After the ANZAC day tour we jumped on a 19 day Top Deck (like Contiki but better) camping trip through eastern europe - destination: London.
First stop was Bulgaria....back in time to the 1960's at least. The most stunning change was the difference in the roads. On the Turkey side of the border there was a 6 lane motorway, go through the border (took about an hour) and you have a dicky two lane track (barely sealed) leading into Bulgaria.
You can't get much further east than here and stay in europe...so things are a little different. The most amazing thing is that bulgarians shake there head for yes, and nod for no. Try ordering you're tenth drink while saying 'da' and shaking your head!! Doesn't really matter when you're paying about 2 lei (about 80c) for a pint. Ended up having a huge night out for less than 15 Euro...so if you want a cheap country to drink in...go to Bulgaria.
Sofia is an interesting town. The centre of the city is quite nice but the outskirts are pretty grungy. You'll see an apartment block with a field right next to it, then a car yard, another
field and a school. Then there's the old nuclear power station in the middle of the city.
The Bulgarian Currency is the lei, and as no one really likes bulgaria it's almost impossible to change the money back to Euro's or whatever. So don't make the mistake I did and get too much money out...for a couple of days about 20 Euros will be enough, including beers, dinner and taxi fares. Everyone tries to rip you off though, they're not quite ready for tourism just yet, but they're getting there and i'd like to go back at some stage, even if only for the cheap beer!!
Bulgaria's Flag
Map of Bulgaria