With the hostel located right in the old town set back from tree-lined, cobbled pavements the atmosphere is incredibly relaxing and I've slipped into the lifestyle with ease. If I hadn't been so organised and booked my train ticket to Istanbul for tomorrow, I'd probably have stayed a few more nights and enjoyed the atmosphere and good company at the hostel!

Sitting and having a lazy breakfast and numerous coffees outside on the hostel terrace, I finanally mustered the courage to get up and explore the Roman and Thracian ruins that lie about the town. Sadly many of these ruins have been left to decay further and there's not much to explain the history. Indeed a whacking great road lies beside the old forum and one of the largest surviving amphitheatres. Still, the weather is warm and it makes for an interesting walk. Along my way I visit the Ethnographical museum and a traditional Bulgarian house museum. In the latter, I have to knock to get in and the museum clearly doesn't get many visitors as throughout the house I have to unlcok doors, walk into rooms and turn the lights on. While most of the exhibits were in Bulgarian so I didn't understand much, the owner occasionally dropped by to check on me and explain any points she felt I shouldn't miss before returning back to her newspaper and coffee in the courtyard.

Feeling energetic, I walked up one of the 7 "mountains" that dominate the city and take in the view along with half a dozen teenagers drinking what must be the Bulgarian equivalent of White Lightning cider and whistling at the girls passing in the streets below. Making my way back down to the centre I managed to get completely lost and soon the nice old town began to become dusty and run-down. The faces changed suddenly to a much darker complexion and the street was full of head-sarf clad old women hobbling with their hands on their hips, sighing and staring suspiciously at me as I walk by. Inadvertently I had stumbled upon what I later discover is the largest Gypsy settlement in Bulgaria. But the scene was reminiscent of one you might find in India with ramshackle housing, kids playing with cans in the street and men sitting on boxes by the roadside watching life go by. The cars too had changed from relatiely modern ones in the city centre to old Ladas and run-down Fords. It made me feel really uncomfortable and I tried to find my way out as quickly as I could. Ironically the sign that led me out was a Macdonalds sign pointing to the centre of town.

I've really enjoyed Bulgaria and it's a country has been unexpectedly diverse. All the locals I have met have been really helpful and pleasant. They've looked after me and been keen to show me their country as well as explain it's immensely complicated history. But speaking with them has made me feel how lucky I am to actually be travelling. What has taken me six months to save up for, they tell me would take them 5 or 10 years. The average wage in Bulgaria is about 200 euros a month and outside the cities it's all to evident that the country is still recovering from communism. Most of England seems to be buying up properties here and this once hidden gem of a country is slowly being re-discovered. But, as I saw in Bansko, there is a large risk that this tourism boom is causing unchecked construction and spoiling once sleepy villages by turning them into purely commercial tourist centres.