Lissi Vrah

Whilst it is not difficult to be uplifted in spirit at the sheer beauty of so much of the varied scenery that Bulgaria has to offer, from time to time something extra special presents itself.
Such was the case with the small village of Lissi Vrah, translated, I understand, to mean 'Foxes Lair'.
We happened upon Lissi Vrah whilst travelling with a Bulgarian friend on a previous visit to Bulgaria. We had left the main highway running between Varna and Shumen at a junction some eighteen kilometres from Shumen and passed through the small town of Novi Pazar. Thereafter we headed out into open countryside, heading north, through a number of small villages including Pamoukchii, Stoyan Mihailski,Zhilino,Tsarkvitsa and Kriva Reka. Through charming tree lined country roads; this to me was the real unspoilt Bulgarian rural scene. Suddenly Lissi Vrah was upon us, forested hills appeared surrounding this idyllic village. In the valley women were picking rasberries and I recall the sound of bird song and buzzing bees. For whatever reason, I experienced an almost spiritual sensation and felt that this was the spot that I would love to return to and possibly set up home. It was certainly off the beaten track, with limited facilities but that in itself was the magic of the place. The thought of escaping from the outside world and immersing myself in this garden of eden, amongst the local people, was very appealing.
The only reason for this 'find' was due to our Bulgarian friend showing us a little of his countryside and taking the time to divert off the road to Shumen.
On this more recent trip, my son and I attempted to find Lissi Vrah again but became hopelessly lost. Instead of following the trail that we had taken previously and as described above (with the benefit of hindsight and a detailed map) we somehow passed through a village named Pliska, which is very near Novi Pazar. In fact we passed through Pliska, over and over again. The village on a map resembles the hub of a wheel with numerous roads radiating out from the centre. After the sixth return, we
became quite familiar with it's centre but never found our way out. Eventually my son who by now was suffering from 'Deja Vu' fatigue suggested that we should resort to a new approach. Scanning the rudimentary map that we possessed, he observed that if we headed north, keeping the setting sun on our left, and travelled for twenty clicks or so, then we were certain to arrive at our goal. (thank goodness for his boy scout training and Rambo film watching)
What seemed like fifty miles later we stopped on a rise and admired the panoramic moonlit view that presented itself. As we considered our futures, a train suddenly passed in front of us. Something was clearly wrong. The only railway track shown on the map should have been many miles behind us. At this point, we gave up the search.
I telephoned our Bulgarian friend and explained that the village of Lissi Vrah had moved, that it was no longer there. Prehaps it had all had been a dream.