BULGARIA
507 Kilometres – 9 DaysOltenita, Romania - Silistra, Bulgaria – 85 kilometres
After a breakfast of fresh tomatoes and paprika from Peter's garden,
we hurried towards the Calarasi border to cross the Danube River
towards Silistra. I was worried about my Romanian Visa, as I had
exceeded the two-day limit stated on it by staying 20 days. However,
I said nothing and handed over my passport to the border officials.
The officials took my passport and disappeared behind a screen. After
a while, they returned and returned my passport without saying
anything. I was relieved that everything went smoothly.
I noticed that communicating in Bulgaria would pose a bigger
challenge. Bulgarian is a Southern Slavic language that uses the
Cyrillic alphabet. It was the first Slavic language to be written, and a
new version was standardised after Bulgaria gained independence in
- However, I found it particularly confusing that nodding one’s
head actually means ‘no’, while shaking it side to side means ‘yes’. It
was tough to get used to. I first encountered this behaviour when I
was trying to find accommodation. The lady initially shook her head,
which I assumed meant no rooms were available. However, she then
produced a room key, causing me much confusion.