Road to Bulgaria.
On April 29, we left the city of Velikiye Luki at 7:45 a. m. in a Renault-Traffic car with household items. Our way to Bulgaria lay through Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and Romania. And through 8 customs. Before the border with Moldova, I took about two hundred pictures, some of which I place in my photo album and in the appendix to the story. They complete the story.
Leaving the land of the Pskov region, we find ourselves in the Vitebsk region. Before Gorodok, they left to Orsha, then the road to Mogilev, Gomel (they did not pass through these cities, they bypassed them on bypass roads) and customs towards Chernigov in the Novaya Guta region. The road in Belarus is in good condition. Occasionally, there are areas with treated and repaired coating defects. There were practically no pits. The fields along the roads either turn green or are cultivated. We didn’t see abandoned fields anywhere, we didn’t see dumps along the road.
Customs on the Belarusian territory passed on the move at 14-20. They asked where we were going, looked at the luggage, found out that we had personal belongings, and wished us a good journey.
After 5-7 minutes we arrived at the customs of Ukraine. From which we left at 15-40. That is, they stayed for more than an hour. It all started with the fact that all the cars, where more things are set aside and inspect meticulously. We transported personal belongings in trunk bags (very convenient to fold and carry, much more convenient than boxes), a TV and other household appliances: a heater, a VCR, a laptop, a printer, cameras and other photo accessories. We were forced to indicate in the declarations household appliances with prices. I honestly indicated the prices at which everything was purchased. And here the questions began. The customs officer said that we are transporting goods weighing more than 50 kg per person and must pay a deposit of 1000 euros, which will be returned to us 5 days after we leave Ukraine. All my objections that second-hand personal belongings cannot be considered as goods, that the logic of collecting a deposit and returning the deposit after 5 days when traveling in transit, and how I will return to Ukraine from Bulgaria for this, had no effect. Here I remembered the story of a friend about a similar situation at the Russian customs, when he was returning with his family from a long business trip to an EU country. Maybe the customs officer would be right, standing on the letter (not the spirit! ) of the customs legislation and the Civil Code of Ukraine. You need to study them. But this is a different story. The wife took the initiative. In the future, I was forbidden to "swing rights" at customs. All questions were settled by the driver and wife.
At each of the customs, our driver exchanged euros for the national money of the countries he passed: drink coffee at gas stations, buy vignettes (pay road tax) for driving through Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria. Exchange money and keep receipts for the return trip.
Having passed the customs, we had lunch, turning at one of the exits equipped for this purpose with tables and bins.
Further, our path lay in the direction of Kyiv past Chernigov, Brovary. The road to Kyiv was normal, although with long sections of holes. The fields along the roads were mostly cultivated or turned green with winter crops. Cherry blossoms bloomed in numerous large villages along the road, which had to be traveled slowly due to speed limits. At 17:50 Moscow time we entered Kyiv. We did not pass through the central part of it. Attached are a few photo references.
According to the signs, we found a turn to Odessa. The road was identical, but there were fewer cars and settlements along the road, and in some places work was underway to repair the surface. At 20-30, at 21 o'clock they plowed in the fields. Are our villagers working at this time?
MOTEL BEFORE ODESSA.
Until 24:00 Moscow time, they went in the direction of Odessa. On the way, we were looking for a motel for a long time to spend the night. But they saw him, with a huge motorcycle at the entrance, 50 km from Odessa on the right side. It is called, like the track, "E95". We read about him in the reviews not very flattering statements, they say, expensive for a roadside hotel. But the reality turned out to be very pleasant. We settled in a room with two beds on the ground floor for about 3.000 rubles in hryvnia at the euro exchange rate. There were rooms for 2500 rubles with one large bed, and there were more expensive ones. In the morning, breakfast was provided from 8 o'clock Ukrainian time, but we left at 7-30 Moscow time, and they replaced it with tea sandwiches. We had the most pleasant impressions both from the work of the staff of the motel and bar, and its appearance, from the pool and the whole territory, including the parking lot, which had several cars and motorcycles. Here are some photos of the hotel.
SECOND DAY.
Not reaching 19 km to Odessa, we turned right in the direction of Izmail, Chisinau onto the M-15 highway.
