I know it has been a while since a real update and everyone is just dying to know what has been going on here at TWBR. We are currently in Budapest, Hungary and leave tomorrow for Prague via Bratislava. It has been an interesting, hectic and cold couple of weeks and a lot has taken place.
On December 6th, we picked up our friend Mark at the airport in Istanbul and headed into Bulgaria. Mark will be joining us for the rest of the trip and it is nice to have some extra help. Steve, Mark and I have been working on a number of things, namely, trying to get a solid crew together for Africa, trying to figure out how to get into Africa, trying to shore up new sponsorships and trying to figure out how to stop our bank accounts from bleeding red ink. We have been cruising through eastern Europe at a fairly quick clip, but have had time to see some amazing things and meet some great people. Time has been flying by on the expedition and almost immediately after crossing into Bulgaria we saw countless reminders that Christmas was near signifying over 10 months on the road.
We took a keen interest in Bulgaria and I think that I can speak for everyone else in saying that it is a place that has been added to the must return to list. It also seems that Bulgarians took a keen interest in the expedition as we were interviewed by the main English speaking newspaper in Sofia and were also interviewed for an article in the Bulgarian edition of Off Road Magazine. Once those articles come out, we will put up links on the website. The USAID mission in Bulgaria also provided us with an opportunity to learn about some of the programs they have helped to support including a micro-lending organization and the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. In Sofia, we also met a group of “couchsurfers” who were kind enough to show us around town and give us a glimpse of what Sofia nightlife is all about. In between the meetings and the interviews, we did manage to seem some of the sights around Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo.
Bouey prepares to interview USAID Mission Director Mike Fritz in Sofia
This traditional Bulgarian doll shop was started with the help of the USAID micro-lending program
Stepping back in time in Veliko Tarnovo
Just as soon as we entered Bulgaria, it was time to leave. Next stop, Romania, and because we had already purchased insurance covering all of the European Union, exiting Bulgaria and entering Romania took all of about 5 minutes. In fact, the border crossing process was so hassle-free and painless, that Steve and I wondered if we had missed something. We drove through the complex and complicated streets of Bucharest and onward to Brasov in the midst of a severe winter blizzard. The drive to Brasov was actually one of the more sketchy experiences of the expedition… sub zero temperatures, 60 mph wind gusts, near white-out conditions, empty windshield washer fluid reservoirs and icy roads all after dark. Needless to say, we made it into the heart of Transylvania without any problems, although what was supposed to be a five hour drive took nearly 12. The fresh coat of snow made for some picturesque moments in Romania and we did manage to stop by and visit Bran Caslte, the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Fresh coat of snow over the town of Brasov, Romania
Dracula’s Castle is a Transylvanian landmark
Gathering firewood the old fashioned way in Romania
It was another long day behind the wheel from Brasov, Romania to our current location in Budapest. We have been using the great internet access here to research Africa, plan out the next few months, and finalize some deals with new and exciting sponsors. We also met back up with Zsofi here in Budapest. Zsofi was a member of Trabant Trek and we met in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. There was a good chance that Zsofi would be back in her hometown of Budapest when we drove through two months after meeting her and as luck would have it, she was. Zsofi filled us in on the trials and tribulations of the Trabant guys as they passed through Siberia and Mongolia and has shared some great local sights in arguably one of the coolest cities in the world. We also met up with our friend Lori here in Budapest. Lori is from Colorado but currently lives in Prague teaching English and coincidently has a little time off for the holidays and will be riding shotgun with us for a few weeks.
Budapest is definitely a world class city
Ironic… Bouey and Mark look for hostels after finding a wireless hotspot in Budapest
So there is the last two weeks in a nutshell. We are on our way to Prague tomorrow and will spend a few days there before heading to Berlin for Christmas. From Berlin, we dash through Denmark on our way north through Sweden and Norway in an attempt to make it to the northernmost point in Europe at North Cape while trying not to totally freeze to death. After North Cape, we make a B-line back down to the U.K. to meet up with some more friends and family and by early February, hello Africa… which I finally think we have decided on a route. The route through Africa is far from what we had imagined or originally anticipated and will be an adventure to say the least, but I will hold off on that until the time comes because a lot can and probably will change in the next six weeks.
