While we are at Motocamp, trying to get the engine fixed, we do have fun as well. Just hanging out there is already a guarantee for meeting interesting travelers and with all the expats living in the village there’s never a dull moment!
On our way over to Motocamp, we met Darren and Karen on their BMW 1150GS on Shipka Pass. They are on a trip to Central Asia, with a stop at Motocamp.
On Sunday, it’s the Assen MotoGP race, so out comes the TV and everyone gathers around to watch a drowned, eventful race. They are all big Rossi fans, so when he crashes, the race and the season are over. Very sad…
We also meet Gail, an American who retired from the US Navy at 53, sold everything and has been travelling ever since. So for the last 3 years he has crossed North and South America, Africa and Europe. Needless to say we love hanging out with him, listening to all the stories he has to tell.
Jörg from Germany and his daughter Jasmine also pop in. They are visiting Bulgaria for a week, and afterwards Jasmine is travelling on to Istanbul by bus.
The second weekend is Moped Wars Sunday, Bulgarian style! According to Polly and Ivaylo it’s big fun and together with some British expats we go and watch the races.
The competitors all run these very old, run down bikes, and the determination on their faces is just brilliant. First place is decided pretty quickly in the final, but there are some very nice battles for the other top ten spots. All in all a very entertaining Sunday afternoon.
On Tuesday of the second week we say goodbye to Jörg and Jasmine. Jörg will drop his daughter off at the bus station and then he travels further through Bulgaria for a few days. There still some places he wants to see on this trip.
By the second half of the week it’s starting to become busy at Motocamp. The Horizons Unlimited mini-meeting is planned for the weekend and people are starting to arrive. First arrivals are Xerxes from the UK/Iran and Alpi and Havva from Turkey. The three of them decide to cook dinner and we are treated to a delicious Iranian/Turkish mix.
On Thursday, a celebrity bike arrives. Our motorbikes get the company of Florentina, Sjaak’s R1 who has travelled the world for the past decade or so.
Of course everyone has to try this worldwide-pizza-delivery-bike!
We have an interesting weekend, meeting travelers, exchanging stories and just soaking it all up, getting inspired again by all the things we hear.
On Friday evening Unnur and Högni come to tell about their home country Iceland and they have some interesting tips if we ever decide to go there.
Next up is Graham and in his usual funny way he tells us all about his travels in search of greener grass and how he found it in Bulgaria.
Gregg and Melanie from the US try to lure us to Baja California and they almost succeed too.
On Saturday even more people arrive and by late afternoon the campsite is full.
So is the parking lot…
Saturday afternoon, Andreas shows us some tricks for offroading in the field across the road.
In the evening Sjaak’s presentation is funny as ever and to end the day, Polly has put our names on the schedule. Apparently we gave the impression that we might have some interesting stories to tell.
During the weekend, Alpi proposed that we would travel with him to Istanbul with a detour past the Dardanelles for a seafood barbeque. We’re not saying no to that! And so does Jörg! So after another delicious breakfast, we leave a small reminder at the barn and then we start packing and saying goodbye to people.
We’ve had an incredible 2 weeks at motocamp and we cannot thank everyone we’ve met there enough for giving us the courage to continue! The list is endless but I’m sure they know who they are. And we definitely will be back as well.
