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The only reason for travelling this far east is to experience the most Turkish region of Bulgaria. In Momchilgrad and Krumovgrad you'll hear more Turkish spoken than Bulgarian (which isn't even understood by some people), and satellite dishes, trade and transport are oriented towards Turkey. People have redder skins, broader faces and stockier physiques than the inhabitants of the western Rhodopes - as sure a sign of their Turkish ancestory as their names (written in Turkish, rather than Cyrillic on the tombstones). While being able to speak Turkish will help, people are generally reserved towards outsiders due to the region's long history as an embattled borderland and the vicissitudes of ethnic-state relations having inculcated habits of clannishness and isolation. The landscape is characterized by eroded, deforested expanses which, seen by moonlight, resemble deserts or lunar surfaces. With its dry sandy soil and Mediterranean climate, it has always needed irrigation to produce crops, and the minerals in the mountains - zinc, lead, gold and silver - made mining more profitable than agriculture until the Turks introduced the cultivation of tobacco, which is still the main crop. They chiefly grow an aromatic strain called dzhebel basma , a name deriving from djebel , the Arabic word for hill, and you will often see little old women selling bunches of the dried leaves by the roadside. Though there are regular daily buses from Kardzhali to Momchilgrad, and to Ivailovgrad on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, this is really a journey best made by car , despite the awful road. MOMCHILGRAD , 10km south of Kardzhali, marks the start of the highlands, encrusted with ruined fortresses built by both Bulgaria and Byzantium, when the area was contested by the two empires. More recently, it was here that the worst violence of the "name-changing campaign" occurred, when about forty people died in clashes between protestors and the Militia in the winter of 1984-85. These days, relations between the two communities are good, with Christians and Muslims working together in local politics and business. Should you wish to stay , your best bet is the recently opened MG hotel (tel 03631/3034 or 088/217424; US$18-36), which occupies a fine hilltop site on the eastern side of the village and has an outdoor swimming pool, as well as an excellent terrace restaurant, with panoramic views of the eastern Rhodopes. The succession of Muslim villages over the next 30km culminates in an elegant, isolated mosque before the road descends to KRUMOVGRAD , a smaller town with some cafes for a pit stop and the Ahriga Hotel (US$9-18) should you need to spend the night before catching a bus to Istanbul (ask at Ozavar Turizm), Studen Kladenets, Haskovo (8am & 2pm) or Plovdiv (6am). Beyond Krumovgrad lies splendid open rolling countryside, planted with wheat and dotted with copses where livestock graze around waterholes, but eerily devoid of human settlements so far as you can see. There are, in fact, dozens of Turkish hamlets in the hills that are so small and isolated that none of the children go to school, which explains why the Ivailovgrad region has the highest illiteracy rate in Bulgaria (60 percent). Fifty-nine kilometres east of Krumovgrad, IVAILOVGRAD marks a return to the Slav, Christian areas of settlement, and boasted the impressive remains of the Armira Roman Villa until it was looted in 1996. By way of compensation, motorists can visit the Thracian tomb at Mezek as a detour off the road to Svilengrad, though be sure that all your documents are in order, as there's a checkpoint at the hydroelectric dam on the Arda Reservoir. Despite its proximity to Greece and Turkey, there's nowhere to cross the frontier until you reach Svilengrad.
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