My journey from the Bulgarian capital Sofia and 250km on to Mount Buzludzha in the Central Balkan Mountain range was the final leg of my seven country bus odyssey through the Western Balkans. Bulgaria was the thrilling bookend to a fascinating trip through the former Yugoslavia and beyond.
This was my first experience of Bulgaria, sampling urban life in the Bulgarian capital Sofia and the country's second city Plovdiv which, tantalisingly, lies a mere 140km to the capital's south east. I experienced a country grappling with its aspirations for the future but held back by a past it can't yet fully erase.