E3 through Eastern Europe: Conclusion

I have hiked 3,000 kilometres through Eastern Europe - mostly on the E3 route. Mostly, because there is no continuous E3 trail yet! Just one year ago a big gap was closed when Romania's "Siebenbürgischer Karpatenverein" created a route through Romania which I have been "testing". There still is a gap in Serbia between the Danube and the start of the Kom Emine Trail in Bulgaria - and Serbia's hiking association has not been responsive at all in this respect. I ended up roadwalking that section.

Did I like this hike? Yes, definitely - but this hike has not been pure bliss either. Every hike has different aspects - and the E3 could score in many but was problematic in others. In the cultural and historical aspect this has been one of the most interesting hikes I have ever undertaken. On this route you are constantly confronted with different cultures, religions and languages - and you will learn so  much about European history! Francis Tapon called Eastern Europe the "Hidden Europe" - and it is true. As Western Europeans or Americans we do not know much about these countries which is a shame.

Landscape was sometimes really breathtaking especially in the Giant Mountains in Czech Republic or the Stara Planina in Bulgaria but generally speaking there are more spectacular trails in Europe. But on the other hand there were no really ugly or boring sections on the E3 either. Technically the E3 is easy - except for one or two "hairy" sections in Romania. You don't have to be a mountaineer - any halfway fit person can hike the E3!

The fun factor on the E3 extremely high due to various reasons. First of all all Eastern European countries are still much cheaper than the West. That meant for me that I could stay in hotels and eat out much more often than usual. And in all these countries hotel and restaurant quality was high! The route also takes you through very interesting places where I did a lot of sightseeing - again relatively cheaply. Not to mention the fantastic thermal baths in Slovakia and Hungary! This is a trail where you can really pamper yourself if needed and wanted - and I thoroughly enjoyed a little bit of luxury once in a while.

But this "cheap" living standards also has a downside: Romania and Bulgaria are the poorest countries in the EU. It was shocking for me to see in what conditions especially old people are still living in the countryside: no running water in the house, low pensions combined with high prices for food, rural depopulation etc. Not being able to communicate with people due to language problems was an extra mental challenge for me. I was confronted with lots of situations I could not "read": How do I deal with aggressive sheepdog? What do I say to the toothless ragged farmer whose first question is "are you alone?" Every potentially dangerous encounter turned out to be harmless - but I was unsettled. But I have to emphasize that this is only a problem in Romania and Bulgaria. In the Western half of this hike there were no such problems!

So would I recommend this hike to a friend? I can absolutely recommend the Western half to anyone, even to beginners in long-distance hiking. The Eastern half is truly fascinating and I am very glad that I have hiked it - but you need some determination and dedication to enjoy. If you don't have a special liking for Eastern Europe or want to explore something new then you are probably better off in Western Europe. But I myself, I will be back!

Kom Emine Trail: Conclusion and tips

Did I like this trail? Yes, a lot! It is very unusual for a mountain trail in Europe to stay up on the crest for such a long time - with hardly any road walks! Views were spectacular although I missed a lot due to bad weather. Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes, of course - I think this truly is a hidden gem! Still you will need a sense of adventure - very few people speak English and everythings is in Kyrillic. Plus this is the poorest country in the EU ...

But logistics are a lot easier than you would expect! First of all there is an excellent brandnew English guidebook. Although regular OSM maps for Bulgaria are ok, you can download fantastic hiker specific maps for free here. Low cost airlines fly all year round to Sofia from where you can easily reach Berkovitsa and the start of the trail. In summer season you can fly back from Varna or Burgas - or take a bus or train back to Sofia. Just try to figure out what your destination looks like in Kyrillic or you might end up in the wrong bus ...

Trail marking is quite good in the Western part. In the Easter half you should have a GPS with you to avoid getting lost. It helps to walk from West to East - other hikers have complained that the trail marking is worse the other direction. Technically the trail is very easy - only one bit in the middle part requires steel cables and climbing but there is an alternative route around it.
Water is not a big issue on Kom Emine. There are plenty of springs along the trail which are also marked in the guidebook or on the OSM maps - you just have to plan ahead a bit. I never carried more than three litres and never treated my water.

I liked the restaurant food in Bulgaria - especially this sort of raised pastry for breakfast!
Bulgaria is also heaven for coffee drinkers - there are coffee machines in every big. Biggest national specialty is soft feta cheese which you will get for breakfast, grated over your French Fries and of cours in Shopska Salad. Expect to be offered Raki schnapps a lot ... At the end of my trip I had some of the best sea food ever at the Black Sea Coast! In all but very cheap restaurants there is a bilingual or English menu. The translation is usually very creative but at least you get a vague idea of what you are ordering.

