While traveling back from Serbia, Link and I had quite an encounter. Not something you would expect to see everyday, but something that definitely goes on everyday.
(Coffee and smoke. One very important aspect of the BG culture.)We were peacefully enjoying (please read: sweating our arses off) the ride to Sofia in a cabin all to ourselves. But with all good things they have to come to an end. We were woken from our tired, sweaty state as our cabin filled up with loud train goers just trying to get to Sofia themselves. Well, thats what I thought anyways. They on the other hand, had a different agenda. We were at the boarder town when the train seemed to fill up, not only with people, but with cartons and cartons of cigarettes. As soon as the group entered our cabin, they started stashing single boxes of cigarettes in their pockets and purses. Hmm, I thought, something fishy is about to go down.
Actually, things were not all that strange at first. The control inspector came by every cabin looking through the passenger's bags, checking how many cartons they were bringing over the boarder. They are allowed 10 to bring over 10 boxes. They didn't bother with me or Link seeing as we stand out as the innocent foreigners. We just simply watched with amusement. The controller left, the train started going, and that was that.
But it was far from over. As the train was going, another inspector came by. He picked out one guy in our cabin, stepped outside to chat, exchanged some money, and he came back in. Next thing we see is a woman come into our car talking to the guy who just bribed off the inspector. She was then handed wads and wads of money in all kinds of currency. There were Euros, Dinars (Serbian), and Leva (BG). She squatted down, took out her calculator, and added up the dough. They argued a bit, he gave her more money, and she was off. Think it's over? Think again. Maybe 20 minutes later she calls the guy into her cabin this time. He comes tramping back with bags and bags filled with cartons of cigs. Who knows how many cartons there were. This same exchange was going on between several other people in the train. We asked our friendly train mates what the deal is and this is what we understood.
They are hired by whoever, I assume some Mafia lord, to travel back and forth between Bulgaria and Serbia everyday to bring over their allotted 10 cartons of cigarettes. They make 40 leva a day doing this. And they dont seem to buy a train ticket. (They were without one when the ticket man came by. But what did they do...they paid him off with a few leva.) Then there is some person who pays off the control inspectors and they somehow manage to walk away with loads of cartons. I am not so much surprised that this goes on, but I am utterly shocked how open they are about it. There was no trying to hide any of the exchanges of money. It was like Link and I were old pals to them and this was just plain business. We found out that they are only making about 4 leva off each carton of cigarettes. It doesn't seem all that worth it in the end if they do this everyday.
But I guess in a country where everyone smokes, they are just meeting the demand.
Did you know that Bulgaria has the highest rate in the world of cigarettes smoked per capita. The highest rate in the WORLD! (Thanks for that fun fact Max and the Economist.)
Actually, things were not all that strange at first. The control inspector came by every cabin looking through the passenger's bags, checking how many cartons they were bringing over the boarder. They are allowed 10 to bring over 10 boxes. They didn't bother with me or Link seeing as we stand out as the innocent foreigners. We just simply watched with amusement. The controller left, the train started going, and that was that.
But it was far from over. As the train was going, another inspector came by. He picked out one guy in our cabin, stepped outside to chat, exchanged some money, and he came back in. Next thing we see is a woman come into our car talking to the guy who just bribed off the inspector. She was then handed wads and wads of money in all kinds of currency. There were Euros, Dinars (Serbian), and Leva (BG). She squatted down, took out her calculator, and added up the dough. They argued a bit, he gave her more money, and she was off. Think it's over? Think again. Maybe 20 minutes later she calls the guy into her cabin this time. He comes tramping back with bags and bags filled with cartons of cigs. Who knows how many cartons there were. This same exchange was going on between several other people in the train. We asked our friendly train mates what the deal is and this is what we understood.
They are hired by whoever, I assume some Mafia lord, to travel back and forth between Bulgaria and Serbia everyday to bring over their allotted 10 cartons of cigarettes. They make 40 leva a day doing this. And they dont seem to buy a train ticket. (They were without one when the ticket man came by. But what did they do...they paid him off with a few leva.) Then there is some person who pays off the control inspectors and they somehow manage to walk away with loads of cartons. I am not so much surprised that this goes on, but I am utterly shocked how open they are about it. There was no trying to hide any of the exchanges of money. It was like Link and I were old pals to them and this was just plain business. We found out that they are only making about 4 leva off each carton of cigarettes. It doesn't seem all that worth it in the end if they do this everyday.
But I guess in a country where everyone smokes, they are just meeting the demand.
Did you know that Bulgaria has the highest rate in the world of cigarettes smoked per capita. The highest rate in the WORLD! (Thanks for that fun fact Max and the Economist.)
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