Whenever things are going really well, that’s a sure sign things are about to get worse. We didn’t realize that was the case as we breezed out of Macedonia and across Bulgaria to the black sea resort town of Varna. Everything was peachy, topped off with a rest day on the beach and a regrouping of most of the teams on the Black Sea Run, plus a two day reunion with the Legend who took a bus to meet us there.

When we left Varna yesterday it was our last big day of driving as we headed north across Romania and Moldova and into Ukraine. This is where the roads and the borders become more challenging and where our problems started yesterday. Our car has temporary Hungarian plates valid for 30 days, and the border officials in Ukraine, we discovered yesterday, have a big problem with plates like this. Almost all problems in Ukraine can be solved with a well placed 20 euro bill (we’ve heard), but this plates problem is unfixable even with several of the far more coveted 100 denominated bills (we have reason to believe).

Undeterred by our rejection at the first Ukrainian border we turned back into Moldova and began driving to other Ukrainian borders further north. By the time yesterday finally ended (which was actually 5am this morning) we had been driving for over 20 hours, covered 700 kilometers, slid off the road into the ditch once, nearly killed one dog and one fox (no harm done), cleared passport control 14 times, and been rejected entry into Ukraine three times.

Trapped in Moldova, our survival instincts kicked in and we headed to the bus station this morning to investigate our options. After finding tickets to Odessa , Ukraine (where the other teams are) for 8 euros each, the decision was a no brainer. Our beloved Volkswagen is now an orphan and sits abandoned on the road directly in front of the bus terminal (see pic) as we bounce down the Ukrainian roads for the first time in the back of an eastbound bus. We do this with mixed emotions – we’re happy to be inside Ukraine finally, and grateful to the other teams who will take us the rest of the way to Crimea, but we do miss our loyal Volkswagen (probably much more than it misses us).

The Black Sea Run is now in full swing. Two of the eleven cars have dropped out because the driving was simply too much for either themselves or their cars. The route yesterday took us from Bdvha, Montenegro through Albania to the famous Lake Ohrid in Macedonia – the deepest lake in Europe and we’ve heard home to Alexander the Great. A drive like that takes at least 10 hours and is not for amateur travelers… the roads are awful, the signage almost non-existent, there are random police checkpoints nearly every 15 minutes (in Albania) and endless towns and cities with their chaotic roundabouts and intersections to slow you down constantly. But this is not our first rodeo and we’ve seen all this many times before, so Team Tamarisk cruised through without incident and with the fastest transit time for the day.

The border crossings and police presence along the roads out here can be intimidating for someone used to traveling in more western countries. We’ve had our car emptied and fully searched twice in the past three days by border officials who seem convinced we’re smuggling drugs, humans, or whatever else it is people smuggle out here. These searches can take nearly an hour while they go crawling under every seat, checking through every pocket in every piece of luggage, and practically go disassembling small sections of the car. It’s all a big waste of their time and ours but it’s an inevitable part of a trip like this.

Today we head another 450 km further east towards Bulgaria’s capital city, Sofia. We are back inside the EU now where things are a bit more civilized than Albania, but still the roads can be slow. Despite the backwardness out here, the landscape is stunning and filled with surprises the whole way so we’re looking forward to another amazing day on the open road.