When it comes to hiker food though your choices are usually dire! Along the trail you will only find very small shops but at least they usually stock Milka chocolate and cheap but rather good biscuits. Granola is hard to find and normally not very good. You will get cheese and/or sausage with crackers as a could meal. It is almost impossible to find the typical dehydrated pasta meal mixes. I therefore ate spaghetti with tomato sauce out of a packet for several weeks. You will survive, but don't expect any luxury. And I hope you like spaghetti ...

On Kom-Emine you can walk from mountain hut to mountain hut which makes even a winter hike easy - plus there is a waymarked winter route. Most huts also offer some sort of food. I stayed in only two huts and both were basic, but adequate and cheap. But cleanliness and friendliness vary a lot and you never know what you will get. I therefore camped most of the time which is very easy. When in a town or village I stayed in a hotel - and all them were excellent! For around 25 - 30 EUR you will get top notch Western quality including free Wifi. Cell phone reception was surprisingly good even on the crest far away from bigger cities!

There are some Bulgarian "specialties" you will have to get used to: Showers have no curtain - so after taking a shower bathroom floor and toilet seat will be wet - plus your toilet paper ...
There are obituaries plastered everywhere because Bulgarians do this not only for their recently deceased but also to commemorate anniversaries. And one last good news: Other than Romania there are hardly any aggressive dogs!

Kom Emine Trail Part 4

New campsite away from trail

My first day out of Kotel ended quite exciting! I was hiking on the crest again and had not seen a single soul for hours. I therefore decided that I could dare to camp close to the trail - and when I was just test lying the camp site a jeep approached! I just stayed where I was on the ground and thought that the driver had probably not seen me. I had just finishing setting up my tent when the same car came back and stopped close to my tent! It was already dusk and again I was not discovered. A lot of door banging and chattting but then the car left. I thought that now I was finally left in peace but I was wrong!

At 10 pm an ATV approached, illuminated my tent and stopped right in front of it - and I froze inside! Two guys were trying to lure me out by yelling hello for several minutes. I decided to just not react at all. As it was already bed time I was only wearing my underwear which would have not made a good impression ... After a long debate the guys finally left - apparently they were as much afraid of me as I was of them. As soon as they were gone I packed up as quickly as I could because I was expecting them to come back. I then ran up an overgrown path where ATV's could not pass, hiked another quarter of an hour and set up my tent in thick forest - hundred metres away from the trail. And finally no more disturbances at night!

Trailside pharmacy

Next day the trail was so overgrown that I was much slower than expected - and ended up camping directly on the trail which was a very old road. I was not afraid of car traffic there but animals use these roads, too and the forests were full of wild pigs. Still the night remained quiet. In case of an injury trail planners have provided these wooden "pharmacies" along the trail. On the roof there even was a solar panel and a USB port for charging your phone! I have never ever seen anything similar along any other trail!

Czech long-distance hiker Frantisek

Eventually I now met Frantisek, a Czech thruhiker on his way from his hometown in Czech Republic to Istanbul! Frantisek had found out about me on Facebook and we had been messaging back and forth to set up a meeting. He had always been in front of me but was now waiting for me at a forest shelter for me to catch up. Frantisek had left for this hike two days after he had officially retired from his job at a bank - that is what I call determination. We have had a different route though - Frantisek had gone the longer way all through the Carpathian mountains and Ukraine!

We walked and camped together for a day and it was such a joy to have company again, especially since Frantisek spoke perfect German due to his former job. At his stage we came through several Muslim villages. These people are descendants of the former Turkish rulers during the Osman Empire and there is a 10% minority of these "Turks" in Bulgaria. I saw mosques in villages and several Muslim cemeteries like this.
 

I was hiking a bit faster than Frantisek and therefore we split up again after one day. My second last campsite on this trip was in the middle of endless open pastures. I was afraid of early "visitors" and therefore got up before sunrise on my last day - getting this wonderful picture. Kom Emine is still following the crest here - but the crest is very, very low now and soon I caught the first glimpses of the Black Sea coast ...

