One Man in Bulgaria

... or should I say "Where are the bears?" When I was young such TV programs as Lancelot, William Tell and similar movies along with a hit by Alan Price, funnily enough a member of the "Animals" pop group when not performing solo, titled "Simon Smith and his Amazing Dancing Bear" (see him perform it on YouTube)  released in 1968 glorified the life of the "dancing bear". In reality the truth was somewhat different in the majority of cases. Whilst perusing my DK travel guide on the journey from Septemvri to Dobrinishte I came across a reference to the "Dancing Bear Sanctuary". Accessible by taxi from the Relitsa station, all else left my thoughts, this was a "must see" journey, my first in the area. Relitsa is incorrect it is Belitsa, Relitsa is on the other side of the country.

Back in England, stored in my brother's loft lies an N gauge model railway. The track is 9mm (slightly less that 3/8ths or 0.354") wide. It is 1:160 scale. The rolling stock is 1:148 scale so my largest engine is about 300mm long. This N gauge which we are now riding on has track which is 760mm wide and the engine is somewhat larger but what a marvellous train set which someone gets to control and others to work on. Yes; this is a Narrow Gauge railway and we are on our way from Septemvri to Dobrinishte exploring the full length of this 125 km run. To this end I have booked an hotel in Dobrinishte rather than the rather more popular Bansko summer and ski resort. Unfortunately the branch from Varvara to Pzardzik is now closed.