Most Bulgarians meet Devin first on a bottle label. Its mineral springs are bottled and sold in every corner shop in the country, and the small spa town that produces them lies in a tight green valley of the western Rhodopes, on the Vacha river, with steep slopes of pine and spruce rising on all sides. It is a mixed place, home to Christian Bulgarians and Pomaks, Bulgarian-speaking Muslims, and in summer it fills with holidaymakers soaking in the warm mineral pools of its spa hotels. Out of season it is very quiet indeed.
This is Orpheus country. The Rhodopes claim the mythical singer as their own, and the mountains around Devin are full of the sort of places that breed legends. South-west of town, the Trigrad gorge pinches a road between limestone walls more than a hundred metres high, and at its head a river plunges into the Devil's Throat cave with a roar you can hear from the entrance. East toward Smolyan is Shiroka Laka, a village of whitewashed houses with heavy stone roofs and wooden bay windows, and a music school where teenagers learn the gaida, the deep-voiced Rhodope bagpipe.
The riding from here goes in every direction and nearly all of it is good. North, the road down the Vacha valley toward Krichim is a narrow, writhing thing squeezed between rock and reservoirs, with blind bends and the odd tunnel. South toward Trigrad the road climbs and dives through the forest, and east toward Shiroka Laka and Smolyan there are long climbs with sweeping turns and views over endless ridges. Expect broken edges, gravel washed out of side gullies after rain, slow vans and timber lorries, and goats with no road sense whatsoever.
Devin is a proper small town, so fuel, a supermarket and a cash machine are all here, and it makes a good overnight base for a couple of days in the western Rhodopes. Order patatnik, a pan-baked cake of grated potato, onion and cheese, and finish with the local yoghurt, which is thick enough to stand a spoon in. The valley holds cool air even in July, and nights can be chilly, so keep the warm layer handy.