Finishing at Cape Emine

On October 21st I finally reached the end of my hike at Cape Emine. There is an decrepit military base right at the cape which is off limits for hikers but right next to it you can descend to the rocky beach. It was a glorious sunny day - perfect for finishing such a great hike! But now I had to get back into civilisation - and this turned out to be far more difficult than expected. I walked down to Elenite, a posh resort town at the seaside and expected an easy hitchhike to Nessebar. But to my utter surprise the place was virtually deserted - no traffic whatsoever! I ended up walking several kilometres along the coastal road where endless now holiday complexes and resorts where now being built. But beside construction lorries no traffic whatsoever!

At Nessabar beach

Lucikily I encountered a young Bulgarian couple on an off season holiday trip - and they called a taxi for me that brought me to Nessebar where I spent a last day relaxing. On my last evening in Bulgaria I had a surprise visitor: Frantisek had caught up to me and we met in a wonderful seafood restaurant for a farewell dinnner. I could not have imagined a better ending for this trip! After two bottles of wine I went back to my nice hotel - and Frantisek to his campsite in the dunes on the beach! Early next morning I took the bus back to Sofia and from there I flew back to Berlin - and German winter weather!

Kom Emine Trail Part 3

Owner of the hotel Tihiat Kat

After two nights in Apriltsi I was itching to start moving again. The rain had stopped and I hoped that the snow would have melted by the time I reached the crest. I left my hotel at the latest check-out time and did a half-day roadwalk to Ostrets where I stayed in a "wellness" hotel. I have to admit that this was pure luxury - at this low altitude I could have easily camped ... But the hotel price was only 30 EUR and included a sauna that was especially fired up for me! I loved the posh hotel with its nice restaurant and its very friendly owner!

Next morning - after an incredibly good breakfast consisting of raised pastries - I started my ascent up to the crest. And my worst expectations came true: Snow had not melted yet and I encountered a straight blanket of wet snow on the crest ... The ascent back to Kom-Emine had been very easy on a forest road but the path on the crest turned into a nightmare. Snow was knee-deep and no one had been up there before me so I had to "wade" through it. Of course I was so much slower than expected - and rather frustrated.

I decided this was the right moment to sleep in one of the many mountain huts along the Kom-Emine-Trail. When I reached Partisanska Hut it was already getting dark - and inside was a fire going! An older couple were the hut keepers. They did not speak English at all but we could still communicate somehow. I was given a single room although no one else was there. There even was a hot shower! Although the room was old and worn it was clean but I have heard very different stories about other huts!

 Next day was sightseeing day! And luckily at lower altitudes the snow had by now completely melted in the sun. First I came across the geographic centre of Bulgaria which is marked by simple metal arch. Next was the impressive "Monument of Freedom" at Shipka pass where I had to do a full resupply at the souvenir stalls ... Then I climbed up the hundreds of the stairs to Shipka mountain passing Socialist heroic sculptures and reached the look-out tower on top. The view was breathtaking!

But that was not enough of sighseeing that day: Next was the Assembly Hall of the Bulgarian Communist party - a futuristic concrete building that looked like an UFO. At least one dozen tourists was visiting with me despite the fact the the place was closed and crumbling. It is a shame that the Bulgarian government is not renovating this building which already now is a tourist magnet! I had "lost" a lot of time sightseeing which meant that I now had to race through an extensive wind farm before I could set up camp in the forest.

Next day I passed the most photographed sight  on the entire Kom-Emine-Trail: an old TV that someone has placed on a picnic bench in the middle of the forest! I have seen pictures of this TV in every blog about Kom-Emine and even in its guidebook. There is a nice spring nearby and even I had a short break here. In the nearby national park I could see my EU tax money go to waste: There were several huge information boards along the trail - and each showed the same map ...

By now I was in hiker heaven: Sunshine every day and due to the lower altitude temperatures were nice and no problem even at night times. I was following the crest with lots of ups and downs but now under tree cover all the time. Camping was dead easy and no other hikers around. I was approaching my last town stop and resupply on trail in the town of Kotel. As usual I had booked myself into a hotel on my smartphone. Kotel is a tourist town and I expected a supermarket and several restaurants.

But no such luck. There was no real supermarket and I had to do another limited resupply in a small mom-and-pop store. Most restaurants were closed but I found a great pizza place. My hotel was nice but the landlady spoke no word of English and could on not handle google translate on her smartphone. She also thought that speaking as loud as possible would make me understand her better .... To make things worse one of her friends turned out to be a former German guestworker. Despite his German language skill being less than basic he wanted to meet me later in Berlin.

When I left next day my land lady came running after me: I thought I had forgotten something but she just wanted to tell me to give her an excellent review on booking.com ... And her friend scared the shit out of me when he followed me in his car and insisted that I should give him my German phone number ... 

