Arrived in rainy Sofia late last night and took taxi to Sopot, usually a two-hour drive east. The roads here would be considered poor in Vietnam, which gives you an idea of how bad they are. Not far out of Sofia we were pulled over by the traffic police, who took our passports, the driver's documents and various unspecified lev notes. About 40 minutes and further bribes later we were on our way. No one had been doing anything wrong; it was simple, everyday, Bulgarian corruption.
Further on, we drove through a particularly bad pothole, shredding the tyre. Another delay to swap tyres. My travelling companion managed to cut her finger badly on a razor and bled constantly for the rest of the journey. It didn't help that she'd taken aspirin before the flight to thin her blood to prevent thrombosis. Got to Sopot at 2 am, four hours after we arrived in BG. Too tired to do anything more than laugh weakly at our misfortune and collapse into bed.
The food is ludicrously cheap here. We "ate out" in a charmingly smoky cafe - I think it's against the law not to smoke here - for approximately four pounds* for five people. Chicken noodle soup, two glasses of wine, two chocolate pancakes, two mineral waters, two large tomato and cucumber salads and two large pieces of cheese on toast. There's barely no point in eating in.
kartofi = potatoes
*No pound sign on this BG keyboard.
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