Um, we can't seem to move...

Day 61
3842 km
Balchik, Bulgaria

Nothing like a little sun and sea for rejuvenation! We are waterfront in a cute little resort-like town called Balchik, just north of Varna, Bulgaria. We passed through the border on Sept. 24, again with no troubles – even when Cindy and I were singing, Hit the Road, Jack while they checked our passports (we’d found a great radio station!). After the successful crossing, Cindy and I headed on in the van with big ambitions to find a campsite for the night.

For the past month or so, it has been quite difficult to camp, what with lack of open spaces, security and, well, official campgrounds, but our road map looked promising, showing us many tent logos along the sea. In a 100km stretch, the map showed at least four potentials – we were pretty confident that we’d find somewhere to laze for the evening.

Nope.

We drove the whole distance seeing no camping and ended up in the big city of Varna, where we had a tricky time finding an info centre, (by the way, KFC came through for us again when it offered a much needed toilet, refreshing juice and an info package!). Once we did find the info centre, the poor woman didn’t know much about camping…

We got back into the van and started back tracking to where the map showed tent sites. In all but one place, there was nothing but dirt and abandoned gas stations. The one place we did find was perfect. It had a security gate to get inside, actual tent sites, looked like showers and everything and - !

The men had already gone ahead and booked into a hotel.

After the initial shock wore off that we had spent five hours looking for dirt and the guys had given up and found a hotel 30kms up the road, we were excited to learn that the guys had generously left the last sea-facing room to us girls – nice!

Except reception thought the two cyclists who’d come in just before Cindy and I, were us and gave them the room…

Luckily, the horseshoe up Wally’s butt was working yet again, and he managed to get Cindy and I a room facing the sea – yes, we are spoiled – must be that Walter Charm!

Later, it was massages for Wally, Cindy, Lucas and I at a near-by hotel. The prices were surprisingly affordable. I had the wine detoxification massage, though was disappointed to learn that she didn’t pour wine all over me. But not as disappointed as Wally, when he also found that the chocolate body massage didn’t include real chocolate – in both cases, it was just yummy smelling cream. We licked Wally’s arms, just to be sure, though.

Last night, we had a gorgeous sunset float out on the sea in a boat for an hour. We’ve decided we like this place so much, we are staying another night!

FYI: our hotel here is only 50 lav (about $50) per night for two: so for a resort town, that is a killer deal, being right on the water. We have paid up to $100 night in really crapy hotels, or had to deal with 'the only hotel in town' prices. They sometimes see us coming a mile away. With our sponsored van and flash team jackets, we must look like we can afford more because in more than a few occasions, we have been quoted a price and when we've gone to pay the next day, the price has suddenly gone up and no one conveniently speaks english anymore.

So it is nice to find little gems like Balchik, Bulgaria!

Heather