Kom Emine Trail Part 2

From Botevgrad I took a taxi back to the trail - no problem because fares are cheap. I felt sorry for the driver because the road up to the pass was full of potholes ... I was now going to traverse the Central Balkan Mountains, the most breathtaking part of the entire Kom-Emine-Trail which would bring me up 2400 metres. But there was one big problem: My time window for that traverse was very narrow: I just had 4,5 days to do the entire traverse because then the weather was closing in. The forecast was for freezing temperatures and snow at high altitude.

That meant I had to do 30+ kilometres per day with only 10 hours of daylight in alpine terrain. And to make things worse I wanted to get off the trail into lower elavation for camping because it was already freezing cold at night and I did not have winter gear ... It was a pity to rush through this wonderful landscape but because of the weather I had no choice! The trail runs along the crest all the time with every view more impressive than the last one! I did not meet any other hiker but there were dozens of wild horses roaming free. No more cows - I guess it was already too cold for them.

The only other people up in the mountains were farmers herding up their animals. One particular "cowboy" on a horseback started talking to me aggressively. I did not understand a word and just walked on - and was frightened when I realised that he was following me! No other soul was in sight and I did not like his look at all - but eventually he turned back and left me alone.

I barely made my daily mileage of 30 kilometres despite walking from before sunrise into the night!

On day three I had booked myself into accommodation off trail. It was already getting dark when I eventually approached Beklemento Pass from where I wanted to hitchhike down when suddenly fog closed in. Within minutes sight was reduced down to 10 metres and I was wondering if I could even make it to the pass! Luckily I could but in the fading daylight no one would stop - and it was mostly trucks anyways. I ended up walking another 4 kilometres before I arrived at the hotel - and nobody was there. But from other places I knew what to do: You have to call the owner on your cell phone - and he promptly arrived and even fired up central heating!

Next morning he rather unexpectedly served me breakfast and drove me up to the pass in his car where I was rewarded with a glorious sunrise at the Socialist monument "Arches of freedom". Weather was perfect that day but the forecast deteriorated steadily. I finally made the decision to get off the crest and detour around the highest mountain Botev. Even if I made it over Botev in time I would afterwards be snowed in in some mountain hut for an unknown time ...

When I arrived at Dobrila hut a big hiker group was waiting for lunch - and they were Germans! Of course we immediately started chatting and one lady even knew my book! After lunch I left and started my descent into the valley. What was only a detour for me turned out to be a really scenic route! I slept again in my tent in the mountains before I hit the road again on my way to a hotel in Apriltsi. Along the way I encountered a nice surprise: Troyan Monastery!

This is Bulgaria's third biggest orthodox monastery and it was swarming with tourist! After a wonderful rest stop there I eventually followed my GPS across some hills where probably no other tourist before me has ever been ....Then a long last road walk with an ever darkening sky before I arrived at my hotel in Apriltsi where I was to stay for two nights. As soon as I had arrived there the weather turned really bad. It more or less bucketed down for  24 hours straight. I only moved out of my hotel bed in order to eat in the hotel restaurant ....

Kom Emine Trail Part 1

When I started my ascent up from Berkovitsa to Kom Mountain it was raining already - and the rain would not stop for the next days ... Luckily the ascent was easy but due to fog I could not even see Kom Mountain which marks the start of the Kom-Emine-Trail. Weather was so bad that I was heading to accommodation at Petrohan Pass. Before I reached the mountain hut there I passed a sort of hotel.The hotel owners did not speak a single word of English - and to make things worse - had no clue about google translate. It took ages to find out the price for accommodation and food. There was on heating, but at least hot water for the shower. I ended up eating tripe soup because I did not understand what it was ....

When I woke up next morning the forecast had deteriorated: More rain and temperatures around freezing. Realizing that I would be miserable camping out that night I desperately looked for accommodation at this day's destination. I found something on google maps that looked like a hotel and with the help of some other English speaking guests I made a reservation. Relieved I set off hiking - and did not stop the entire day! It was constantly raining and I had to keep moving until I reached Iskar River and the village of Gara Lakatnik where I was the only guest in a wonderfully warm guesthouse. The landlady was gone but her teenage daughter looked after. She even managed to cook up some dinner - and organised next day's accommodation for me. After resupplying in the village store I set out again next morning - in the rain again.

