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Well, this was an interesting few days...
We left Plovdiv intending to head to Macedonia, via Sofia as there is no direct bus. Which meant getting up at 4.30 to get to the bus station to make the early bus so we could connect early in Sofia, which we did. And we quietly congratulated ourselves on making the connections with no issues and having things go so smoothly.
Just before the Macedonian border however, reading the ever referred to Lonely Planet, we discovered that while Tania and I, as Kiwis, didn't need visas to get into Macedonia (which we'd carefully checked beforehand) Emma J, who is Australian, actually did require one. In advance. Unfortunately she had not checked, and therefore had no required visa to obtain entry into Macedonia.
At the Macedonian border the border police made it quite clear that while Tania and I were fine to go through, Emma J was most certainly not. To the glee of a very annoying young Macedonian man on the bus who was playing the I-told-you-so, you-don't-know-how-Macedonia-works game with us. Grrrr. Luckily for us there was another Macedonian gentleman who had lived in Australia for some years and was very
helpful in translating and suggesting what to do next. Thanks Paul!
So, we were firmly ushered off the bus, Emma J having to sign a four page document to say she was refused entry into the country. Trekked back through no-mans-land to the Bulgarian border again, and asked very nicely to be let back into the country. Luckily they are happier to have Australians arrive unannounced there than Macedonia is. We then walked down the road to find a taxi to get to the nearest town to get a bus to Sofia to get a bus to Veliko Tarnovo... it sounds like the house that Jack built, and it felt like that too! We finally found a hostel in VT about 9.30 pm. Long long day.
However, Hostel Mostel in VT is highly recommended, if you are ever going there! Our intention was to stay two days, but we stayed three, just relaxing, catching up on internet, wandering round the town, eating good pizza and watching the locals.
We met three blokes (two Kiwis and an Aussie) who had bought a Toyota Hilux ute in Australia, shipped it across to Asia and driven across land through India,
Iran, and all those countries in between to Eastern Europe en route to London. Very interesting way of travelling! We had a great night going out for a few drinks with them and another Aussie, and then we went into a Bulgarian nightclub recommended by some local lads. It appears the type of entertainment is quite different there. A cool looking club, though the dance floor was mostly vacant despite the music, but we soon found out why... A group of five young ladies trooped onto it dressed in costume and 'danced' a piece with a (kind of) storyline, proceeding to remove garments as they went, ending up in small hot pants and bikini tops. Luckily they stopped there! Once the song had finished there was a short opportunity for a bit of a boogie, but then the floor cleared again for their next piece.. This happened a good number of times, even pulling in the boys to help out with some of the entertainment, which they though was great, and so did we, though for a different reason - they provided a great laugh! And this was not a strip club, before the cynics start in, but a club
that provides entertainment for the customers. There was a relatively even balance of guys and girls just out drinking and clubbing together. However, us three girls were certainly wearing far too many clothes to fit in with the local girls, they don't leave a lot to the imagination! With big hair and big heels too... We spend hours drinking and laughing and laughing and laughing, it was very much the funniest night out for quite some time. I don't have photos unfortunately as I didn't take my camera, but the others have some which I'll try to source for your amusement.
Veliko Tarnovo does have more than odd nightclubs though, it's very pretty, built on a large extensive series of hills leading down to a stream, with a fortress at the head of the old town. We had great ice cream there too... seems this is a common treat in Eastern Europe, which I am quite happy about!
The local thing to do seems to hang out in the park, particularly for grandparents and grandchildren. Another thing we noticed was the high number of what we think are death notices stuck up on walls. It seems that when
someone dies you have fliers printed and stuck up around the town - an interesting way to let people know?
But all in all a nice peaceful, picturesque place to spend a few days, and a nice way to remember Bulgaria.
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