair shop. It is so handicapping to push the heavy bikes in the roads, fortunately a cute female cyclist guides me to a good shop. A skilled mechanic changes the chain and I buy a reliable chain tool while listening to his advices. The price of the help is cheap, compared to how it helps! Then I call my host who answers and we set up an appointment, yesterday I could not get him. So all the uncertainty is suddenly solved: host found and bicycle repaired. After a bit of cycling in the sun, I meet with my hosts, Petar et Stojanka, they offer me food while I am getting ready to cook myself.

          

Sunday October 30th - White Spectral Dog
In the morning I get back to a routine with Kriyas and meditation. As the weather cools down, it is hard to maintain it while living outside, I am not one of those buddhist monk who can meditate in the snow and dry wet towels put around them!! -but that would be so useful after doing the laundry! My hosts invite me to trek on the Vitosha mountain with their friends. The mountain is more than 2200 m high, in the South of Sofia, it is the ideal place for outdoors sports in all seasons, and the air is fresh.

           Hiking on Vitosha

Monday October 31st to Tuesday November 8th
Blue Crystal Monkey to Blue Resonant Storm
This time has been spent discovering the city, its monuments, many of which are Russian, and a few reminding of the Ottoman times. I also met back with Bulgarian friends around; and quite some time connected to the world wide web also. On the Sunday I taught a yoga class to eight students. In Bulgaria most yoga teachings comes from the Sivananda tradition, the lineage of Krishnamacharya is not much developed yet, namely no Iyengar style teacher.

           Ice hockey game, it was OK

365 days of travel
The program for next year is to cross: Turkey, Iran (it is NOT dangerous), Turkmenistan (strict on visa), Uzbekistan, Tajikistan (and the wonderful Pamir highway), Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan and finally, India. All of this will help to fill my passport. The main constraint is to enter Pakistan before November because the border with China closes. There could be some trouble there because this place is the ONLY one where Visa Upon Arrival in Pakistan is still possible, it is well known that the situation in Pakistan is very unstable. But no worries! it is in a year from now.

           Hram Pametnik Alexandăr Nevski - Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

For the moment, fixing the bicycle is the priority, making it ready to cross Asia, ordering special parts as going further East is making it harder to find them. I still do not know how to spend winter, in a farm like last year? Or ride to the warmer places in Greece or South of Turkey?

           Sofiyska sinagoga - Sofia Synagoga

In numbers, I rode 8200km, the double at least lays ahead. I do not worry because this year I took long pauses. Next year I will not have this opportunity because of the time constraints going with visas. Sure, I did not reach my destination in a year according to my initial plan, but I lived such enriching moments: working at the farm, teaching yoga, being outside very often, meeting friendly and spiritually... and ride the bicycle as well, in order to warm up for the following part. Mountains will be higher, languages and alphabets stranger

           Banya bashi dzhamiy - Banya Bashi Mosque