Jogging and Cycling in Towns and Villages Respectively

Having taken up jogging in Bulgaria over the last month, there are many reasons behind this. Before starting can I mention that normally I am an avid cyclist, if ever a few kilograms wanted to be lost from a fit, but aging man, a couple of weeks cycling over long distances usually did the job. I just love cycling, even in mid-winter in sub-zero temperatures (see 365 Bulgarian Adventures.) So why jog instead of cycle?

During the week I am in Yambol and the many cyclists that wheel and hobble along the cobblestone street is a refreshing sight. Every cycle I see my mind says 'one less car', but the cycling is down more to cost than environmental conscience. Most of the bicycles I see are not roadworthy and those that are ride the wrong way up roads, on pavements and carry vast amounts of luggage making the bicycle too unstable to ride so it is pushed. The average speed limit to cyclists in Yambol is just generally just slightly faster than walking pace. If yo add the horrendous potholes that have really got worse and worse this winter as each day goes by, going any faster, without brakes on their bikes, makes absolute sense.(see Roma Riders)

With all this in mind, my bikes is sitting in the garage as my style of cycling is very different from Bulgarian cycling. First and foremost I do it for pleasure and health, I don't think this aspect is even consider for one moment by most Bulgarians. Riding a bike is done only because a car can't be afforded! I cycle like I am on a time trial most of the time, this can't be done in Yambol, nowadays there is too much traffic, too many bad roads making it far too dangerous to travel at speed in such environments. If I have a hybrid mountain bike it would be fine but I have a light and fast touring bike designed for speed on good roads, I can't do that here. I have another bike, a pure road bike in Skalitsa as the road there are excellent for touring and road riding, this is where my cycling usually takes place.

So, the jogging has taken over form cycling in Yambol. I once competed the London Marathon a long time ago, but that is ancient history now as I tramp the back roads of Yambol. Even on the road it is like a cross country event with the torn and uneven road surfaces. I think I must be the only person in Yambol who goes out jogging. I have never seen anyone jogging here since I been here, even in the warmer months. Bulgarian drivers just don't know how to react when passing a jogger, they always pause as they are not sure whether to give me a wide berth or run me over - they certainly have been close to that. Yet if I was on a bike they would give the greatest respect when passing.

Dogs haven't a clue what to do when I pass them. The ones that are chained up bark to the hilt, well that's what they are there for. The wild, free dogs bark when I approach but that stops suddenly when I pass, they also have not seen anything like this going on. It's almost if they are saying that it's their job to run on Yambol roads not mine!

Loosing weight is my prime objective here, plus I've had a few warning signs from my heart telling me to work it a bit more. Also in view of reading Malcolm and Ciejay's Blog, it probably makes me even more determined to keep it up.

Galia did a half marathon here in Yambol quite a few years ago, it was a one off event for charity so she tells me. Pity it's not an annual event, but then jogging is not at all a Bulgarian thing!

Bulgarians Ill in Winter

Everyone seems to be ill in Bulgaria during the winter, colds, flu, headaches, you name it they've all come down with something recently. This happens every winter here, I think I know why.

In the winter many just stay indoor unless it is essential that a trip has to be made. Going to work the buses are crowded with all the windows shut. In the work places, the air-conditioning circulates the germs in a air trapped environment. In the Post Offices, Banks and other utility payment places, the waiting in queues with virus filled people seems never ending. These queues are tightly packed, you will often get someone breathing down your neck wherever you queue here. It is no wonder that sickness is at its prime during the winter.

The amount of money spend on drugs is almost on par with the cost of food. I often wonder why there are so many chemists in Yambol, perhaps this is the reason, to cope with the demands that are set upon them in the winter months. Aspirin, paracetamol, throat lozenges, cough syrups, but none as popular than the rakia which is frequently being dipped into as a winter medicine. The 46 litres of 42% proof rakia that was made a few months ago is now down to 30 litres and counting. I dread to think how people cope without rakia. Certainly not making your own would add substantially to the chemists' profits and the increased poverty stricken communities here.

So why haven't I been ill every winter? I can't remember having anytime when I have had a virus, cold or flu since being here. Everyone else around me is dropping like ninepins and the Englishman seems to be immune from all the bugs that are going around. It's not as if I do anything different from anyone else apart from recently taking up jogging again. I'm indoors all day, I queue for hours and use the sardine buses and I also am subjected to air-conditioning environments all day. So why am I in perfect health each winter?

It's a mystery, I don't have an answer and neither do the coughing and spluttering people around me. Galia and Baba both have picked up colds over the last couple of days, Ivo is expected to fall with it any day now and there's me off jogging for an hour. I feel quite guilty about my good health, but then not going jogging wouldn't help matters either.

Spring is only a few weeks away now, the 1st March should just about have seen us through this Bulgarian winter and the illnesses that go with it. March 1st of course is another big day, it's another Imen Den (Name Day), the biggest name day of the year. Have you guessed what it is yet?

A Miracle Cure - The Healing Stones of Skalitsa

Last month I was in great pain due to twisting my back. I was in bed for over a week not being able to walk. It was a long haul from first doing it to recovering and the remedies that were used to cure it were diverse to say the least. All the tried practices failed except one.

From the initial aspirins and other painkilling tablets, this went on to massage, then two courses of painkilling injection. It didn't stop there as the Rakia treatment was tried, both internally and externally. This still didn't work, I was still in gross agony so the burning lead ritual was performed to rid me of evil spirits and finally to hospital for x-rays, which didn't show anything wrong - but I was still unable to sit down and trouble standing and walking.

So how did I get from this state into now jogging? It was something that I should have done straight away, something that had been tried and tested not only by me but others with resounding success. It is the healing stones in Skalitsa that finally cured me!

There have been many occasions where illnesses had just suddenly disappeared by just laying on the stones, which are situated just a ten-minute walk from my farmhouse in the village. This is the place where two magnetic field cross each other with only one other place in the world where this phenomenon happens somewhere in Mexico. A top professor from Sofia had made conclusive tests that scientifically verified that there is a phenomenon there and healing does take place. Two previous articles have been written on this Healing Stones in Bulgaria and Skalitsa Healing Stones More Evidence. - Please feel free to get more of the background here.

This particular healing experience was the greatest yet of my own personal evidence that these healing stones really do work. I had just managed to drive to the village in great pain this particular weekend and the next day gingerly walked to the stones. It was a sunny day so the winter sun had already warmed up the healing stones. I chose a flat-topped stone and lay there for around 40 minutes. As before, I didn't notice anything happening whilst I was lying there, or when I painfully tried to stand up and walk again. But what happened next was yet another amazing experience!

As I walked back to the farmhouse, my walking became much more fluent and the pain gradually subsided. By the time I was home, this had improved even more. I had a good night's sleep for the firs time since the problem started. The next day, I just felt a bit stiff, no pain as I drove home without any pain at all. I was not on any medication other than an aspirin in the morning.

Back in Yambol Sunday evening it was as if a magic wand had been waved over me as seemingly I had been cured. The following morning I was sitting down at work without any problem at all and no need for any medication at all. A few days later I was jogging and haven't stopped since.

I am totally convinced that the healing stones were responsible for this. It is not a one off, they have healed and others on countless occasions. Everyone knows about them locally, but hardly outsiders other than those I have told. I was such a sceptic when I first heard about these stones, but now I am a firm believer that they have healing qualities that have now cured illnesses before and now cured my back, something that professional doctors and a hospital couldn't.

Galia and I now carry a little healing stone each in our respective handbags and slightly bigger ones lay in the farmhouse and in our Yambol home. It should keep illnesses away all the time judging from past experiences.