Blogs from Burgas Province, Bulgaria, Europe

7th to 9thJune Batak The campsite is on the shore of Lake Batak (really a reservoir) and about 10 kms from the town of Batak. We arrived to pouring rain and thunderstorms. Apparently it hasn’t stopped raining for three weeks which is unusual for this time of year so we are told. The first evening it seemed to dry up around six. At one end of the lake was a rainbow whilst at the other end, we watched dense cloud gather and gradually creep over the surface of the water to engulf us in a white mist. The following day was just as wet so we stayed in and the day after that we left. 10th June to 12th June Sakar Hills, Biser The campsite is in the south east of Bulgaria close to the borders ... read more

Abfahrt von Istanbul: Ich reise jetzt mit zwei Männern. Sie sind von Singapur nach Istanbul gefahren und wollen am 9.6. in Kopenhagen sein. Es sind zwei Chirurgen, die in Asien die von Brustkrebs steigern wollen. Sie sprechen unterwegs mit Betroffenen, interviewen sie, sammeln auch Geld durch ihre Fahrt. Jetzt waren sie jedenfalls in Istanbul. Ich kam in die Garage vom Armada, da stand schon ein MR. Komisches Nummernschild - schwarze Buchstaben auf schwarzem Grund. Als gleich darauf Michael, der Besitzer kam, fragte ich ihn, wo er denn her sei - Singapur. Und dann sprachen wir kurz über seine/meine Weiterreise, stellten fest, dass wir beide nach Bulgarien und Rumänien wollen, er schlug vor, dass wir uns zum Abendessen träfen - dort traf ich den zweiten Mitfahrer, Philip, ein Chinese. Er ist in Exeter aufgewachsen - solche Zufälle! ... read more

Nessebur, Bulgaria Nessebur is a nice little port city that thrives on the tourist trade almost exclusively. The old part of town is billed at the Dubrovnik of the Black Sea. I have never been to Dubrovnik but I doubt the comparison is accurate. While Nessebur has beautiful beaches and interesting ruins dating back a couple thousand years, it mainly sports souvenir shops and cafes. After a leisurely stroll around the narrow cobble stone streets I spent time over strong coffee at a seaside café with friends from the ship. Then I heard music and wandered off to find a wonderful exhibition of local dancers and musicians in the center of a partially excavated ancient theater. The music and dancers in native garb was superb. My favorite image of the performance is of a ... read more

After yesterdays sights at the beach we wanted something a bit more historical to look at and with the weather starting out fine and sunny we planned a walk through to the old town which is over a short causeway and about 3 kilometres away.We haven't had a decent walk for a couple of days so a good stride out will do us good. Again we weren't in too much hurry today and dallied around over breakfast taking our time. This little plan didn't work out that well for us because by the time we got on our way after 11am the sky to the west looked threatening and by the time we got about two thirds of the way to the causeway large spots of rain started to fall and there was rumbling of thunder ... read more

We awoke to a nice sunny morning which should make the drive further east today that much more enjoyable.We have had some rain on the last 2 days that we have travelled between towns on and it does limit the sightseeing and scenery. With a filling BBA breakfast inside us we topped up with diesel and headed out of Plovdiv looking for the A1 that would carry us east to the Black Sea and three nights in an apartment in Nesebur. We knew the A1 was north of the city and the GPS took us in that direction but as we saw the signs for the A1 we could not see Nesebur on any of them.Thinking that perhaps the system wasn't fully up to date with the highway we thought best and diverted onto what we ... read more