Devil's Throat Cave or a damp squib.

The next day we started the return journey to Dobrinishte. The evening before we had looked on the Internet for interesting things to do on the way, slightly off the route was a cave called Devil's Throat Cave. It's website described it as this amazing cave, with one of the largest waterfalls in Bulgaria within it, not to be missed, you know that type of thing. So, off we set all keen and excited, gaily following directions from the satnav. 

The roads started off well enough but then we turned off up this side road which quickly became more and more bumpy, less and less  tarmacked (not sure if that last word is a word, or if it's spelt correctly) and increasingly water logged. Eventually, it got to the point where we couldn't see round a bend, so  I jumped out of the car and ran ahead to see what the road was like and whether we could use it. We couldn't, enough was enough but of course this then meant we had to turn around and do the same trek back, wibbling ( there I go making up words again)  and wobbling all over the place. 

Eventually we got to the cave, hooray! Outside it looked very promising, although all you could see was a door built into the mountainside, there were food and craft stalls all around and a proper car park. Tourists were milling about and this seemed the place to be. 

We tried to take the dogs in but that wasn't happening, this time a man came up and told us , "No" waggling his finger and gesturing to the dogs. So, we decided to do the visit in two shifts, with David and I going first. 

Well, I tell you it is a bit of a non event! It sounds quite promising as you go in as you can hear water 

thundering down and as you make your way along the very dark path, you expect at every turn that 

the waterfall will come into view, it doesn't! Maybe, to be fair we might have gone at the wrong time of the year, but I don't think so as we didn't even see a trickle and yet the sound effects were good. Mysterious! 

Just inside the cave was a mini cave cut out of the rock with this interesting figure carved on the wall. 

After a long walk you come to some very steep stairs which lead you higher and higher up, until you can see daylight glistening through an opening in the top. 

You exit through this opening and you can actually see water running down the mountainside from the outside, and that was that. 

Lucky David, he got to do it twice!  He  went back with our daughter as I looked after the dogs. 

Snow White cave

On the way back from Plovdiv to our lodgings in Batak we stopped off at the Snow White Cave. It is called this because of the lovely rock formations inside some of which are said to resemble Snow White and the dwarves. 

We found the cave easily enough , with a long scenic drive up a mountain and we parked in a small car park at the side of the road which is there for visitors to the cave. From the car park there are steps and a winding path continuing up the hill, which gradually became steeper and steeper and my thighs became sorer and sorer and my breath became heavier and heavier. Why, oh why does everything need to be uphill? 

As we were trudging up the hill, with the dogs beside us, David decided to read out information on the cave from his geocache GPS which stated that it was a 45 minute walk to the cave, sometimes ignorance is bliss!  Honestly, I felt like crying, mainly because in the back of my mind I thought here we are mountaineering up this mountain to a cave which in all probability by the time we get there will be shut as it was quite late in the day already. I was also thinking to myself that we wouldn't get in with the dogs so I would need to wait outside so should I just wander around with the dogs down near the carpark rather than keep on struggling up. 

Turning a bend we came to a sign saying, " Nearly there! " with a smiley face so I kept plodding on. 

Eventually we came to the caves, where we saw a man going up to the cave door and shutting it, that's it I thought too late but thankfully he was just shutting the door and they were still open for business. Remarkably,  they allowed us to take the dogs in too! 

You just wander around the cave by yourself, not with a guide. It is not that big but it was very interesting and the formations were well lit and very interesting to see. 

The dogs walked around it quite happily which I was a bit surprised at, as there were some awkward steps for them and it was quite dimly lit, so a bit gloomy and ominous in bits. Monty the pup did need a help with the steps and I think felt braver because Stella was there to look after him. 

On leaving the cave we of course had to make our way back down the track. David was wanting to find a nearby Geocache , so he went off slightly in one direction while we continued walking down the path towards the car. 

To the side of us,  through the trees,  we became aware of a group of men who were making their way down the hillside some on horseback , others just walking down with  their horse at their side. 

The men and horses would sometimes be on the same path as us but  sometimes when it was too steep they would go off slightly and meander down a different path. All the time we were aware that they were just behind us,  as we could hear the tinny metal chiming of the things that they were carrying. 

At one point my daughter asked if I could walk a little faster as the horses were starting to catch up, so I sped up, only for her to say that I didn't need to walk that fast as they were still a bit behind us. Suddenly all I heard was my daughter shouting  "RUN, Runaway horse." So I took off, dragging Monty behind me, with my daughter and Stella not far behind. It is amazing how fast you can run when you need to. Eventually we got to the steps which led down to the car park, making a last dash for it we bolted down the steps and ran to hide behind the car. 

Once we got there we just started laughing and turned around to see the horse at the bottom of the steps with a rather flustered and irate young lad who I think was supposed to be in control of it. The other horses meanwhile were slowly trundling down another path and eventually made their way into the car park. 

Breathless but giggling we stood there watching them as David emerged from the bushes on another side blissfully unaware of what had just happened. Climbing back into the car we headed off to our lodgings and a much needed rest. 

At the lodgings our daughter had a very uncomfortable looking bed which Stella joined her on. Monty prefers to sleep under the bed and you can just see his little head poking out. 

The road back to Dobrnishte  the next day led us passed many  fields of sunflowers which were lovely to see.