I had comfortably driven from Rila National Park to Sofia. I got a lounge chair from Decathlon and an adapter from Technopolis. Sofia at the foot of Vitosha is a hypermodern suburb. Seriously did not expect this.
On my way towards the airport, Sofia with its 1.4 million inhabitants is a mix of modern skyscrapers, communist apartment blocks and state buildings, archaeological sites as well as rural suburbs. I picked Uta up at the airport. She would accompany me to Bucharest and wanted to see like me the eastern part of Europe
After a relaxed dinner we rolled into Vrana CamperStop <not to be confused with Vrana Camping>. Boris, the owner, keeps the simple, functional camp clean and in good shape. At the weekend the 505 bus goes straight into Sofia… in about 20 minutes
We had the luxury of having Jivko guide us through Sofia. Jivko is Bulgarian and lives in Sofia. Can it be better? We spent a great day with him and his family.
Sofia was so quiet that Saturday morning, empty downtown parking lots and space in the cafes. Weather was good <25 degrees> and we got introduced to this broad range of architecture, culture and history. Where Greeks rip off €6 to €12 for an archaeological site, Bulgarians have integrated this for free into the metro entrance area.
Besides cathedrals there are hidden churches, mosques and synagogues. And between everything the government district.
The pedestrian zone in the afternoon was a bit more busy, but still fine for me. You can go out for a stylish meal for little money. There are parks to relax in, Borisova Gradina Park or the park at the National Palace of Culture Park.
But since we wanted to see more of Bulgaria we went on to Koprivshtitsa. A bit touristy, but a really beautiful mountain village with colorful houses.
And then should have come the highlight of the day, the Rose Valley and Kazanluk. Kazanluk was on our route, otherwise I would have been frustrated. Yes, you see fields of roses on the way, see roses in Kazanluk. But let me put it this way, you see just as many fields or trees on the track and Kazanluk has zero charm. At least we got cheap fuel.
On the other hand, we liked the Saint Nicholas Peak <Monument of Freedom> on the way to Veliko Tarnovo and the view of the Buzludzha Monument was good.
At the camp at the Kapinovo monastery we relaxed and went for a walk for the next few days. The monastery of "St Nicholas" is a small retreat and gives sanctuary to people who have nothing left.
Veliko Tarnavo has an impressive fortress and a busier old town. But the real highlight of the day was on the way to the Blue Stones Nature Park, Zharavna.
Koprivshtitsa was nice, Zheravna was exceptional. Where Koprivshtitsa was set up for tourism, Zharavna offered us pure Bulgaria.
Above Sliven, in the Blue Stones Nature Park, we spent the evening at 1'100m for our hike the next day.
What started in the morning with sunshine and blue skies changed to light rain around noon and later a thunderstorm on the way out of the mountains.
The area on the way to Varna was rural, characterized by large fields and forests. The places are "functional" and simple.
And then came Varna. We saw the first slum in 9 weeks in Varna, right in the industrial area, on the access road. As there is little to no camp site and it was late in the day we stayed at Laguna Camp. I would say that was the only camp so far that I would not go to again. Well located, nice restaurant <prices like in a tourist hotspot> but some of the sanitary facilities were of low quality, inferior!
The trip to the Romanian border brought us to a totally different landscape. Huge fields, few villages and a border crossing at Kardam, which was a little different. Was the first EU-EU border crossing, but the trucks lined up for kilometers on the Bulgarian side
