We had a little trouble initially finding the hostel but eventually after a quick stop in an internet cafe we finally found it and it turned out to be literally around the next corner. We were greeted by a pretty young Irish lad who seemed pretty much out of it. He kind of pointed at two beds and then the bathroom/toilet/shower thing and asked if we had any questions before disappearing again. We were a little confused because everyone had raved about the welcoming nature of the Flag Hostel. Never the less we ditched our stuff grabbed our beach stuff and headed down to the beach.
Nina got about 30 mins beach time before the already existing shade got even shadier and the sandflies became a bit too annoying, so we quickly gave up on that idea and decided to walk along the beach to find a decent spot for in between the rain showers the following day. After a fair bit of wandering along pretty unspectacular sea front we found a bar that appeared to still be open and grabbed a quick drink and then headed back towards the main town area. The whole walk consisted of passing what looked like what could possibly be some pretty awesome clubs backing onto the beach and bars over looking the coastline. Sadly though the majority of these were closed for the season and generally the condition they were left in just made much of the coast line look really rough.
We wondered around the town for a little while whilst munching on pop corn, there seemed to be a pop corn vendor on every corner and Nina did a fair bit of window shopping which eventually turned to proper shopping. Give her her dues though she had spent much of the trip resisting. However she had decided that Varna had now grown too cold and she wanted new thick jumper (I think this pulled her through the depression of not being able to sunbathe). That evening we headed to a nearby restaurant for a bite to eat and a few drinks before heading back to the hostel unsure of what was going to meet us. Just as we were opening the front door the Liverpudlian owner (Mike) asked us if we wanted to join them at a local club where most of the guests had decided to head to celebrate Lesley's birthday (a U.S guest who was kidnapping Eion the Irish lad to go to the Middle East and then Africa). Feeling a bit let down so far by Varna we decided to join them after ditching our stuff.
We followed Mike to the club commenting on the stupid positioning of the black shin high bicycle rack which was plonked right in front of the unlit club door. We ended up only having a few drinks but also having a really really good time. Turns out Eion was a really funny bloke and earlier had pretty much just woken up and Mike was a legend who loved traveling and everything about owning a hostel. That night we had a pretty good night's sleep however in the morning Nina did wake up pretty itchy. Unfortunately being a relatively small 6 person dorm we had slept with the window open and the mosquitos smelt a feast and by all accounts had an all night banquet.
Other than the mosquito bites the other more annoying thing for Nina and myself was the fact that it was absolutely teeming down with rain and it was also nowhere near 28 degrees. The optimism of the weather turning bright lasted about 30 mins and then we just spent the rest of the day bitching about the BBC weather report. Not being able to hit the beach in Varna during the closed season is quite problematic because there is relatively nothing else to do. We quickly decided that it wasn't the place for us and decided the day would be spent in two main places... the internet cafe and the bus station.
Getting to the bus station turned out to be quite a mission, we knew which bus to get but we did not know where from and the majority of bus stops helpfully did not display the bus numbers of those that were to stop there. We then got accosted by many taxi drivers - these guys are absolute muppets. After saying no several times and trying to get a rough idea of where to get the bus from we gave up and knocked the fare down from one of the taxi drivers enough to make the fee worth while. The other fascination they all had was the idea we were going to Sunny Beach. We had to say several times we just want to go to the bus station to check some times, this was usually met with the reply of 'then Sunny Beach'. Anyhow we followed the taxi driver to his taxi, which turned out to be clapped out old banger with nothing identifying it as a taxi whatsoever. Instantly me and Nina explained to the muppet that he was not a taxi and we would be getting the bus. Two minutes later we were on the bus and heading in the right direction.
