10 July - Vidin, Bulgaria

We arrived in Vidin, Bulgaria this morning and after breakfast we boarded buses for an hour's drive through Vidin and the countryside to Belogradchick to see its castle and the unusual rock formations. They look like statues but are naturally weathered sandstone rocks resembling different figures, for example, Adam and Eve kissing. The rocks were declared a natural landmark in 1949 with the formations varying in colour from red through yellow to grey. This is a major tourist attraction but they need more infrastructure in place. This is a poor country still trying to get on its feet after the collapse of communism. The toilets here were not what we've been used to but we coped. Some things don't change – women still in long queues!! The fortress area is on top of a mountain and we had a challenging walk to the top to see the great views.

After that we returned to Vidin to see the Baba Vida Fortress close to the Danube River. It was very hot today. We watched a terrific group of local school children performing their dancing and singing to the music of a small band playing Bulgarian instruments. The children's costumes were so colourful and beautiful and we enjoyed their enthusiastic performance very much, even though it was an open air theatre and it was quite hot today. Unfortunately, our tour was running late so we had no time to stop and buy some of the local craft souvenirs.

One of my regrets about this part of the tour, through the Balkans, is that we were unprepared for it in terms of money. We thought they would not be using Euros in this part of the world, however, we have found that in most of the “touristy” places take them. If we'd known, we would have had a lot more small denomination coins and notes to buy things and to give to our guides and bus drivers. It is customary to tip them both and I would like to have given them more than I have. The average monthly salary in Bulgaria is about 250 Euros.

Today our guide told us about the economic and political situation in Bulgaria. When communism collapsed, former landowners returned and claimed their lands after proving ownership. The unemployment rates in the villages is very high and the young people go to the capital, Sofia, or to other countries seeking work. Whole villages have been abandoned and some villages like some were saw today have many abandoned houses – very sad to see. No one wants to live there, so housing is very cheap, if the owners will sell. Also large tracts of land remain uncultivated because the owners have left and can't sell. The soil is so rich but it takes money to make things grow. Our guide was optimistic that things will improve, especially now Bulgaria is a member of the EU. It is such a beautiful country, so we must encourage people to visit and spend their money.

We returned to the boat and immediately set sail. As we head towards the Black Sea, we have Bulgaria on our right hand side and Romania on our left.