Hi Paul

You are nearly right they go in to the e.e.c. on the first of january but they are not changing to the euro until about 2009. so will still be using the lev till then

Great as every country that has gone into it has put the prises up.

Euro will be there 2009 or 2010!
The only thing changing now (for people like me from Europe) is that I can enter with my (Belgian) passport and no more with an extra international pass! I will miss those stamps

Hi Tanjette.

I'm sure if you ask the nice man at customs he will give yyou a stamp on the back of your hand and you can keep it for posterity

Nice man at customs?

From my website:

##At the Burgas airport it was funnier. After the fast flight with TU 164, people gathered in front of the desk for the passport checking, because only half of the desks were opened, despite the big crowd. And again we were on the wrong queue. The turn of a young woman (probably Bulgarian), standing several people ahead, came.

There was something wrong with her documents and she had an animatedly controversy with the police officer. Then he closed the desk hurriedly without taking into consideration the long queue. I mixed up with people from the other queue after the passport checking finished and I saw what our police officer was doing.

He was quarreling with an English family. The tourist guides had to make peace between the family and the police officer. Yes, you have read correctly - it wasn't about the girl anymore. She was waiting calmly for her luggage, we didn't mid. In fact the police officer was going about to return at his working place. His lack of willingness to do this was obvious.##

Hi Bulgarienfan.

What is wrong with you surely you must agree that there are at least one nice customs guy?. I never have any trouble at customs, possibly because my passport photo has me wearing a Bulgarian football top (original), and my few words of Bulgarian include that we have been there shes'nayset godina and that I always say blagodarya and smile.(works wonders every time)

Hi Mondeo,

You may have visited Bulgaria for 16 years and have been lucky enough not to fall foul of BG Customs/Border Guards, but I can assure you (from personal experiences and those of several Bulgarian nationals with whom I have travelled in the past) that no football top or smattering of 'pidgin-Bulgarian' will prepare you for your first negative experience with them..... my first visit was very nearly my last, based on their attitudes - and I had done nothing wrong!

.. and I had to lose my hear from a tail!!! was already showing 3 piccies of myself and still had to do it..
agh, the first time is always a chock. It was a younster too!

Hi mondeo,

I forgot an Emoticon:

## Nice man at customs? ##

It was only one times, that I saw problems at the customs.

Regards

Bulgarienfan

They looked an evil lot at Varna Airport, I think they must have been left their by the communist regime!

We've been travelling in and out of Varna airport, sometimes at least twice a year, since 1989 and never had a problem.

Neither can we imagine ever having a problem.

Perhaps if you go with this sort of attitude you don't get them?

We are getting :offtop, the original question was about the euro which Bulgaria will escape the consequences of until around 2009 - ish.

Peter

2010 appears to be the current target date, according to this news item.

I have no attitude problem, just telling of my impression of their attitude!! I shall make no further comment.

hehe:)The story of Bulgarienfan...it sounded just like this young girl was me!But where are u from?To where u were flying?because when this happened to me i was flying to Stockholm...I really had some problems on the desk there...A friend had bought me the ticket and the representative of Apollo had given it to him but without a boarding card!that was my problem,i didn't have a number of a seat so i had to wait for all the people to move and i was the last...unpleasent but everything was ok then.And this was in September...:}

Hi discolazur f, I don't think so. Because it was the arrival in Burgas and not the departure from Burgas. It was the ten'th of september 2005 late evening. I was coming from Leipzig in Germany.

Regards

Bulgarienfan

Yeah,i thought so;)just the situations were similar...i was flying for Sweden at 4.09.

I`m thinking of doing Bulgaria this summer. Are Lambert & butler etc.available there,and if so what price?

Yes they do sell Lambert & Butler (or did), but beware, they are fakes. Better buy Victory, try the various strengths of course.

Can't advise re price, have gone up since last year.

Peter

Most Victory variants are 2.60 Leva (approx. 88.6p) per 20 pack at the moment, but are being reduced by around 30 Stotinki in the face of cheap imports from Romania & elsewhere, so should be around 2.30 Leva (approx. 78p) by the spring/summer.

If you check out the link above, you should find that one of the Victory variants is close to L&B - Victory 'White' & Victory 'New Blue' are similar to Benson & Hedges/Royals.

Baldur