Following from our routine which has pretty much been the same since we left Hungary we thought we would just check out what went where and book which ever sounded the most interesting, however we had previously decided we did not fancy Turkey or Greece. We went to the Eurolines office and was basically told they had nothing until 3 or 4 days time and then they only had Thessaloniki. We considered it for a while but the combination of having to spend another 3 days in Varna and going somewhere we were not that fussed about we decided to opt against that. We had a bit of a further look at the other booths at the station and quickly realised the only other option really was to head back to Sofia and see if we can catch a bus or train from there to some place else (I had Belgrade in mind at this stage). So we ended up booking tickets back to Sofia which was a seven hour journey (the longest we would have done by coach at that stage). There were several times to choose from but knowing we were going out again that evening to properly celebrate Lesley's birthday we opted for the 12:30 departure.
After this we headed back to Varna this time catching a bus unheeded by any stupid taxi drivers and headed to the internet cafe for a few hours to sort out a hostel. In the end we didn't bother booking the hostel but I had few fliers which we knew would mean we could find a bed with not too much trouble (yes despite the various mishaps thus far we were still confident in our luck). That evening we returned back the hostel to see what the plan was for the rest of the night. We were greeted by a common room which comfortably sits 4 people full of about 8 people all playing drinking games. We were invited to join in, but having not yet eaten we declined and headed out for grub but said we catch up later. After a quick meal and bottle of wine we headed back and there they all were plus a few extras (including Sean the hilarious Dutch guy) still playing drinking games. This time we could not refuse and we popped back out to a local mini mart to pick up our weapons of choice and a bit of a shopping list from those currently wrapped up in the game.
The drinking game after we joined went on for a further hour before it was decided that we would all head out to a local cocktail bar which apparently held the world record for the longest cocktail list. We got there about 20 minutes before it was due to close much to the annoyance of the staff who had done a pretty good job in emptying the bar. From there we moved on to the club we were at the previous night, again all carefully navigating the bicycle rack. We spent quite a while at the club and gradually people began drifting off back to the hostel. Eventually Nina and I also decided we'd had enough and decided to head back, so off I went totally forgetting about the bicycle rack and managed to shin it as hard as possible. My God it hurt but luckily whilst it was the same shin that met its nemesis in the depths of the Adriatic sea it was a lot lower down and this time there was no infection or blood just a lot of damaged pride.
The following morning we both woke up feeling as rough as hell and decided the ideal cure would be McDonalds. We said our cheerios to what turned out to be an ace hostel and headed on our way. Nina had managed to collect a view more bites and had finally conceded that the natural insect repellent and insect bite cream which she had purchased many months previously at the Kingston Green Fair was about as much use as a chocolate tea pot. We got our coach with plenty of time to spare but were slightly perturbed that there were no toilets on board, dehydration was the way forward.
Our seven hour journey was very familiar, passing by many sites we had seen on our way down and also actually taking a rest stop at Veliko. Finally though we arrived back at Sofia at 8 in the evening having recaptured the travelling bug we decided we would see if there was any way of heading straight out that evening. Quickly however the buses were ruled out as all the offices closed at 8 and we had arrived just as they were locking the doors. We thought we'd try our luck at the train station instead which joined onto the coach station. Success, there was a train leaving for Belgrade at 22:20 arriving at 5:30am the following day. We decided that was the train for us immediately and booked it. We decided we would grab something to eat before boarding the train and quickly found that neither the coach or train station catered that well for fussy vegetarians but eventually were able to grab a little something.
Varna came to us as something of a disappointment. I was initially opposed to going there because I knew it was quickly becoming a package holiday haven and expected rowdy tourists and garish hotels. That isn't what we found but what we did find was a town which needed the distraction of people to take away from what was overall a very bland place. I would not rule Varna out for those wanting to find a place where you can hit the beach during the day and the clubs during the night in high season, but if you want culture, somewhere to get lost in your thoughts or somewhere to simply explore give it a miss. Thank God for the Flag hostel, thank God for internet cafes and thank God for Etap the bus company that allowed us to escape boredom.
TTFN
Daz
The plan ... well really there is no plan, but there is a good reason ...
Watch out Europe here we come. After working in travel it's time to put in action what I've learnt!
I can't take you all with me but here's the next best thing - share our travel highlights and fun experiences as we check out as much of Europe as possible over the next 10 weeks.
