October 13, 2003
Borders
Having a car registered in Romania is a serious pain in the neck. It involves extensive paperwork and hanging around a dozen of different offices for days at a time. So far, we have chickened out - that means, however, that we have to leave the country every three months with the car in order to avoid penalties or having the car taken from us.
This necessary trip wasn't due until the middle of November but with our planned trip to the States, we had the idea of going on Sunday and getting it out of the way for the next three months. So we packed up kids, snacks, money (good idea, as it turned out), filled up the tank, and were on our way to Ruse in Bulgaria.
Well, the drive was as advertised - hair-raising encounters with unmarked construction sites, your everyday crazy Romanian drivers and a near-death experience with a cow were the high points. It was a darn big cow, too.
Romanians and Bulgarians don't like each other and if you didn't know, you could tell by their elaborate border design. I've crossed a border or two but this one deserves some description.
First, they don't make it easy to find. For some reason or another, the road to this border is circuitous and not well marked. At one point, I suggested to Doug that the signs were actually a ruse to lure us into the backwoods and club us over the heads, then make off with our car. The street was really bad and a flock of ducks was taking a nap on it, too. As it were, we were in fact on our way to Ruse (and how's that for a nice play with words, eh?).
Then, you have to stop at the first inspection. That would be the car inspection. They take 2 Euros from you for unknown reason and let you proceed to the second inspection. That would be passport control. They control your passport, stamp some, write some forms, charge you some money. Then, the next stop is the fees for the car. Then the fees for the street. Then there is another little house that you pass on your way to the actual border and a guy who waves you past, without a fee. I thought that pretty remarkable.
Then, there is the bridge crossing the Danube. Now, the Danube at Ruse is a very serious river. It's bigger than the Hudson at Storm King, said Doug, and for him that means a pretty big river. The bridge is impressive in its own right - all concrete and metal and socialist carving. In the middle of the bridge, right where the actual border lies, there is a boulder on one lane and a bit of a ditch. A small ditch, since it is on a bridge but a ditch nonetheless. I guess they want to make sure that you feel it in your behind that you're leaving the country.
(Click on the picture to see the full version!)
Finally, the other side. More inspections, who would have thought! Four stops, more fees and, I kid you not, a desinfection bath for the car. We (well, the car anyhow) were sprayed with a solution just like in a car wash. Alan made big eyes and I had to take a picture because it impressed me so. When you click on the image, you'll see a larger version and if you look hard, you can see the spray thingies. Well, I thought it was remarkable.
I think they also charged us a fee for the bath, although at that point I'd lost track of how much we'd already spent on fees and taxes. But, hey! We were in Bulgaria, after only about an hour at the border. We were the only ones crossing, btw.
As I said, not much love lost between those two countries.
Posted by claudia at October 13, 2003 03:21 PM