Day 32. 55km (52478kms)
Another predictably cold night, but tolerable. In the morning at the tiny monastery complex I met the little old lady that the Ivans told me would almost certainly help me with a place to sleep.. oh well..

Being a sunny Sunday I received lots of waves from lycra’d cyclers, but my favourite of the day was from an elderly man with leather skin and gold teeth who gave me the broadest of grins and a big thumbs up. Best luggage I witnessed an a bike today was a chainsaw steadied by the cyclist behind him with one hand.

Another conveniently situated servo allowed me to sit in the sun (until it got too hot!!) charging devices and fuelling myself with Brie and chocolate brioche 😋

I made sure to get to Sokolski monastery in good time but sadly I wasn’t able to sleep there. The caretaker lady said something about it being cold and my Macedonian/Bulgarian wasn’t up to explaining that I was used to it and I’d be cold anywhere! Also regrettably she wouldn’t open the little blue church at the centre of the monastery for me, having locked it just half a hour prior to my arrival (again! 🤦🏻‍♀️)

There was bit of snow about in the shade so I made the decision to descend the 300metres I’d just climbed to find a camp. (Each 100metres altitude equates to about 1C degree right?) Not only did this mean I’d miss seeing inside the little blue church, but also the nearby ‘ethno village’ I’d planned to visit in the morning. Back down in the valley I found a spot amongst the trees by a stream, not well hidden from the road at all, but it was half an hour before sunset so too late to go much further, and not long before darkness would obscure the view of my little tent anyway.

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