A few kilometers later, when leaving the roundabout, they actually committed a violation. We walked along the second lane, because trucks were on the left, and they all had to go straight ahead. And there Ukrainian traffic cops were already waiting. Heard a lot about their nit-picking. But here everything was fair. An employee approached us, introduced himself, asked for documents, and began to talk with the driver that he had violated the rules of the road, that it was impossible to violate, that there could be accidents, that he would not fine us yet. I tried to explain the situation, he found out my name, asked when he saw the camera in my hands, what I photograph, if I am not a professional, where I exhibit. Having learned that I am an amateur and love to take pictures of the road and landscapes outside the window, he said that he also has a hobby: he is a numismatist, who now collects coins with cities of military glory and studies the cities of Russia using them. We dug through our bags and found a ten-rouble note with the coat of arms of Velikiye Luki. This is the case when you gladly give money to a traffic cop. We were wished a happy journey and not violate traffic rules.
Later, after Bolgrad, traffic cops stopped us again: we walked without the headlights on, which we didn’t turn on after we had lunch 5 minutes before in a cafe. In Ukraine, headlights are turned off after May 1. (In Bulgaria after June 1st) We drove on April 30th. Again, everything was limited to prevention. We asked them about the condition of the road to Reni. No vests, no emergency stop signs, no one checked. They say that they find fault with their presence, especially in Romania.
We drove along the M-15 towards Tatarbunar, Bolgrad, where another Ukrainian customs was waiting for us. The road was very bad in places. But still not as bad as there were separate sections in Moldova and Romania.
At the exit from Ukraine, the customs officer checked us a little less meticulously than at the entrance.
MOLDOVA AND ROMANIA.
It was relatively easy to get to Moldova. The driver bought a vignette right on the territory of the post. We went further to Vulcanesti. After it, we turn not to Reni, but to Giurgiulesti, in which the customs office, which we passed easily, indicating that we were moving with personal belongings. There used to be a bad road through Reni. But through Reni you get to the same customs. Here is the Romanian border. There are dozens of cars in front of us. But either we got to lunch, or something else, but we were standing for more than an hour.
Launched on a huge territory of the post. On the left side, traffic for citizens of Romania and the EU, on the right side for other citizens. We see how they check the car in front of us. Although compared to us, they carry air. Morally prepared. We are approaching. We wait. A customs officer comes up, opens the door and shies away from our Pekingese sitting in front of the door: “Hare! ” We in the family have also called him Zaychik for a long time, although his name is Rum. Call the veterinary service. For the first time meticulously check the documents for the dog. The driver's insurance does not include the country of transit Romania. The EU is. Bulgaria is. Romania is not included. Finally figured it out. The road is open. We heard how nearby they asked about the documents for the transported laptop. How many times have you been to the airports of Barcelona, Paris, Burgas, but no one asked for documents either for a laptop or for cameras.
After the Romanian border, the city of Galati, after which this customs post is named. We walked along the tram tracks right up to the turn to Bră ila. After Braila we went in the direction of Bucharest, but after Slobodzia we went straight to Calarasi (do not turn right towards Bucharest! ), after which there was a ferry across the Danube. Romanian BAC. So you can ask or read on the signs in the city. They are, however, few.
On the approaching ferry, we got right away. There are three of them, and they go with an interval of 20-25 minutes. The cost of such a crossing is 40 Romanian lei, or about 10 euros. It took a little more than 20 minutes to cross the Danube to Silistra itself. After 100 meters to the right, there is a double Romanian-Bulgarian customs, which we passed in five minutes: where are you going, what kind of things, are you carrying cigarettes. The Bulgarian customs officer says, “You have arrived! (Welcome! ) ”, and we are in Bulgaria, having entered which we forgot about the hardships of the road.
After 50 meters turn right to the Bulgarian part of the town of Silistra, where the three of us felt relieved and had dinner. Quite cheap. There were still about 250 km ahead to Sveti Vlas in the direction of Dobrych, Varna and Burgas. We passed night Varna and went to the mountains. The road goes along a serpentine. At the entrance to Sunny Beach (and it was already midnight), after the lights of the Helena hotels appeared on the left, Victoria Palace turned left. On the next street at the traffic lights near the Zora supermarket, turn left again. Approximately a kilometer after the passage of the named hotels, after the park located on the right, behind the Yalta hotel, Sveti Vlas begins.
