The previous entry on off road driving reminded me of a trip I took in 2011. I spent a couple of weeks in Bulgaria with a side trip into Turkey. We rented a four-wheel drive Jeep Grand Cherokee knowing that it’s all too easy to run out of pavement in Bulgaria especially when using a navigation system – those things can’t always tell the difference between gravel and black top. 

Sure enough it wasn’t long before we hit this…

And then this…

We ran into a few curious locals…

As we left the EU through the border crossing between Bulgaria and Turkey the sudden increase in militarization and unnecessary government bureaucracy were a jolt to the system. This is the customs and immigration building on the Turkish side where they decided to go with the shabby chic look. The fact that it was illegal to take the photo below got the rebel going in me.

The place was a perfect example of little men with too much power. To be fair to them there wasn’t any problem letting in three Europeans, it was the rental car that presented issues. Once they finally agreed on the correct number of photocopies of the rental agreement we were relieved of a few Euros - for visas or something - and we were on our way. 

Some more shots from both countries…