Bulgaria
We visited Bulgaria in 2010 on route to Turkey so we were limited in what we could see in the limited time we had. It probably deserves a few weeks in its own right to get a good overview, although there are not many campsites here.
Rock churches and our own Italian Job.
Having crossed into Bulgaria we were enjoying the improvement in roads when we decided to take a side trip to Ivanovo to visit the rock churches. Having turned off the main road we decided that we had gone too far down a narrow road with no idea what was at the end of it and so tried to do a three-point turn. Part of this involved getting the back wheels onto a pavement, making sure that they did not fall off the back of the pavement where there was a steep drop to the river. Oops! Do you remember the end of the ‘Italian Job’ where the lorry is hanging over the edge of the cliff? It wasn’t quite as bad as that but we were well and truly stuck. Fortunately a family in a car pulled up to help – Dad, Mum, boy and English-speaking girl. They tried pushing while I wrestled for traction from the front wheels but we got nowhere, so we then unloaded the garage to lighten the rear making a human chain to empty the load onto the pavement. We then attached the towrope to the car and with Dad pulling, me revving and the rest of the family pushing we finally eased the beast back on to the road. Huge thanks to that family for getting us out of a major problem, they were so kind, they did not hesitate to stop and give us assistance and once we were sorted they got back into their car and continued on their way as if pushing motorhomes out of precarious situations was something they did every day.
And we are very glad that paid £35 quid for a 5-ton capacity towrope rather than the cheaper and weaker one. We also discovered that had we continued along the road we would have found somewhere to park.
As it was we retraced our steps, parked up and got the bikes out so we could visit the 13th century rock churches which were very interesting with some amazing rock paintings but the hanging over the edge situation did rather marr the visit.
And we are very glad that paid £35 quid for a 5-ton capacity towrope rather than the cheaper and weaker one. We also discovered that had we continued along the road we would have found somewhere to park.
As it was we retraced our steps, parked up and got the bikes out so we could visit the 13th century rock churches which were very interesting with some amazing rock paintings but the hanging over the edge situation did rather marr the visit.
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Veliko Turnovo
We went in Veliko Turnovo by taxi (the bunkhouse had the number for the friendly Dimitar), only 8 Lev (£4) for the 8km into town. At first we had trouble finding anything attractive, and all the banks were shut, but fortunately the exchange shops were still open and we eventually found the pretty bits and the exceptional Tsarevets Fortress, plus some nicely falling-down bits. We had lunch on the terrace at a restaurant called the Architects Club which provided an excellent view of an old church. We both had ‘traditional’ meals – a stew of pork, onions, mushrooms, wine, spices, egg and a chilli pepper for Gilroy and the same but with chicken and cheese instead of pork and egg for Sheila. And some chips. Very tasty and very filling, nicely washed down with ½ litre of beer. Sheila was chatted up by Rosa who owns a guest house nearby and was trying to tempt us in. We explained that we had a large motorhome but she insisted that we would be able to park it outside. We later walked down her street which was a motorhome drivers nightmare.
This town is very nice and well worth a visit, it also seemed to be popular with expats and there seemed to be a number of Brits who had set up home here.
This town is very nice and well worth a visit, it also seemed to be popular with expats and there seemed to be a number of Brits who had set up home here.
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Towards the end of our visit we sat and watched some traditional folk singing – locals in exotic costumes making a delightful noise, getting polite applause and receiving certificates from the MC. Not the sort of thing you see at home these days.
We phoned Dimitar again for a lift back – he was an entertainer on the Newcastle-Norway ferries for 20 years so speaks fair English. The pedometer tells us we did 4.6 miles today – but we don’t get any extra allowance for the fact that almost all of it was uphill.
We phoned Dimitar again for a lift back – he was an entertainer on the Newcastle-Norway ferries for 20 years so speaks fair English. The pedometer tells us we did 4.6 miles today – but we don’t get any extra allowance for the fact that almost all of it was uphill.
Trinity Rocks Camping
Trinity Rocks camping
We stayed at Trinity Rocks campsite just outside Veliko Turnovo, the site is nicely located by a river and in that sense was good for birdwatching but the site itself was a bit basic and the area for motorhomes was pretty rough ground. It seems that the main purpose is as a base for climbers but it appeared run down. We felt that a bit more investment/effort would have made it a more attractive place to stay. We were were the only motorhome parked there and were surprised to find that the man we thought was another guest was actually the owner - he never bothered to come across to welcome us (the site is Brit owned).
