Salt lakes, Mudbaths, and Nessebar (July 26)

Today was lots of fun! I had another SAS trip, and this time I was going to the salt lakes of Bourgas, healing mudbaths, and Nessebar all in one day. We met in the union, got our boxed lunches, and headed down to the buses. Our tour guide was really sweet and adorable!

First we went to the salt lakes and mudbaths. We were the first people to go to the mudbaths as tourists- it’s a very local thing, and we had to get security clearances to go there. It was so hot! We all wore bathing suits, and were first instructed to get into the pink water a couple inches deep that had salt crystals all over the bottom. Let me tell you—those salt crystals HURT! We were supposed to lay in that for 30 minutes, but we only really had time for 15. I didn’t oppose…To clue you into it a little more, it smelled like I was laying in port-a-potty water. SO SMELLY. We used the salt to exfoliate, and the water was really oily. Then we walked over to the mudbaths—meaning ponds of black sulfurous mud. This isn’t your average mud, it was BLACK and smelly and chunky and gross. We covered our entire bodies in it, including our faces and a couple of us did our HAIR! Even though it smelled and was super slimy, it was so much fun! Then we walked across to the beach (the Black Sea!) and waited on the beach to let our mud bake and dry. Once it had hardened, we dove into the Black Sea to get it all off. That was fun too! At one point, we did have to remove our bathing suits to get all the salt and mud completely off, so technically the 4 of us (me, Kelsey, Katie, Kristin) were skinny dipping in the Black Sea, in mid day! Of course we were completely under the water except for our heads. Whenever one of us would dive under, there would be a huge black cloud all around from all the mud! It was so funny. Then we got out, dried off, ate our boxed lunches, and were on our way to Nessebar!

In Nessebar, we pretty much just walked up and down the streets and shopped here and there. And of course got ice cream. :) We indulged in some huge greasy pizza that was really cheap, and LET me just tell you how AMAZING it was! It really made me miss Italy! Well, at first it was amazing but then my stomach pain kicked in, of course! I got a couple things in Nessebar while we were looking at the different shops. Then it was time to go, so we loaded up onto the bus and were on our way back to the ship! On the way back, we were all given paper and told to make something that represents our favorite part of today. Kelsey and I teamed up and made a 3D collage of mud-covered people in the blue water (Black Sea). I’ll post a picture when I can! We won first place on the bus. :) And all we did was tear the paper! Kelsey did the water, and I did the people. We were so proud, we felt like we were in kindergarten again! Then our tour guide sang us a Turkish lullaby and really wanted us to sing her one in English. Someone got up to lead and we sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and it made her cry!!!! She was SO sweet. We found out later that she was blind her whole life until 3 years ago when she got surgery, and that she loves interacting with us because it makes her feel more human. She was amazing and adorable!

At night, we went back out to the beach bars, but we were pretty exhausted from the long day so we didn’t stay out very late. When we got back to the ship, I staked out in Tymitz Square, sending emais while stalking the free ticket box. I’d been trying to buy an Orphanage visit ticket from some for awhile, but everyone had already sold them so I was hoping someone would change their mind last minute and put it in the “magic” free ticket box. Sure enough, a girl came by the counter and lingered a bit, looked through the buy/sell notebook, and finally dropped a little golden ticket in the box. I waited for her to walk out of sight, then JUMPED up and it was none other than an ORPHANAGE visit ticket!!!!! YAY!! Well, then I had to get to sleep because the trip left bright and early!