Leaving Greece we head into Bulgaria

After over five weeks in Greece we head north and cross into Bulgaria. Having never been to this country we didn't really know what to expect, we hoped their roads were less pot-holed and chaotic than Greece and we weren't too disappointed, the main roads were in better condition and the drivers a bit less crazy, but venture off the main roads and many of the side roads were in a terrible state and the van was shaken to bits in all the holes and broken surfaces!

Our first stop was at Rupite where we parked on a grassy area next to another thermal pool, which turned out to be a very interesting place to stop as it was only 1 km from the remains of the ancient city of Heracles Sinitica, built almost two thousand years ago by Philip II (who's Royal tomb we visited in Greece) and once ruled by his son Alexander the Great. We were also right by a park area with a Church, cottage and gardens of a great lady called Vanga who was famous for her prophesies and healing powers. 

We stayed for 2 nights to make the most of the natural Spa with its lovely warm water and green clay for a mud face mask as well as visiting the ruins and Vanga's garden. As you walked to the public area there were market stalls selling local produce - honey, jams, olive oil etc but we didn't have any Bulgarian Lev yet so couldn't buy anything. I had wondered what to do about cash in all the different countries we planned to visit out of the Eurozone, but found the solution- using my pre-loaded cash card (loaded in GBP) we took about £50 worth of cash out from the ATM, that provided a kitty for smaller purchases in the country, larger purchases like in the supermarket or in a restaurant we used the credit card. When we left, any currency we had we used to buy diesel in a garage before we crossed the border. This worked really well for Bulgaria and later Romania and Hungary.

National theatre Sofia

From  Rupite we headed to a Camperstop in Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria. The two guys who ran the site couldn't have been more helpful, they even lent us money to pay for a taxi into town where we could get some cash. We had a wonderful day doing the tourist thing wandering around this vibrant city with a whole mix of modern and ancient buildings. We had a huge rainstorm in the afternoon but luckily we missed it! We were having a very nice lunch in a typical Bulgarian restaurant. After a delicious salad starter, the main course we shared was a loaf of bread scooped out and filled with a whole variety of spicy sausages and meatballs. This was followed by a scrumptious desert, after that we were as stuffed as that loaf of bread!
The next day, leaving the Camperstop and our new friends Bobby and George we headed to Romania spending our last night by a quiet lake not too far from the border. It was so tranquil..... but for the constant buzz of all the insects (especially the mosquitoes) needless to say at dusk we stayed in the comfort of our van and admired the view from there!

Lunch Bulgarian style!