The third day in a row was plain miserable. Fog was so thick that I could barely see 50 metres. Without GPS I would have been completely lost! Even the snow markers for winter hiking were 100 metres apart and no help. I was headed Leskova hut - the old school house of an otherwise deserted village. Last night's phone call had found out, that there was no hut keeper but the building was supposed to be open. I barely made it there before sunset and was so relieved to find the door unlocked.

14 beds were in each room and a wood stove but I was too tired and lazy to turn it on. No electricity though. After a quick dinner I immediately dozed off - still shaking with cold. I was woken up at 11 pm when suddenly car lights illuminated the windows. I was scared to have some late night visitors because the village was completely deserted. There was no lock at the door which I had just blocked with my trekking poles. But despite hearing voices no one tried to come in. After ten minutes of vivid discussion outside I heard car doors slam and the visitors disappeared.

I felt plain miserable next morning - and the weather had still not improved. Luckily I was supposed to go into town anyways and I decided to allow me a zero day to wait out the weather. Therefore I diverged from the Kom-Emine-Trail and walked directly into Botevgrad where I had booked myself into a business hotel with a wonderful restaurant. Unfortunately, one zero day turned into two because I suddenly got diarrhea. I felt very bad staying in town because according to the forecast I had only a very small time window to make it through the next alpine stage. But it could not be helped - I was sick!

Bulgaria Part 1

After the Serbian-Bulgarian border

In Bulgaria the E3 trail resumes with the Kom-Emine-Trail in Berkovitsa - but from the border I still had almost 200 km left to get there. So another long road walk commenced. I was surprised how little traffic there was on the road which here was a four-lane highway! Nice roadwalking continued until Vidin, my first town stop in Bulgaria where I visited the impressive fortifications and got used to seeing Kyrillic letters everywhere.

After one night in a posh hotel I resumed roadwalking on the big highway out of Vidin towards Sofia. I was soon to turn off that busy highway onto a smaller one - that on the map looked like having little traffic. When I came closer to the junction I was surprised to see truck after truck turning into this secondary highway. I soon discovered the solution: The major highway was blocked due to road construction so all truck traffic was now going along my route!

Obiutaries in a bus stop

The road was incredibly narrow with no shoulder whatsoever. Whenever a "flock" of trucks passed I more or less had to jump into the bushes! This was far too dangerous and I resorted to a long detour on the hills above the Danube which also resulted into a horrible bushwhack because some trails existed only on my GPS but not on the ground! I finally ended up on a little-travelled road that brought through several villages - most of them half-deserted. Young people move into big cities or out of the country - and the old die. A vivid testimonial are the many obituaries that are plastered everywhere: on lamp post, bus stops, fences and so on.

Castle in Belogradchik

I chose a route through Belogradchik which is famous for its rock formations and the castle that was once built into it. I enjoyed a good night in a posh and cheap hotel - and discovered that resupply is not easy in Bulgaria. Despite the fact that Belogradchik is quite a big town the little supermarkets had a very limited choice. But the restaurant in town was great - and I also discovered that most Bulgarian restaurants have a bilingual menu. Although the English translation is not always spot on you get at least a vague idea of what you are ordering ....

Cyclist departing

The last bit of roadwalking was rather uneventful along quiet countryroads. I met one Italian cyclist and we chatted for a bit. Eventually I reached Berkovitsa, starting point of the KomEmine Trail that would take me through the entire Balkan mountain range - with no more roadwalking. I had to stay three nights in Berkovitsa because I wanted to do shopping trip to nearby Sofia. And organizing that trip turned out to be a bit of an adventure because official buses seemed to running only very sporadically. "No problem", told me my landlady via Google translate. "A friend can take you there".



Memorial in Berkovitsa

The "friend" turned out to be a guy who shuttled locals with his private car. I got into the full car at 6 am in the morning when it was pitch dark. When we were leaving Berkovitsa on a narrow country road all of a sudden two horses standing in the middle of the road turned up in the headlights. I seemed to be facing a major accident - and I was sitting shotgun! But the driver had an incredible presence of mind and drove right through the two animals. No one was hurt as he hardly touched the two horses. When half an hour later a stray dog ran into the car no one really batted an eyelash - nothing happened again ...


Pedestrian zone in Sofia

I had a rather stressful day in Sofia: The KomEmine guidebook was not available in the first bookstore, but I could find it in another one. Then a quick shopping trip to Lidl and buying shoes at Intersport. Eventually a last trip to Decathlon because I needed warmer clother for the higher altitude. And then back to some obscure parking lot near the train station where the local shuttle car was departing back to Berkovitsa. No accidents on the way back either. By now I was itching to get back on the trail but the weather had turned bad...