Bulgaria - More Black See

We haven't taken a summer vacation in over a year. That's why we're making the most of our time at the Black Sea and staying a bit longer than planned. A vacation from traveling.

Riva Vaya Beach near Irakli (June 23, 2025)

The petrified forest near Burgas is our next destination. The question arises whether this is really the right goal, considering today’s temperatures. Today marks the beginning of summer in Bulgaria. It’s heating up, and it’s going to be very hot! It’s already 30 degrees Celsius and the thermometer is expected to rise. After a short meeting with Tamara, the decision is clear: we’re going back to the sea. There are supposedly still plenty of beaches in Bulgaria that we don’t know yet. Before searching for the next dream beach, we fill up on water and wash the car. Shortly after, we’re ready again and head back to the sea. The roads are bumpy and nature knows no boundaries along the roadside. In front of us drives a Dutchman, and his wife clears the way with a broom. So we benefit somewhat from broken branches and pushed-aside twigs. The trip to the beach is worth it.

A river flows into this bay, so the water is only slightly salty and very pleasant on the skin. I spend the rest of the day lying on the beach while Tamara walks along the over 3 km long beach down to the rocks.

At the end of Vaya Beach, there is a luxurious beach bar with chill music. We don’t miss out and drink a delicious homemade lemonade and have something tasty to eat. The great internet allows us to call our beloved daughter.

There are no photos of our sleeping spot because the thicket behind the beach almost completely concealed our vehicle. The cool evening breeze helps us fall asleep comfortably.

Karadere Beach (June 24, 2025)

Now I have to refuel the car. We fill up in Obsor and buy fruits and vegetables at a stand. There are always days when we have no internet and the blog falls behind. Today we want to catch up and look for a beach bar with good internet. At White Cliffs on Biala Beach, we find the perfect spot. Tamara edits the text for readability and accuracy. She is basically the "Did you research that?" conscience.

After this city beach, we look for idyll again. We find it at the remote Karadere Beach. The road there is recommended only with a 4x4 and good suspension. Fortunately, it’s not raining, and the dusty paths are dry but heavily rutted. The sea is getting closer.

We park by the sea and shortly after, Tamara and I walk the beach up and down. We have never seen such a beach. Self-built beach "houses," permanently furnished caravans, and tents in all varieties. Judging by the boats, we assume that fishing also takes place in this bay...

At the end of the bay, we find the "fish restaurant." Nobody is home, but the terrace is lovingly decorated with shells. The impressions overwhelm us, and it’s hard to imagine how the caravans got here. Hunger leads us back to our camper, where we eat a cool and fresh salad.

Walter’s Solution, my Victorinox farewell gift from E360, serves me well again today, and I find a way to open a can 😊.

We leave this unconventional beach hoping to find an even more beautiful one. The navigation system leads us down the "road" into the deep forest. The forest turns out to be a thicket, and we turn around under difficult conditions.

Finally back on the road, we drive over "See me Beach" to Lazar Beach. Evening has just begun, and we settle in on the beach. It must look cozy because a dog joins us 😉.

The coziness diminishes a bit when about 20 youths pitch their camp next to us and prepare a fire. No effort is spared to make the beach experience perfect. A tree trunk is not dragged but carried. After the sun has set, the "June beetles" return. Our beach neighbors scream and fend off the buzzers flying around their heads. It gets too much for us, and we pack up—searching and finding a new sleeping spot.

There really are walking trees (June 25, 2025)

Breakfast is by the sea under beautiful sunshine. This week it will be warm. Already at 8 a.m., it’s 30 degrees Celsius. By the sea, we cool off again and stroll along the beach. Here too, there are self-proclaimed beach house owners. We haven’t figured out yet if this "occupation" of the coast is legal. In any case, the beach is beautiful, and on our way, we keep jumping into the cool water.

At a lonely parking lot, I want to turn around briefly. Suddenly, a tree jumps right onto the path. So there really are walking trees like in "Lord of the Rings." If it weren’t so, I would have seen the tree. Instead of braking, I accelerate well into the solid tree. Now we have a souvenir from Bulgaria: a dent in the roof, over the door, down to the bumper. Also, the rearview camera now definitely needs replacement. The good thing about this embarrassing driving maneuver is that we can still open and close the doors. Well, this will be expensive, and we’ll have it fixed in Switzerland...

