Middle-aged flash packers

Felt very groggy today after a bit of a restless night. I really don’t enjoy the Turkish way of sleeping under a scratchy blanket rather than a sheet. It was clean though, better than a grotty towel aka an experience had in Thailand.

The roads were much quieter today and we made very good time to the Bulgarian border. I had mentally planned a nice afternoon in Veliko Tărnovo taking in the sights after a nice cold beer.

Hmmm. The Turkish border officials had other plans.

We were sent to have our car x-rayed. Really? Obviously our middle-aged flash packer image didn’t wash with Turkish border control. We were suspected drug mules, packing the innards of our car with heroin and goodness knows what else. What a pain in the butt.

First of all we didn’t understand the directions and ended up in a queue going back in to Turkey. We then had to turn round, causing a queue of at least 5 cars having to reverse back to let us out.

Eventually arriving at the X-ray machine, we unpacked the contents of the boot. Yes, we carry an embarrassing amount of stuff with us, causing the customs guy to exclaim “oh my God” as we laboriously removed every item from the car. Luckily it had the effect of totally putting him off searching through everything.

After the X-ray confirmed we were just ordinary middle aged people who had not been led astray by their local drug barons, we were allowed to cross into Bulgarian territory. Great – only one man on passport duty while around 20 other officials posed and postured around doing absolutely nothing. 1 and a half hours later, we arrived in Bulgaria. After suppressing the desire to punch every lazy border policeman in the face, we eventually made it to a petrol station where, joy of joys, there were sandwiches in sealed packs. Yum.

The rest of the drive went well apart from Garmin having a complete breakdown when we drove along a new motorway it was unaware of. It only felt 90 percent poor thing which meant we had no idea where we were going. Luckily, the map came in handy even though it was a very tiny one, as according to our European map book, Bulgaria is not in Europe.

We headed into the hills, passing a huge and very beautiful lake. Bulgaria is officially picturesque. We found the driving standards good (well anything is after Turkey) and didn’t feel threatened in anyway. Nils from Dalaman put the fear of God into us after relating his experiences of driving through Bulgaria a few years ago. Maybe we were lucky but I didn’t feel unsafe – not like Albania!

At 4.30, we eventually arrived at our extraordinarily good value hotel Arena Tarnovo – 36 euros for room, dinner and breakfast. Can you believe it! We even got a beer each thrown in! The room is lovely too. Unbelievable.

A bit fraught and fractious from our long drive, we showered, had a drink and then set out to explore the delights of Veliko Tornivo. And very nice it is too. Once the capital of Bulgaria, it’s full of old, Ottoman style buildings and has a wonderful fortress. The shops are lovely, full of lady stuff – nice clothes and rose beauty products. Actually, this is lady town. Hardly any men wandering about, but full of slim, well groomed, beautifully dressed women. It’s possible a few are on the game but most seemed to have proper jobs. I like it.

Tomorrow we drive to Brasov in Romania. We’re planning to stay a few days there which I’m looking forward to as continuous driving is not fun.