Had an interesting time on the night train to Sofia last night. I had heard a lot of stories of people having bags stolen and also a lot of smugglers being on the train (bringing in Cigarettes from Serbia where they are a lot cheaper).

I was lucky that I found a cabin with a business men and a young couple who seemed harmless enough. I had my pacsafe should bag with all valuables under my jacket and fell asleep holding on tightly to my day bag (the day bag is the main target for he thieves as they are small and relatively easy to grab.

I woke up about 2am when the young couple got off and then the two of us had three seats to stretch out and get some good sleep (with my using my day bag as a pillow). By about 4am the train was getting very cold, the heating was not working so it slowly got colder and colder, so I had to pull my thermals out and put them on.

About an hour out of Sofia I went to stretch my legs when I saw a normal looking lady with a screwdriver removing panels off the train corridor, initially I thought she was trying to steal the aluminum from the train, but then she started unscrewing the roof as well. Next thing you know all these cigarette cartons are falling to the ground.

Sofia seems very nice, but it has been very cold today. I went on a walking tour around the city and did some of my own wondering. I am heading to Istanbul tomorrow night, so I will check out a few more things tomorrow before I get on the night bus (which is a lot safer than a train).