Burgas - Varna

On the night of Friday, May 3, 2019, we can finally board the train to the Black Sea coast at around one thirty. The wagon is quite cold, so I have to use Rango's blanket, just like I did in the waiting room in Kalofer. The compartment offers enough space to lie down comfortably for a few hours. We get off in Karnobat at about 4:40 am and wait for the connection to Burgas, which arrives on the platform 10 minutes later. The heating works here and I can warm up again until Burgas. We reach the port city at half past five and I doze off for a while in the waiting area of the train station. It is then time to find a little breakfast at eight. I find a small bakery and enjoy the pastries I got with a cup of coffee on a sunny park bench nearby. Then I go to the waterfront with Rango, stay there for a while, and then look for a shady park to seek shelter from the sun. It is now early afternoon and I start making my way to the ferry terminal. I ask my way to the West Harbor and finally end up in the right office. The company only operates one ship, and unfortunately, the latest variant of it does not have space for dogs. So I would have to buy a whole cabin, but there are no more available on the next trip. They let me know that dog owners usually leave their pets in their car or motorhome during the crossing. I don't have one at hand right now. So I go back to Rango for now, as I want to spend a night on the beach anyway and still have to find a suitable spot. I quickly find one and first set up a sun-protected spot for the big guy before I lie down next to my four-legged companion to doze off. The Balkan trip still weighs on us. After cooling off in the Black Sea, I have another idea regarding the ferry ride. So I go back to the West Harbor and speak up again. They are not thrilled about the idea of setting up my tent in a car parking space and parking the big guy in it, after all, the ferry is not a campsite! Ah, learned something new again. So I can't go directly from Burgas to Georgia for now. It slowly dawns on me that I may have to go back to Odessa again to arrange a ferry ride. Until then, there is still one possibility, namely Varna. We'll see. On the way back to Rango, I stroll through the small town again, which is very charming with its many small two- to three-story houses and the alleyways in between. The surprisingly clear sea and the sandy beach are of course great. Along the way, I can still get something to eat for the big guy and myself before we end the evening on the beach.

On Saturday morning, I can sleep undisturbed in my tent, so I can sleep in a bit. In the morning, I take a walk around Burgas before I dismantle my tent and go to the train station with the big guy. In the early afternoon, I can take the train to Varna via Karnobat. We reach the port city in the early evening and go directly to the beach after a little shopping. There, I set up the tent as darkness falls, have dinner, and retreat to my bunk.

On Sunday (May 5, 2019), I am already up at eight because some dog walkers who approach our tent at regular intervals prevent me from sleeping any longer. So I organize a coffee for breakfast at the nearby harbor and use WiFi to read, browse, and upload pictures. Then I somewhat adjust our tent to the increasing wind and subsequently search for information about a ferry connection to Georgia. No one really knows at the harbor or elsewhere, but I can at least scout out the name of the company and find their website. The next planned ferry ride from Varna to Poti is on May 28. That is much too late for me. So due to a lack of alternatives, I decide to go to Odessa the next morning. Until then, I stroll through Varna a bit more with the big guy until it starts to get cloudy in the evening and we hide under the tarpaulin before the approaching thunderstorm.