Just got back from driving from Bulgaria to UK, in my car, and i must say i thoroughly enjoyed it. For years i have only ever sen life on the continent through the windscreen of a truck, and not enough time for anything else except if weekended ( and most of those were spent on the ■■■■ )
Left Burgas last friday, drove through to ruse ( just to visit a graveside ) mother in law i`m afraid, stayed overnight in the town, had a meal, few glasses of rakia, and a few beers, and left the next day for romania at midday. of course the bridge is still there, and they were repairing one of the carriageways, so got caught up in a traffic jam, and paid 2 euros for the privalage of crossing. 20 mins later i was back in Rumo, and what an experiene that was…all the roads were like glass, new road markings, all the villages had been cleaned, painted, grass cut etc, etc, and it seemed that the whole country had been re-educated. no gyppos horse and carts, kids gesturing for sweets or something else to eat, no slappers to be seen, and we stayed in a fantastic hotel, brand new, after calling in on 2 others that hapened to be full…i felt so proud of Romania as they forge forward with gusto, this is one proud nation who are moving forward, and proud to be a member of the eu. My wife had to admit that it offered more than Bulgaria. Dont want to bore you all with the trip, for it wasnt that exciting for you to read about, but stayed in nice hotels on the trip through hungary, germany, and finally Belgium cos i was too early for the ferry, in fact had to pay another £50 quid anyway, Eventually got home Tuesday, after driving through 33 degree heat ( thank god for aircon ) and i want to go back again ( i might do next week ) but i covered 1461 miles from the uk to Vidin via Calafat, to see her brother, plus another 450 to Pomorie, where i have a home, and then from there to uk we covered another 1847 miles.
Used 383 litres of fuel, at a cost of 528 euros, plus hotels and food etc, and the whole operation cost 1116 euros, so i didnt get much change from the money i took out, which was about £5K…( had things to buy for the home, but thought i would share the experience for the drivers who used to run that route.
Sounds like an interesting trip,take any pics■■?
The hard part ,trucky- is not getting paid for it. Maybe I’m being selfish but the news about Rumo is not good IMO.
I liked it when it was Disneyland.
glad you had a good trip back through romania when i went down in may we crossed at ruse and stayed overnight there, but after a nightmare drive through romania we went home via serbia. but love bulgaria and the rakia is something else only just finished the ones we bought home, 
otherhalf father makse a rare brew 
Didnt take any pics…cant be bothered anymore…i kinda liked the wild horse saloons in the old days too…as for the rakia…bought home 12 litres…6 different flavours sorry i cant share them with you, but i will raise a glass in your honour.
This story was really to highlight how the country has changed for the better, especially for the drivers who like me, used to cover this route on a regular basis. remember how you were afraid of strange noises in the night, the knocking on the door ( didnt mind that cos it was probably a slapper ) 
the fact that you never really felt safe unless in numbers, the parking was always better in the turk parks, and the food was ■■■■.
As i said it was a pleisure to drive across rumo, to see exactly what had changed, and i will do it again hopefully,
BG and RO pics
Theres now a ferry service between Zimnicea Romania and Svishtov Bulgaria 2 Euros for a car and 50 Euros for Artic Truck, which saves 4 hours on a journey between Turkey and Europe.
And your always welcome to call in for a cuppa and shower etc Lol We are 5 mile outside of Svishtov
The more details the better for me, due to a thread I posted where I’m planning on taking my caravan on a 1 way trip to Bulgaria (got a shack there), thanks for an idea of the costs