At second glance, the damage looks even worse. For the visit to the rock monastery, we park in a free area in the forest. The watchtower looks like it had a purpose during wartime. In this shady place, we have lunch and then walk to the main entrance.

Even in Bulgaria, hermits and monks have retreated into the mountains. Today we visit the rock monastery in the limestone mountains. In these "caves," between 10 and 20 monks spent their lives.

The worship hall, sleeping rooms, dining hall, kitchen, burial church, and another prayer room are carved into the limestone mountain on several levels.

Many school classes visit historical monuments in Bulgaria. Two buses arrive here as well, and we try to visit the museum and rock monastery counter-cyclically. We succeed very well. At this idyllic place, there is also a "quiet spot" where you have the opportunity to meet all the forest dwellers of this protected area… No further explanation on this topic 😉.

After this contemplative place, we continue to the coast. The descriptions on the internet range from "pretty fishing village" to "run-down rocky villages" in the middle of the limestone and "there’s no beach there." We let ourselves be surprised and find a parking spot in the center of Balchik.

This town is special and different at the same time. It’s hard for me to describe. In any case, we stay there the whole afternoon, eat a festive meal at the beach in Restaurant Antik, and then walk along the promenade to the luxurious hotels in the southern part of the village. Here are some first impressions.

At one end, we find the harbor with empty industrial buildings. Right behind on the hillside are the run-down mansions from the 19th century. Just behind the industrial harbor, we find the small village beach. So there is indeed a village beach, and there we process our first impressions of this village. We settle there with a lemon water.

Then we eat at a nice restaurant and enjoy a "Raffy" ice cream on the beach. The many restaurants and expensive boutiques suggest that there are wealthy tourists here. Not only Romanian tourists but also from Moldova, England, and Germany. There are said to be many retirees who settle in Bulgaria. That’s why everything in Lidl is always described in English and even the announcements over the loudspeakers are in English.

At the parking lot, we meet a very friendly couple from Romania. They also have a great 4x4 Sprinter with manual transmission and a self-built camper. We exchange camper and travel experiences. We invite each other to our home countries. Kindly, they give us many insider tips for Romania. Many thanks at this point! 😊 The central differential lock can no longer be unlocked, and unfortunately, I can’t help him with that. Fortunately, he finds a good mechanic.

Krapets Beach - Day 1 (June 26, 2025)We restock our supplies and fill the water tank again. We want to spend the last days in Bulgaria on the beach, so we need enough food. Tamara has chosen another beautiful beach, Krepets Beach.

The beach is far from villages and towns. We are the only Western Europeans on the beach, and no English is spoken at the beach bar. At this beach, you can set up your vehicle or tent camp—whatever your heart desires… 😊 We take advantage of our 4x4 and drive along the sandy beach up to the elevated coast. From there, we have a fantastic view and hear only the sound of the waves.

After lunch, we explore the beach and walk 10,328 steps. Of course, I find beautiful shells and even an intact 20-liter plastic bag, which I use to collect and dispose of scattered plastic pieces. That makes me happy to leave nature a little better than I found it. Regarding trash on the beaches, there is comparatively little plastic waste in Bulgaria. However, Bulgarians smoke a lot and still like in the 80s, not electrically. So if someone spends the whole day on the beach and doesn’t pick up their cigarette butts, quite a few accumulate. Consider that each cigarette butt takes 10–15 years to break down into microplastics and return to the food chain. When I try to pick up a beer can about 3 meters from a family, the woman jumps up and gestures with her hands, meaning it’s her husband’s beer can. She takes the beer can, embarrassed, to dispose of it herself. I think many people in Bulgaria still need to be sensitized about what it means to keep the environment clean. But we have already seen young Bulgarians picking up trash on the beach.

After the walk, we drink lemonade and eat fried fish on the beach—of course, only our appetizer. Tamara cooks us a wonderful dinner served with a sea view.

After sunset, the last June beetles and the first mosquitoes remind us that it’s time to go to bed soon. Very quickly, we pack everything up and see the mosquitoes greedily peering in through the window. But tonight, they have to go to bed without dinner. We go to sleep already at 10 p.m.

