Bulgaria... just briefly

At Giurgiu, we (with mixed feelings) cross the border. The ADAC has issued a warning about wild camping. Hmmm??? Almost all campsites are closed... we'll see how it goes in Bulgaria. In the end, we find a campsite near the mountains in the interior of the country that is open. So let's go... Bulgaria, here we come.

Right from the start, we cross an incredible old stone bridge from the 1950s. Here you have to pay a toll of 4 euros and also buy a road vignette. Then we continue. We pass countless ugly factories. Smoke and stench are coming out of all the chimneys. The signs are written in Cyrillic... but the larger cities are also in English. We drive towards the interior of the country and pass through Ruse. Not really a 'nice place to live' here either. Gray old communist high-rise buildings in poor condition. Diesel costs 1.14-1.20 euros here.

Our route to Tarnovo (to the campsite) takes us on not-so-bad roads through many small villages. Many empty dilapidated houses and factories line our way. Many dogs run over on the side of the road. We arrive at the 'Trinity Rock Farm' in hilly and foggy terrain. A small campsite by the river. Run by two Englishmen who live their dream of dropping out here. There is also a curiosity shop here. Countless old things are lying around. You could also call it junk :) there are dogs, cats, chickens... everything runs around in the yard. The boss 'Jason' is very likeable and invites us to his place in the evening. Friends come to visit (Irish!) and there's a little party. We don't hesitate for long and so it becomes a really fun evening with English and Irish people in Bulgaria... who would have expected that. We chat merrily into the evening. Everyone tells us convincingly that they never want to leave Bulgaria again. Definitely not back to England or Ireland. Interesting!! Luckily, one of the Irish can speak German... that makes it easier... because you can hardly understand the Irish (and it doesn't get better when they have had a drink, grin). We enjoy the funny evening and decide to stay here a bit longer. The weather forecast predicts snow!! (hhmmpppfff)

Another motorhome arrives in the evening. Huh? We know them?! It can't be - but - it's the nice French family that we already met in deepest Romania. Nocolas, Katja, Tamara, Tamlin and Lyra :) The world of travelers is small. We are happy and there is a warm hello.

And actually... the next morning we wake up... roll up the blinds... everything is white!! Well, who needs that now?? We wanted to drive over the mountains to Greece tomorrow... at the moment not such a good idea. Then at breakfast it happens: Our heating leaves us.... zap... it's off!!! And shows no signs of starting again. Very bad timing we realize. So it's time for the man with tools again. I position myself with Amy in the common room in front of the wood stove (yes, there is one here) and await what is to come. Jason comes by and offers us his rooms to rent here if we can't get it fixed. However, I trust in Kilian's skill. He has been able to repair everything that has ever been broken so far. No panic is setting in yet :) After a few hours of anxious waiting: All clear!! Heating is working again :) 'Man can' simply repair anything.

The French also have a stroke of bad luck and get stuck in the wet meadow. The motorhome is tilted on three tires. But Jason, the boss, comes right away with his Jeep and together we free the car from the mud.

The next morning we decide to venture into the Rodopi Mountains. There will be more snow in the next few days... so we want to go. While packing the car, suddenly: car key gone!! Disappeared into thin air. Kilian dismantled half of the bus yesterday because of the heating... and somewhere the key got lost. Oh great!! We start a search operation... maybe we lost it while walking the dog... or lost it in the bus... or in the common room... we search and search and finally after 1 hour, 'Mrs.' finds it in 'Mr.'s' other pants!! Phewww what a stress in the morning. Then we're off. We say goodbye to Jason and the nice French people and off we go. Into the mountains. Via Tarnovo to Stara Zagora. We hope the roads are clear. On incredibly bad roads, we continue higher and higher into the mountains. There is a lot of fresh snow up here but luckily the roads are cleared. On the other side: fog, rain, thick gray clouds.... uuuggghhh... we just want to get to Greece. We stop in Kazanlak to do some shopping. The whole city presents itself in gray. Huge old monster high-rise buildings from the communist era. The sight matches the weather. We continue on terrible roads. The potholes are full of water and every time we drive over one, we squint our eyes... you can't estimate how deep they are at all. Due to the gray weather, it gets dark much earlier than expected. Damn damn damn!! Driving in the dark in Bulgaria is impossible. So we have to look for a place to stay for the night. Not so easy in the dark. Eventually, we capitulate and park in an industrial area... it will work out!!

But we sleep well and the next morning we set off in pouring rain for the final stage. Greece, here we come. On the last 50 km before the border, the sky finally clears up and we finally see what a dreamlike mountain area we are in. Majestic rocks line the road and a river winds along the road. Small mountain villages stand on the slopes... almost like in northern Italy. We see many minarets.. in almost every village. With good weather, this area must be incredibly beautiful. Then, in the middle of the mountains, we suddenly see the blue and white Greek flag in the sky... Hurray Hurray - we made it. Greece: here we are :)

Conclusion on Bulgaria: We can't really give a definitive judgment... we were only here for a short time. But if the weather had been better... I think we would have lasted a little longer. Jason showed us some nice places on the internet that would definitely be worth a visit. But with continuous snow and rain, you just want to escape. We only saw fragments of the landscape through the fog. The mountains were definitely incredibly beautiful. Bulgaria seems a bit "further" than Romania to us. We didn't see any horse-drawn carts or horses plowing fields here. The cities and industrial areas also seemed a bit more modern to us. We were also told by our campsite owner that every summer hundreds of tourists from all over the world come to him with tents and campers and no one has ever experienced anything "bad" in Bulgaria. Many of them also engage in wild camping.... maybe it's not as criminal as many say?? Now we are definitely standing at the gates of Greece and we are very happy to have reached our winter residence. After driving 20,000 km, we are looking forward to staying in one place for longer.