Thursday, 03 May

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="044d4c00dduajq.gif"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <A HREF="id136.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wednesday, 02 May"><U><IMG SRC="0450b0b0.gif" border=0 width="11" height="11" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>   <A HREF="id138.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Friday, 04 May"><U><IMG SRC="0460b0b0.gif" border=0 width="11" height="11" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>       <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="11" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="11">   <A HREF="id133.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May"><U><IMG SRC="0480b0b0.gif" border=0 width="11" height="11" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="1e6af830.jpg" border=0 width="175" height="131" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The Gastropod Invaded by Goats at the Lake</div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#003333" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Gastropod's Trail</B></FONT>     |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Gastropods Trail"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> Thursday, 03 May</div> <div> Sofia, Bulgaria to Cherven Briag, Bulgaria</div> <bR> <div> According to the information obtained for us at the hotel, Romania will issue a visa to us at the border (no problem - I hope) and all my best efforts to locate the Grand Lodge of Bulgaria were fruitless. Nothing left for us to do here, we drove on toward Pleven.</div> <bR> <div> Most of the highway from Sofia to Pleven is four lane and very new with some spectacular bridges crossing deep ravines. Bulgaria is almost three times the size of Switzerland (or Nova Scotia) with a population of 9 million. There is lots of open country and beautiful tree covered mountains. We discovered that carrying cash is essential outside Sofia for all purchases, including gas. The well stocked supermarkets are gone and in every village or town the streets are lined with old cars (Ladas, Trabis, and Moskovits) waiting for better times...</div> <bR> <div> It was a gorgeous day and when we spotted a small lake about 20 km before Pleven we decided to camp there. It was not long before a herd of very curious goats encircled the Gastropod and the herdsman observed us from a distance. The shores of the lake are very densly populated with bullfrogs - singing their love song all evening and night.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>