Photo adventure along the Bulgarian – Romanian banks of the Danube River

Northwest Bulgaria hides unexpected tourist treasures, such as the Belogradchik Rocks. Almost each rock formation has a name, such as the Madonna, the Monks, the Mushrooms etc. Different legends tell stories of blood, tragic love, heroism, death and suicides……

The local bicycle club rents mountain bikes for adventures among the rocky formations. We go sightseeing in the picturesque Sredogriv Canyon in the area of the village of Falkovets, easily accessible even for less experienced bikers.

There are nice hotels in the area of Belogradchik, offering tasty homemade meals, authentic rural atmosphere and true hospitality. The customers – mainly foreign bikers and backpackers, as well as Bulgarian families on weekends.

That was how we were welcomed at the hotel! Actually the whole family is involved in this family business.

Thick fog surprises us unpleasantly in the next morning, though typical for this part of Bulgaria and this season. However, the weather gets partly sunny in the Danube town of Vidin, in order to reveal the massive silhouette of the Baba Vida fortress. It was built up as early as the 10th century.

We cross the brand new Danube Bridge 2 in the thickest fog ever. Our first stop in Romania is the Maglavit Monastery, near the town of Calafat.

Iron Gates – the largest river gorge in Europe is situated in the southern Carpathians, at the Romanian – Serbian border, not so far from the one with Bulgaria. It used to be the most dangerous place for ships along the Danube, but now there is a complex system of floodgates.

Tired of the long road, we check in a roadside hotel near the town of Craiova, built up in a Renaissance – Tyrolean style. The spa center and the luxurious apartments can be found in the medieval tower nearby.

Romanian restaurants offer tasty, relatively cheap meals and wonderful beer. The good mood is guaranteed by live music. However, it continues too long through the night for a tired traveler.

Upon our return to Bulgaria in the morning. The bus passes by colorful Roma neighborhoods.

The ferry, linking the Romanian town of Beket with the Bulgarian one of Oryahovo simply couldn’t make it before the opening of Danube Bridge 2. Now one may need to spend quite a lot of time, waiting for candidates. A photo memory with the Bulgarian bank as a background.

The town of Oryahovo welcomed us, shining in the sun. Once busy port center, now the place is slowly depopulating, just like most of the settlements around.

We come upon that socialist-time work of art downtown Oryahovo – as if a kid with its uncertain hand has drawn its images about “the new person”: the villager, the worker and the young representatives of the creative intelligence.

15. Another fair-spoken monument of the long and hard transition period in this country. The former largest plant for electricity meters in the Balkans stands up lonely and not needed in the Kaleto area above the town of Nikopol.

The following nice picture welcomes us in the area of Kaleto. The remains of an old fortress can hardly be spotted under the weeds. The last ruler of the Second Bulgarian Empire faced death here at the conquering of these lands by the Ottomans end-14th century.

Local people, a bit bored and sitting comfortably on the ruins, greet us cheerfully, as the autumn sunset is the background.

We enter Svishtov in the evening. The university town welcomes us with the lighted facades of its beautiful buildings. Some of those were designed by Vienna architects end-19th and at the dawn of the 20th century. The town is proud of the building of the High School in Commerce, claimed to be a smaller replica of the Vienna University.

The area is famous with its wine-making traditions. Wine here is easy to drink, fragrant and… very deceptive.

It is time to go to bed. Our hotel is a repaired former school, designed by some eccentric expert, obviously in love with baroque and horror movies. The way that the bathroom is exposed causes perplexity and… lots of jokes.

We take the ferry from Svishtov to Zimnich in Romania. The brand new facility is a private investment of a Romanian entrepreneur. Traffic is not that strong through the day, but in the evenings the ferry is full of Bulgarian students, headed to a night club on the other bank.

The Romanian town of Giurgiu is a pleasant surprise with its green parks and nice churches. In 1876 Bulgarian poet and revolutionary Hristo Botev took off from here with the Radetsky ship, willing to fight the Ottoman conqueror with his men.

One of the main streets in Giurgiu is named after Bulgarian revolutionary Hristo Botev. Little Alisia and Branko agreed to pose for us and got late for school.

We crossed quickly and without any problems Danube Bridge, known in the past as the Bridge of Friendship and linking Giurgiu with Ruse.

The area of the Rusenski Lom River – one of the most attractive spots for eco tourism in this country. The surrealistic landscape of these rocky formations is ready for a sci-fi movie.

The rock monasteries and churches in the area of the Ivanovo village must be seen. The Mother Mary church from the 13th century is distinguished among them. Its murals are on the UNESCO World Heritage list. We only couldn’t figure why the souvenir stand was placed inside the temple and in the altar.

We met Valerie and Sandrine from Aix-en-Provance, France in the village of Ivanovo. They both had crossed Danube Bridge the previous day. They were on a European journey, looking for fascinating wild natural spots and were spelled by the valley of the Rusenski Lom River..

We see something interesting in the village of Koshov, situated right next to rocky formations, covered with niches with eagles’ nests: a table invites us to stop for a while and to think over enduring human values and time that passes by so quickly… enjoying the company of the “old goatherd”.

The relatively well-preserved remains of the medieval Bulgarian town of Cherven are situated about 30 km from the Danube bank. It was a significant military, church and cultural center in the Second Bulgarian Empire back in the 12 – 13 c. Nowadays the village of Cherven at its foot welcomes people from all over the world in its guest houses.

The Danube town of Tutrakan is a real tourist pearl, unknown to many. The marvelous end-19th century architecture, the beautiful river park, the museum of fishing and boating and the fishing settlement, currently being recovered are only some of local attractions.

The Srebarna Nature Reserve is our final stop along the Danube route that we picked up. 220 rare and sometimes globally endangered bird species nest there. However, most of those have migrated to the South at this time of year.

For more "Danube Impressions" clic here

Photos: Veneta Nikolova

English version: Zhivko Stanchev

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Photo adventure along the Bulgarian – Romanian banks of the Danube River

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