Wilola camping
Wilola
On our way from Veliko Turnovo towards the Black Sea we stayed at Camping ‘Wilola’ in a small village called Barzitsa (near Provadia) which is run by a British couple (William and Nicola, hence the name). A rather narrow entrance for our big beast, but a decent gravel patch and good facilities, and Nicola was a mine of information, particularly with regard to the best roads to use when going back to the Channel ports.She had made her own signs (Roman script not cyrillic) for her village so that we were able to find our way to her site without difficulty.
We moved on the following morning and en route we gave three Bulgarian hitchhikers a lift – they were moving between music festivals.We passed a number of Black Sea resorts and noted a lot of part finished apartment blocks.
You can find Wilola on the internet and it is also an affiliated site with Camping Cheques.
We moved on the following morning and en route we gave three Bulgarian hitchhikers a lift – they were moving between music festivals.We passed a number of Black Sea resorts and noted a lot of part finished apartment blocks.
You can find Wilola on the internet and it is also an affiliated site with Camping Cheques.
Nessebar
Nesebar is an amazing place – a tiny island in the Black Sea connected to the mainland by a causeway but thick with the ruins of old churches. There were 80 of them at one time, some dating back to the 5th century, and all in a similar local style. It is now mainly a tourist resort, with dozens of restaurants, gift shops, antique stalls etc. We took a chance at ‘The Old Anchor’ - a real tourist restaurant and which was a bit pricey by local standards, but provided an excellent set of lamb chops for Gilroy and a huge skewer of very tasty chicken for Sheila. Plus a couple of large beers and it was not far short of £25 but this is the rip-off end of Bulgaria and it was good - indeed the chicken shish was the benchmark for chicken shish in Turkey and it was never beaten.
We parked in a large carpark at the port but had to sit in the motorhome for a few hours while it thrashed down but once it cleared we took a short stroll around town – you can’t take a long stroll because the place is too small. We did find an orthadox church and popped in to admire the extravagent decoration which covered every surface. No photographs were allowed but I did take some surreptitious video, the results of which are below.
Campistes suitable for motorhomes are something of a rarity around here and so we overnighted in this carpark (24 hour parking allowed) before moving on to Turkey the following day. We think that there are campsites for locals in this area but they only open in the peak season and are geared up for tents/wooden cabins in the eastern/central european style.
We parked in a large carpark at the port but had to sit in the motorhome for a few hours while it thrashed down but once it cleared we took a short stroll around town – you can’t take a long stroll because the place is too small. We did find an orthadox church and popped in to admire the extravagent decoration which covered every surface. No photographs were allowed but I did take some surreptitious video, the results of which are below.
Campistes suitable for motorhomes are something of a rarity around here and so we overnighted in this carpark (24 hour parking allowed) before moving on to Turkey the following day. We think that there are campsites for locals in this area but they only open in the peak season and are geared up for tents/wooden cabins in the eastern/central european style.
Rila Monastery
On our return trip we found the border crossing into Bulgaria from Romania was fine, we had to buy €5 vignette for a week’s worth of driving and then we headed for Zodiak Camping near the Rila Monastery 4,000 feet up in the Rila Mountains. It is wonderfully cool here (Gilroy had to wear a fleece one morning ) with the birds and the roaring river priding a gentle background. The site has a wonderful location in a fairly narrow wooded valley (but we managed to get Astra 2 after shifting the motorhome to a better position) and OK facilities – combined toilets/showers with bog paper and hot water, a bar (where we drank beer while watching Spain getting beaten by Switzerland in the World Cup ) and firm grass/gravel area to park.
Early this morning we cycled down to the Rila Monastery which is a wonderful piece of architecture with a stunning interior to the Orthodox Church – rather dim but lots of gilt and murals covering every surface. Unfortunately no photos allowed inside but we stood and listened to the priests singing the prayers and watched some of the faithful kissing icons (and a coffin, which may have contained the ‘uncorrupted’ remains of St. John who founded the place in the 10th century), genuflecting copiously and generally having a spiritually good time. Sheila spotted people buying icons which they then pressed against the glass case of what looked like a very old book. Perhaps the magic rubs off. Our guide book suggests that this is the Jerusalem of Bulgaria which may account for the enthusiasm.
