Hillbilly travels: Sofia, Bulgaria

Tues 29th – Wed 30th July

“Camping? This is Bulgaria! There is no camping in Bulgaria!”

-- Policeman's response when we asked for directions

Lonely Planet had warned us that camp sites in Bulgaria were few and far between and often very run down and scoady. But we were pouring through the cash and frankly really missed camping. Our friends, Adam and Davina had visited Sofia two years ago and through multiple texts to Australia, we had general directions of how to find the only camp site for 100 kilometres.

Adam... your gift from our trip will be a bloody compass!

I shouldn't give them a hard time, because chances are we'll be texting Adam and Davina for more help over the next few weeks. Thanks guys for your help, but there was one key word which threw us off – WEST. First we thought we'd missed the intersection and tried to turn around but ended up in road works hell for nearly an hour trying to get back to the outskirts of the city. A very, very long 2 hours later we had driven literally ½ of the town and Bevan's patience had run its course. Traffic, dusty roads, maniac drivers and potholes large enough to drive the front of the van into had taken their toll and he was no longer responsive to anything other than the words, “I think that's a hotel ahead. We can stop there!”

View of the massive pot holes on Sofia's ring road

As we pulled into the car park, my heart sank as the massive landscaped gardens and enormous villas tucked behind the large casino came into view. There was no way we'd be able to afford this hotel, which meant another gruelling trip further up the ring road.

Only €57 per night for 4-star accommodation! Normally Bevan waits in the van while I run to reception to ask our list of questions and get a price for the night, but there was no need to confer. I walked out holding a key, a smile on my face and the relief in Bevan's eyes nearly poured out in tears.

That night we sat on comfy white lounge chairs next to the pool with cascading waterfalls, drinking ½ litres of beer for €1.50 and I secretly hoped that the van would break down again.

Fountain in Sofia's city park

But our transport adventure wasn't over yet. There was no way in hell Bevan was going to drive back into town, so the next morning we started walking to the bus stop. Either we missed the bus stop, or this part of the world has some very serious depth perception issues. Once again, a promised 500 metre walk turned into over 5km. We were on the bus for literally 7-8 minutes before it terminated well outside the range of our Lonely Planet map and we were on foot once again. After 1.5 hours of walking (yes – I actually do time these things!) we finally stumbled across Sofia's greatest pride – the Cathedral.

Watch out! Even the sidewalk has pot holes!

Now we've seen a lot of cathedrals on this trip and frankly I was starting to tire of them. It's unfortunate when you've been travelling so long that some of the most majestic churches in Europe just all start to look the same but it's a classic backpacking complaint. Sofia's cathedral will stand out in my memory because it was not only amazing, but it was so different from anything we'd seen in Western Europe. This cathedral summed up the reason why we'd driven so far to see Eastern Europe.