#6. Motorcycle Trip 2021. Experimenting with Closed Borders. Serbia. Part Six.
Initially, our route to Ukraine was supposed to go through Romania. But we decided to experiment: how to cross the EU border without a test or certificate. And we succeeded.
But we spent the night in the town of Lovech. We spent a long time looking for a hotel, as it was the weekend and everything was booked. A kind man, Vasily, helped us. Thank him. The hotel is wonderful. The building it's in was built in 1890. The owner, a former sea captain, is a wonderful man.
https://g.page/hotel-guest-house-the-...
The town is also famous for its bridge.
The Covered Bridge is a unique symbol of the Bulgarian town of Lovech. It was built by the budding architect Kolyo Ficheto in 1876. There are three other similar bridges in Europe, the most famous of which is in Florence.
The bridge had stone piles, but the wood itself was personally selected by the architect.
In 1925, this magnificent structure burned down in a fire.
The bridge's restoration was completed in 1931. It was now entirely made of stone, but efforts were made to preserve its appearance as closely as possible to the way Ficheto built it.
Currently, the bridge is 106 meters long and houses 14 shops.
https://goo.gl/maps/tBYUnpayR6ffNejY7
We also visited some remarkable caves.
Devetashka Cave
The cave was discovered in 1921, and Tsar Boris III took a personal interest in exploring it.
The cave is well lit by natural openings in the ceiling, which locals called "oknata." The cave is 2,500 meters long and has a gigantic opening 35 meters high and 55 meters wide. Eleven underground lakes have been found within the cave.
Access to the cave is prohibited from June 1st to July 31st, as this is the breeding season for protected bats. The colony that arrives here for the winter can reach up to 35,000 individuals! The cave was formerly owned by the Ministry of Defense and housed fuel depots. A road and railway led to the cave itself. This continued until the 1990s. At that time, the tanks were removed, the roads were dismantled, and the cave was given over to the bats.
In 2011, some key scenes from the film "The Expendables 2" were filmed in Devetashka Cave. The film starred many Hollywood actors, including Bruce
Willis, Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jet Li, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Chuck Norris. For the film, the crew built a real bridge across the Osam River, which they later left as a "gift" to the locals.
https://goo.gl/maps/kiKis5HDiKaVJRZQ7
Our journey then continued into Serbia. We decided to cross the border at a small, discreet checkpoint.
Our route then passed through the National Park. This, along with excellent roads and stunning views of the Danube, is a must.
https://goo.gl/maps/9uLtqmQgVa5aS5gR9
The experiment continues. The borders of Hungary, Slovakia and Poland still await us.