.The next day we continued on the E80 from Nis to Sophia, and what a road it was! It twisted around the mountains and in through tunnels built into the rock. It was also rich farming land as most of the traffic was either lorries who were also heading for the border or ponies and traps carrying various loads of crops or logs. We received several gummy smiles and waves from their occupants!
We reached the border crossing with Bulgaria in good time and thankfully it was a lot more straightforward with a simple inspection of passports and no requirement for a vignette or insurance.
The E80 continues on towards Istanbul so we stayed on it but the markings were often non existent and it was heavily potholed in places.
We pulled off the road to a town called Pazardzhik to find a hotel but due to a fair in the town the first one we tried was full. Very kindly, the owners son led us by car to another. A traditional Bulgarian wedding was in full swing and it was also a Saturday night so it wasn’t exactly peaceful.
We had had a problem with our credit card over the previous few days so I spent 30 very frustrating minutes trying to sort it via an internet call to the bank from outside whilst trying to hear the woman over the sounds of the wedding!
Another unsettled night followed as Neil‘s alarm went off intermittently, we think due to the abundance of stray dogs running around. That, plus the wedding and the clubs getting out made for two sleep deprived bodies in the morning