Krapets Beach - Day 2: Planning and Socializing Day (June 27, 2025)

Today we wake up to the first bird chirping. Right at sunrise, we sit and marvel at the sun rising from the sea. Observing nature always fills most of us humans with wonder. Nature is so coordinated and organized that the question arises: what intelligence placed this information in nature? We sit there gratefully, and Psalm 117, which I have memorized, comes to mind—it fits perfectly here.

Today, we spend the whole day on the phone, writing, reading, and it feels good to have contact with family and friends. My father celebrates his 86th birthday today in good health. It’s nice to see how many loyal friends think of him and that the family is celebrating with him. During our WhatsApp conversation, the landline rings three times. For younger readers, a short explanation: long ago, before the internet and mobile phones, we still used analog cable phones... 😊 These still exist today—it’s called a landline 😉. After a day full of contacts from home, we feel deeply connected to our loved ones despite the distance. The place is also perfect to linger and let the soul dangle.

Nearby, an older couple has parked their caravan. He weeds the front garden, and I wonder what motivates him. Half a day later, he has also set up a 25 m² awning and already placed wooden furniture inside. Apparently, tourists from Moldova will spend the summer here. Another neighbor has set up a free-range enclosure around her camper. Only in the evening do we find out it’s for her cat. Further down, dozens of tourists from Romania have formed a camp and settled in for the summer holidays. The possibility to camp freely on Bulgaria’s most beautiful beaches is very generous. We experience this for the first time in this form.

Tamara goes for a walk and lovingly brings me two "shells." In the evening, we spontaneously go to the beach bar, drink a Sauvignon Blanc, and eat meat, grilled vegetables, and fries. After almost a year of traveling, I can say on this beach: relaxation sets in, and physical well-being spreads. Very grateful, we fall asleep at our peaceful pitch.

Krapets Beach - Day 3: First Rainy Day in Weeks (June 28, 2025)

Finally, a rainy day to do some administration. Because it’s not 30 degrees in the camper at 8 a.m. today, we sleep until 10 a.m. At noon, we finish breakfast. The rain consists of single drops and a slightly overcast sky that will clear up in the afternoon. It will probably stop raining, but the sky will remain mostly cloudy. Tamara enjoys the calm and writes in the diary. I have a book idea and try to work on it. Whether it will become something... After three hours of writing, I am totally exhausted. I haven’t gotten far because my "eagle system" (not the ten-finger typing method) doesn’t allow faster typing speed.

Almost two months ago, a woman approached me in Croatia and asked if she could give me something. She gave me a Bible. At first, I thought we would pass it on. A phone call with a friend who was reading the letter of Paul to the Colossians inspired me, and I spontaneously took out the gifted Bible. I conclude that the woman gave me the Bible, and that it was probably no coincidence. I unpack the Bible and read one of the 27 books (Letter to the Colossians) of the New Testament. A great letter Paul wrote from prison in Rome to the congregation in Colossae.

Krapets Beach - Day 4: Bright Blue Sky (June 29, 2025)

It’s Sunday again, which means pancakes for us. With blueberries, banana, and peaches. That’s a Sunday brunch to my taste 😊.

After reading the Bible, we go for a walk. Yesterday’s waves washed away all the algae and uncovered new shells. That slows my pace, which is tiring for Tamara. When I find a 40-liter sack on the beach, she loses patience and lets me follow my calling. If I have a bag, I can’t leave the plastic on the beach. Mostly plastic bottles are left behind or washed ashore. I fill the second sack to the brim and dispose of it at the beach bar. It’s already 1 p.m. when we eat lunch at our quiet pitch. After lunch, Tamara crochets a bit, and I go swimming.

Dishwashing is short because water is scarce and finally runs out. That means we have to get ready to leave and go search for water. At the second campsite, we are successful and fill the tank. The campsite manager asks about our route and can hardly believe we will be traveling in Romania for four weeks. Bulgaria and Romania seem to be in competition...

Ten minutes later, we are back at "our" pitch eating melon. Sunday rest just feels good...Tamara does some exercise, and I lounge around a bit. Tomorrow we drive toward Romania. On Tuesday, we want to be in the Danube Delta and start boat trips from Thursday. We’re excited about the Danube Delta and Romania in general.