Chillaxing in Bulgaria

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Geo: 43.0859, 25.6362

After gleefully waving goodbye to Romania, we were on the road to Bulgaria. It did not seem like that much of a drive (it was 5 hours, but that is a little toddle down the road in our heads now!!!!!) until we arrived at the town of Veliko Turnovo. We had 3 hours to kill here, to change some monies, have lunch and see if we could find an ancient hill fort. It was not pleasant weather and therefore we were dodging in and out of the shops, all of which were a little dingy, but had some awesome yet overpriced junk in them.

The choice of where to go for lunch was the biggest discussion of the trip, as there were about 14 of us in the stealth tourism party that day. Eventually we agreed on a little cafe as it had great cakes and toasties on the menu. When we walked in, it opened out into a stunning little place, with a veranda and conservatory overlooking the valley. unbeknown to us, the road was perched on what can only be described as a cliff face. We gladfully sat in the conservatory as the weather was still howling. I could not decide what I wanted to eat, so settled on a selection platter of mini toasties.... all I can say on that matter is ... blooming fantastic choice! The fort was then the last priority for now, we walked through the town to the other end (a little tentatively as the lady in the shop had said it was 3km away) After diving down a few of the back streets to see if we could find it, we saw it from the corner of the road, it was blooming humongous. Must have been quite a sight when it was in its full glory!

Once Adam had successfully managed to negotiate the low slung branches in the car park, we were off to Nick and Nikki's campsite. An English couple who had moved out to Bulgaria as they loved the way of life, opened a campsite on a blank canvas bit of land and are now happier than they have ever been. They specialise in overlanders and so were not shocked by the beast turning up. Infact they greeted us like old friends. Needless to say, as soon as the tents were up, we were all sat in the bar! They sold cider..... News to Emily and my ears.... pear cider at that! It was very welcome as we sat around discussing what we would name the truck.... we felt it deserved a name! The winning vote ironically fell to Adam anyway. Ozzy Kuzoot (anagram of UK to Oz) is the name of the big orange beast now! Being on cook duty that night, meant that the cider drinking had to be suspended for a few hours (although cooking with red wine, meant that a glass or two of that was consumed in the cooking process 😊 ) We had an awesome meal, involving the meat out of sausages, wine, tomato, herbs and pasta! It was then back to the bar, once the truck had been tidied for more cider and a little game of Jenga (which def got more interesting the longer the cider drinking went on!) That night the weather was howling, even by welsh standards.... it was a case of bury my head in my sleeping bag, with bivi on top, in my tent and pray that the tent did not take off around me! Only one tent was casualty of the night, but it soon got repegged at 3am and all was well again.

The following day, was the first chilled day of doing nothing touristy that we have had up to date. It was sooooo good! I did my washing, washed me and my hair, wrote my journal and generally chatted all day. In the evening, we were entertained by the local choir, who were practising for their yearly competitions and we were their captivated! Glee they were not, however the elderly ladies put a hell of a lot of effort into it, and we gave them a huge cheer and round of applause at the end. In addition to this, they invited us to join in a dance with them. This was hilarious. Only a few of us were game to start with, but once the others realised it was not that complicated, the circle increased to encompass the majority of the gang.

It was a gorgeous campsite, with gorgeous people, but I do feel that it could have been anywhere in the UK really. Not sure you can count it as seeing Bulgaria, but I am not complaining, it was a welcomed 'sort life out' break, after so long bouncing from city to city!

Next stop Turkey!

I was on cook duty that night and so more cider would have to wait. We cooked an awesome meal,

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