Stage 1 - from Istanbul to Bulgaria

We left Istanbul at 7am to avoid the traffic, on the first leg of our journey to Ukraine with a 4-wheel drive Volvo from the UK, named Lizzy Resurgent - we're not quite sure why - that will, in a few days, be a valuable resource in the fight against the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The journey started with Bob having to make a seeming impossible exit from a very small car parking space.
After that, once we got out of the city, it was easy driving for a couple of hours and then a 15-minute border crossing, with the friendliest possible Turkish border guard, who gave us each a sweet once he had checked our passport. He said that he had lived for 4 years in the UK, which was OK apart from the racism he experienced. It made us feel both sad and ashamed, thinking of the friendly welcomes that we always have.

The weather was lovely all the way, which made the mountain scenery in Bulgaria all the more enjoyable. 
The first town we drove through was on a spectacular high plateau; but the town itself seemed very poor and the apartment buildings so dilapidated that it almost looked like a war zone. There is clearly a large gap between rich and poor in Bulgaria, as in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Then it was down to the coast, near Burgas, where the beaches stretch golden and deserted. The friendly woman we spoke to, weeding a tourist resort, said that it will be like this until 5 May when the tourist season starts. She also told us that we would be able to find somewhere nice to stay further down the coast.
So we decided to make a bit of a detour on our journey, as we felt the need for some peace and quiet after the crowds of Istanbul. We drove to a lovely, ancient harbour town called Sozopol.

We're happy that Bulgarian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, which is now familiar to us and makes us feel 'at home.'

And the view from our room in a little hotel by the Black Sea is a dream...
This is an important journey that we feel privileged to make - taking a valuable vehicle for use in a war zone in Ukraine. It has also come at an opportune time for us as we were in need of a break, and we feel very lucky to have this opportunity - thanks to the donor of the vehicle, Matt, Shaun, UK4UA, for organising the journey, and Yaroslav, Wheels of Victory. Слава Україні!


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