The murals on the outside of the church were excellent, and the scenes of devils driving the sinful into hell were a salutary reminder to behave yourself.
I am not sure why I continue to be surprised by the fact that the Priests and Nuns are often so young.
We stopped at one of the cafes near the monastery to have a coffee and a parlenka and cheese as a late breakfast – this was like a round naan with melted cheese accompanied by some spices that seemed to have a bit of curry in there. It was very nice and cost €1.
The Monastery kitchen was closed for repairs, and - we think – the ethnographic museum, so our visit was fairly brief and we were back at the motorhome before lunch.
We returned to the bar in the late afternoon to catch the Nigeria v. Greece game and cheered for Nigeria.
Early this morning we cycled down to the Rila Monastery which is a wonderful piece of architecture with a stunning interior to the Orthodox Church – rather dim but lots of gilt and murals covering every surface. Unfortunately no photos allowed inside but we stood and listened to the priests singing the prayers and watched some of the faithful kissing icons (and a coffin, which may have contained the ‘uncorrupted’ remains of St. John who founded the place in the 10th century), genuflecting copiously and generally having a spiritually good time. Sheila spotted people buying icons which they then pressed against the glass case of what looked like a very old book. Perhaps the magic rubs off. Our guide book suggests that this is the Jerusalem of Bulgaria which may account for the enthusiasm.
The murals on the outside of the church were excellent, and the scenes of devils driving the sinful into hell were a salutary reminder to behave yourself.
I am not sure why I continue to be surprised by the fact that the Priests and Nuns are often so young.
We stopped at one of the cafes near the monastery to have a coffee and a parlenka and cheese as a late breakfast – this was like a round naan with melted cheese accompanied by some spices that seemed to have a bit of curry in there. It was very nice and cost €1.
The Monastery kitchen was closed for repairs, and - we think – the ethnographic museum, so our visit was fairly brief and we were back at the motorhome before lunch.
We returned to the bar in the late afternoon to catch the Nigeria v. Greece game and cheered for Nigeria.
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The map on the right gives you the location of Rila Monastery. You can click on the map to get a closer look at the precise location.
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being herded into Hell
 nuns & monks |
 Zodiak Camping |
Belogradcik
Belogradchik on a misty day
On our way back from Turkey we left Rila during early-morning rain and after the Sofia ring road (single-lane, very slow) took the short cut via a very up-and-down, fairly battered road up to the Petrohan Pass at 4,000 feet, then down the other side through occasionally thick cloud/fog to Montana and thence to Belogradcik. We parked in town and then walked up to the Roman castle (4 Lev, about €2 each) which had been built around some fine rock formations. Unfortunately the cloud was still very low so visibility was rather limited although by the time we left the next day the cloud was even lower and there were no rocks to be seen.
We overnighted at Camping Madonna - not much of a campsite for motorhomes so we parked on the car park in front of the owners house. It was however a convenient overnighting spot on our way towards Hungary.
We overnighted at Camping Madonna - not much of a campsite for motorhomes so we parked on the car park in front of the owners house. It was however a convenient overnighting spot on our way towards Hungary.
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Entering Bulgaria from Romania
crossing the Danube
Bridges crossing the Danube between Romania and Bulgaria are few and far between and so being in north west corner of Bulgaria we headed for the ferry across the Danube at Vidin where we experienced some old-fashioned daylight robbery: €52 for the 20 minute ferry crossing to Romania (you can get a return ticket across the channel for about the same), then €10 ‘administration charge’ when we disembarked, then – 100 metres later – another €5 fee for something or other. Nicely matches the €12.50 ‘bridge tax’ which we paid to get out of Romania. Bastards.
There is a bridge being constructed here but a) it looks as though completion is a long way off and b) there will be a doubtless be a "bridge tax" and c) any bridge tax will be exhorbitant.
It was not as if it was a decent ferry, larger vehicles were in danger of bottoming out as they left the harbour and loaded on to the ferry and you can see from the photo above the crew had their smalls out to dry just above the spare oil drums of fuel.
There is a bridge being constructed here but a) it looks as though completion is a long way off and b) there will be a doubtless be a "bridge tax" and c) any bridge tax will be exhorbitant.
It was not as if it was a decent ferry, larger vehicles were in danger of bottoming out as they left the harbour and loaded on to the ferry and you can see from the photo above the crew had their smalls out to dry just above the spare oil drums of fuel.
Music on this page is a track from Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares
