Day 25
Driving to Sozopol
Friday, September 13, 2024
Dobŭr den,
Today was a long day of driving. Our journey started in Pitești in Romania and ended at Sozopol in Bulgaria. Along the way we had to cross the Danube River (the same river that runs through Budapest) that forms much of the border between Romania and Bulgaria.
The distance, from one hotel to another, was 444 kilometres. But the expected driving time was six and a half hours! Ultimately, it probably took us closer to eight hours, as we had breaks for food, bathroom and fatigue.
A piece of homework we had to do before we left was to buy a vignette for Bulgaria. Bulgaria does not have toll roads, but every vehicle is required to have a vignette. In our previous adventures, this was a sticker on the windscreen. It was a physical sticker that could be purchased at a petrol station or a local authority. Now they are electronic. Roadside cameras read your license plate and check to make sure you have a vignette associated with your car's registration number. Buying a vignette online was only €16.55 for one month.
The drive was uneventful. We started well, driving on the excellent motorway from Pitești to Bucharest. But that didn't last long, as we had to turn off the motorway to head South to the border. The Danube River is the border between the two countries. We crossed the Freedom Bridge which took ages, because so many trucks were waiting to cross. On top of that, only one lane of the bridge was open, as the bridge was undergoing repairs.
We’re a bit nervous about crossing from Romania to Bulgaria. We’ve not gone through a border crossing by road before. While Romania and Bulgaria are technically part of the Schengen zone, they haven’t fully integrated yet. Bulgaria and Romania are only partially integrated into the Schengen area. From April 2024 air and sea internal border controls were eliminated. Removal of checks at internal land borders is still pending.
We witnessed the power of a New Zealand passport. The border people took one look at our New Zealand passports and just stamped them. They were more concerned about the Helga’s paperwork being correct. (Helga is our VW Golf rental car). We had to present her registration and insurance papers, then we had to take them to a different counter to get them checked again.
It was an intimidating process to go through. There was a huge queue of trucks lined up. Presumably they have lots of paperwork to present relating to the goods they are transporting. So we had to drive past all the hulking trucks. Then when we reached the office we struggled a wee bit to work out which queue we needed to be in. Unlike at an airport, there is no one to guide you. Of course, everyone else look like they know what to do.
Other than that it was a pretty uneventful drive. We just tried to follow what everyone else was doing and managed to stay out of trouble.
Our hotel at Sozopol, Hotel Cristiani, is lovely, and the hosts are very generous and customer focused. We are here to enjoy a few days at the beach and swim in the Black Sea.
A short update today. More to come tomorrow.
Love to you all from Grandma & Koro & Buzzy Bee.