Byzantine chroniclers had good reason to fear the passes of the eastern Balkan range, and the one above Varbitsa may be the worst memory of all. In 811 the emperor Nikephoros I invaded Bulgaria, burned the capital Pliska and then marched his army into a mountain pass, where the Bulgarian khan Krum trapped it behind wooden barricades and destroyed it. The emperor was killed, and Krum, the story goes, had his skull lined with silver and used it as a drinking cup. Historians argue about exactly where the ambush happened, but the Varbitsa pass is one of the places most often named.
The village of Varbitsa lies at the northern foot of the mountains, in a pleasant valley of fields and orchards, with a population of a few thousand, many of them Bulgarian Turks. It is a quiet, rural place, with a mosque, a few shops and cafes, and old men playing backgammon in the shade. Nearby lies the Ticha reservoir, a large lake surrounded by hills, popular with anglers. The surrounding countryside is a patchwork of farmland, woods and villages, with the Balkan range forming a long green wall to the south.
The road over the pass climbs from the village into the eastern Balkan range, through dense oak and beech forest, with a steady series of bends and some steeper ramps. The gradients are moderate, the traffic light, and the surface varies from good to broken, with patches, potholes and gravel in places. From the top the road descends south toward the valley beyond, with views across a sea of forested ridges. These mountains are lower and gentler than the central Balkan range, but they are wild and thinly populated, and you can ride for long stretches without meeting a car.
Varbitsa has small shops and simple cafes, but for fuel the nearest reliable towns are Kotel, about twenty kilometres to the south, and Omurtag, a similar distance to the north-west. Arrive with a decent tank if you plan to explore the side roads. The forest offers shade in summer, and autumn turns the whole range red and gold. In winter, snow and ice can make the pass road treacherous.