Storyline: Vidin to Ruse Bulgaria via Romania by train Jul – Aug, 2017
Sometimes dreams from the past do not survive the reality check of the present. With age marching fast, some dreams are better left unrealized. For example, I know that I’ll never climb Mount Everest or even hike in the Himalayas. With spurs and bunions on my feet I can barely find shoes to wear on a daily basis, let alone hiking boots necessary for strenuous hiking.
So long mountaineering! I still can manage a day of hiking in the mountains, yet not sure for how long.
With this in mind, last year we decided to check if the idea of travel around the world primarily by train would hold water. We’d like to fly only where no trains are available, like crossing the oceans for example. And although we have taken many trains in Europe in the last few years, we still didn’t know if every train would fit our need for a bit of a comfort, the requirement for which has also developed with age. What if the trains are smelly and dirty? What if the toilets are not usable? Although we have gone regularly to Bulgaria, the trains there are a memory from my past. Then they were the only viable option. These days we use fast, air-conditioned, clean and comfortable buses on mostly new highways, or a friend might volunteer to drive us around. Trains are declining and decaying, we were told. The worst in the world, my friends would say – dirty and slow, no water in the toilets, just disgusting. And so, we haven’t attempted them yet.
Yet last year in August we completed our “Around the world by train” proof of concept. We loved every aspect of it, except perhaps the heat at times. Our Romanian friends had also advised us against their trains. And, no, there is no bus alternative for what you want to do, they’d add. Just rent a car! I guess living in North America’s car culture they’ve forgotten the good old days of the trains. Or, are trains the vanishing monsters of the past? Well, car rental is not in our travel budget, at least not for long distance travel between cities, for one. And with my motion sickness it is not as nearly as enjoyable either.
We boarded the international train from Vidin to Craiova. This first part was easy. I bought tickets from the RILA agency in Sofia about a week in advance (details below). After a wonderful tour of Northern Bulgaria with our friend, he drove us to the train station in Vidin. It is a small station, but very clean and comfortable. There is a café-restaurant with a patio. Toilets, although the old Turkish style, were clean. So, we spent an enjoyable two hours in the café-restaurant of one of the oldest cities in Bulgaria and the poorest city in the EU, saying goodbye to our friends. (The north-west part of Bulgaria is the country’s poorest, and according to WikiTravel, Vidin is the poorest EU city.)
Until very recently there was no surface connection between Vidin and Calafat. Crossing the Danube was done by ferries. Stories of the huge multi-day queues of transport trucks coming from Istanbul and continuing to Central and Western Europe were rife. There has been a desire among the Bulgarians for a bridge here as far back as I remember. In fact, the first petition was submitted to the Bulgarian parliament in 1909 by the Vidin local authorities! The dream was finally materialized with the opening of the bridge in 2013, the construction of which began in 2007.
We boarded the train a bit early after our passports were taken away for inspection by a Romanian customs officer, just because we asked too many questions. The track for this train was behind a metal fence, but the gate to the track was open. We could have just boarded the train. But when I asked a Bulgarian conductor which was the train to Craiova, he pointed to the two-car train behind the fence and told we had to clear customs. We looked everywhere for customs but none was visible. We asked and asked again, until finally a sleepy customs officer descended from the second floor of an empty-looking building. He only spoke Romanian. Apparently, the fence was marking Romanian territory. He took our passports and pointed to the train. We got on it, musing the fact that we still had our Canadian passports in case he didn’t bring our European passports back.
Approaching the departure time, the connecting train from Sofia arrived and other passengers started to board, yet no one went to the customs building. As it happened all the passports were checked later at Golenţi, the first Romanian stop after crossing the river.
We sat at the front so we could observe and take photos. Two cheerful and bubbly ladies in uniform, and carrying big slices of pizza boarded the train. They sat in the operator’s cabin with the door open and ate their pizzas. We did not understand a word they said, but they invited us into the cabin and we took photos with them, just before departure.
“Will our passports be returned?” we asked ourselves as the ladies prepared for departure. Finally, with the train whistle, the customs officer appeared with our passports. And so, our train adventure began.
More to on this come.
If you go… (travel tips)
One can take a train from Sofia to Craiova with a change in Vidin. The Sofia-Vidin train is operated by the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) and the international train from Vidin to Craiova by CFR Calatori (Romanian State Railways). As of July 2017, when we took this train, booking online wasn’t available. You can see the timetables online using the DB Bahn reservation system, however tickets can only be purchased locally. Tickets for all international trains crossing Bulgaria can be purchased from the RILA agency. In Sofia it is located in the underground mall by the National Palace of Culture (called NDK). Friends tell us that an international counter at the central station of Sofia is now open too. We’ll check this during our next trip in September this year. And of course, if you are in Vidin you can buy tickets at the station.
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