that motherfucker Putin
This post is about a 20km walk from the Gate Of Trajan to Ihtiman. Putin has just attacked Ukraine. The mountains are beautiful.
I woke up and laid my stuff out to dry. Then I sat down and stared at my phone. That motherfucker Putin had started attacking Ukraine the day before. I made a video about that motherfucker Putin. Here I was, walking on the Silk Roads, stomping through the Bulgarian mountains, camping at Roman ruins, waking up with the sunshine, and I wanted to scream, scream, SCREAM at that tiny little motherfucker Putin sitting in his palace, slaughtering Russians and Ukrainians for his own vanity. And I wanted to scream at us Germans, too, for being so fucking complacent.
no jackals
Good morning and fuck Putin, I said to the tourist guides when they showed up for work at 10 in the morning.
“It’s terrible,” they said, shaking their heads.
They gave me water and we talked a little, and I learned the reason why I hadn’t heard any jackals during the night: there were wolves in the area.
mountain vista
When I left the black and white dog came with me. We walked together until we reached a plateau where we could see the snowcapped mountains in the distance. I sat down and had some tea, and the dog sat at my side, and it felt like we had never done anything else. It was good.
Then we parted ways. There was no good-bye, not even a look. He just went his way and I went mine, and then he was out of sight. It reminded me of the Imam’s cat a few months earlier. A piercing feeling like a tiny needle to the heart, and then it was gone, and only the road and the air remained.
pictures
Drying my stuff:
The road to walk from the Gate Of Trajan to Ihtiman:
The snowcapped mountains:
My friend the doggo:
Something in bloom:
We lookin at the mountains:
One last highway crossing:
Angry dog on a roof:
The end of the road from the Gate Of Trajan to Ihtiman:
Roadside memorial for a man:
The Caboose at the door of the Ihtiman Motel:
Barbara
The something in bloom could be silver birch catkins.
Spring, already.
Christoph Rehage Post author
thanks barbara! i never know what most plants are haha