Wylie and I decided to go on a tour and hit a few hotsprings. We needed a car so we could see more in less time since the public transport around here as well as in Romania is very very very slow.

Bulgaria has dozens of hot springs. The biggest and most famous have been developed into hotels. The smaller pools remain in use as sources for bath houses. The towns with bath houses are easy to find on any Bulgarian map because they have the name Bani or Banyo incorporated in the town's name.

On s'est loue une auto afin de pouvoir visiter la Bulgarie plus facilement et plus rapidement que la Roumanie. Les moyens de transport dans ce coin du monde ne sont pas tres rapide. On s'est vite rendu compte que les routes ne facilitent pas les choses, ni la condition des autos...

LEs sources d'eau chaude par ici n'ont pas le caractere naturel et rustique de celles d'Amerique du Nord. Elles sont toutes amenagees de telle sorte que la communaute puisse les utiliser pour se laver. Les femmes et les hommes ont leur propre quartier ou ils doivent d'abord bien se frotter avant the pouvoir se reposer dans le bain palacial. Elles sont construites de marbre et on l'allure des bains royaux du temps de l'Empire Ottoman.

My hot spring fan was drooling at the site of the bulgarian's hotsprings. We would drive into town, pull up to a local and then say "banyo" and act like we were scrubbing ourselves.

The bath houses were made of marble and have the character of the Ottoman Empire's royal baths. The men and women have separate quarters. After disrobing you enter a great steamy area where everyone first takes a soapy bath. Sometimes there are showers, but usually there are small personal tanks that you fill with water and then laddle out to douse yourself. Be sure to bring some flip flops, soap and a large cup or bowl to douse yourself with.

Finally you are now ready to enter the main soaking pools. Sometimes there are mostly old people talking in hushed tones. Sometimes there are younger people with their parents. There is a religious air about these places, medicinal and recuperative. Everyone goes naked. We didn't see a single Western tourist at any of these stops.

These were definitely my favorite thing about Bulgaria.

En conduisant d'une montagne a l'autre, on s'est rendu compte que l'auto louee ne comptenais pas d'"antifreeze" dans le radiateur... Heureusement que la Bulgarie possede ces fontaines un peu partout le long des routes ce qui nous a permis de nous rendre a la prochaine ville...avec l'auto. L'antifreeze doit etre trop cher pour ces gens parce qu'on s'est rendu compte que plusieurs autres autos s'arretaient comme nous a toutes les fontaines de la route.

While touring the high mountains,little did we realize that our rented car didn't have any antifreeze... Luckily Bulgaria has these charming little fountains along side its roads which made it possible to make it to the next town with our car. Antifreeze may be just too expensive for them to use because it seemed to us that all the cars kept stopping like us at all the fountains.