Show must go on

I am going to assume that pretty much everyone reading now knows what happened to me almost a week ago. If you don't then please ask someone else. The reason is I am sick of talking about, sick of thinking about it and sick of it hanging over my trip like the horrible grey cloud that it is. Yes I am still recovering physically and mentally but I am getting there and I am now beginning to feel that leaving Europe and getting to India will almost start things afresh and I can go on from there. I am trying to look for the positives in what was a horrible situation and I think firstly the fact that something awful has happened to me and I have not ran home at the first opportunity is massive and does give me confidence for the months ahead. I did always wonder if I could cope with something really bad happening and now I know that I can and that makes me feel proud and eager to continue with things. I have had a bit of help with my backpack from the lovely Max and Maria from France who are pretty much driving me around Bulgaria, I cannot thank them enough and they have even altered their route slightly to help me, proof indeed that there are decent people still out there to counter the arseholes that exist in this society. It was always going to be a struggle for me to like Bulgaria after what happened, I still find the people cold and unfriendly in general and it is a struggle to get anywhere if you do read Cyrillic, I have slowly been taking in the alphabet to try and get into it. The two things I really have liked so far are the 2 hostels I've stayed at, first in Veliko Tarnovo and now here in Sofia. Both are part of chain called Hostel Mostel and really well run establishments aimed at backpackers with a range of services such as day trips to nearby attractions and walking tours of the cities. The other thing is the Bulgarian love of putting cheese on pretty much everything which suits me right down to the ground and after a couple of months of being relatively watchful of what I am eating I felt I deserved to pig out a little for a change. My route from now until India is fairly simple, I am in Sofia for tonight and tomorrow then 2 nights in the town of Plovdiv further south. After that I am Istanbul for 4 nights and then it is on to Delhi in India for a completely new chapter and new experiences in a place that will undoubtedly be like nowhere I have every been before and hopefully I will almost be back to 100% by then. To be honest I cannot be bothered to write much more, this is simply updating to let people know I am okay and still very much enjoying this trip for the most part. I will probably do one last update from Istanbul and that will wrap it up for Europe. Thanks for all the messages of support from friends and family, you've all helped me get through this. Chris xxxx