Nightmare holiday

Imagine you are going on summer vacation in a foreign country, you or your child has a sore throat and you go to the pharmacy to buy some sore throat pills. Instead, however, you are redirected by the pharmacist to a nearby hotel that has a contract with a private medical center that examines you, prescribes you pills, and sets you up for a second prophylactic examination in 2 days.
Because of a sore throat.

We are not going to talk here about the excessively widespread Covid at the moment, which is mainly characterized by a red throat. No tests for Covid have been done.
And you may remember how sloppy and disinterested the GPs here are usually with their patients, even when it comes to severe and hereditary diseases, even when it comes to bad lab test results.
However, we are talking here about a prophylactic examination for a red throat, which you have to do as part of your sea vacation, and how you have to pay almost 764 euros or almost 850 dollars for all this.

In this story, the first thing that strikes me is the following: (we are talking about a case in Bulgaria, of course, where else) The vacationers went to a pharmacy and ended up in a private doctor's office. They went for something that probably costs 2.50 euros, well, everything is very expensive on the coast and for sure the prices of the products in the pharmacies are also much more expensive than usual, but surely maybe it is something that is worth less than 5 euros, but in the end they had to pay 764.
Well, I have always been amazed by the fact that in Bulgaria you can very, very rarely get a consultation at a pharmacy. I've tried it many times and almost always hit a dead end, even when it comes to simple pills like pain relievers or vitamins. This happens especially insistently in expensive pharmacies, and most of them are expensive - the pharmaceutical business in Bulgaria has been known for a long time to be mafia-like, maybe that is why there are not so many followers of covid vaccines in this country.

Anyway, I have received a consultation only in one chain of pharmacies in the neighboring regional city, where the prices are lower, and the staff is more human and, somehow, more concerned about their customers. And for comparison, I can give the example of pharmacies in Spain, where I used to take off my shoes to show my injuries, so that the pharmacist could decide for himself what to give me - painkillers or means of external treatment.

So, I don't know who managed to advise these people I'm telling you about, Lithuanian citizens, to turn to Bulgarian television for help. Because this is the only way for something to happen in the country, for any institution to be activated, to be made to work. For your information, just recently in this way, the capital authorities finally did something regarding a report filed about a crocodile being bred on the street in one of the capital's neighborhoods. Sounds comical, doesn't it? Well yes, everything in this country is comical.

And so began the revelation of all illegal and legal medical practices, prohibited and permitted, all that we are all used to perhaps because it happens every year, then from the last few years every summer this topic is discussed - the skyrocketing prices for medical services on the coast, at the same time their low quality and all the fraudulent procedures that are applied to absorb the money from the tourist insurance of foreigners. And not only, of course.

The prices for an examination for any ailment, as I said, are enormous.
They are huge for Bulgarians. And for foreigners they are double. On the one hand, this seems understandable, since salaries in Bulgaria are very low compared to any other European country. But on the other hand, it is illegal, although it has always been enforced.
And also, prices in medical centers are often determined by the appearance of the patient, his clothes, his jewelry, as well as the country he comes from.
I can say that prices are set this way for many other things and in many other places in the country. The smallest example is the fruit and vegetable sellers on the road, who look at what car you come in and what license plate it has and determine the price based on that.
As far as I understand, Lithuanians come from Norway. Why else would they take a two-week vacation at this expensive resort in this poor country?
The doctors say that they adjust the prices of the examinations to the standard of living of the country the patient comes from, but these people said that the upper bar for such an examination in Norway can be up to 200 euros with all the possible tests that have not been done on them anyway here.

And here is another funny thing that this part of Bulgaria is famous for. If a person comes here for the first time on a summer vacation, leaving covid aside, the probability of getting sick is very high. This is because of the polluted waters of the sea, where the sewage pipes are poured. There are times when a person can literally find themselves swimming in sh^t, but in most cases they are not visible, the water may even be clear, but still full of bacteria. And many human organisms just can't stand it (like mine).

I found it funny when the mayoress of Paris bathed in the Seine to try to convince people that the water was clean. The authorities do the same in Bulgaria every year when they try to convince tourists that the sea is fine, in an attempt to save the tourist season. One year even the Minister of Tourism bathed in the sea on this occasion. But that can only mean one thing, of course.

And the funny thing is, as I said, this region, because of the specificity of the urban infrastructure and everything else, creates diseases and sick people. Then these sick people cannot be served adequately. And if they are served, they are asked huge sums for it. How do you feel about €200 or $222.55 just to get you in an ambulance? If you are unconscious and there is no one next to you, will they wait for you to regain consciousness so they can take your money and then get you up and serve you?

Wait, I thought of something else.
At the beginning of the season, on the country's main job search site, advertisements for reception jobs in such private medical centers appeared. Just then I was looking for work on the coast, and just then, finding out what the living and working conditions were like there, I gave up forever. But let me tell you, it was a temporary job, on the principle: a day feeds a year, or in this case - a season feeds a whole year. But guess who this applies to? Because the requirements for the receptionists were quite high, several languages ​​were required, necessarily Russian, the shifts were very long, and the salary was not something intriguing. And against the background of the prices that are offered in these centers, this now seems to me to be another fraud and exploitation, a lie not only to the potential patients, but also to the poor workers in these centers.

And the Bulgarian Black Sea - well, I don't recommend it to anyone. You know, I have said that I was very happy when I was given this opportunity to visit it, to tour most of it. But that happened in the offseason. The last time I was there during the season, many years ago, I ended up in the ER. And it was good that I was in one of the biggest cities there, with hospitals and everything, because a lot of people say that because they can't get medical help there, they have to cut short their vacation and go back home to go to doctor.
Nowadays, even Bulgarians have to go there on vacation with additional health insurance, even though they are covered by the national health insurance. And after fighting for over 6 years to get my health insurance back even though I am self insured there is no way I am going to give more money and pay even more for supplemental health insurance to go to a dirty and nasty place where I will necessarily get sick, spend my vacation in bed and get ripped off by scammers, and then probably these huge costs will not be recognized by the insurance company because they are inadequately high.
So, don't come here. 😅

Thank you for your time! Copyright:	@soulsdetour
	Soul's Detour is a project started by me years ago when I had a blog about historical and not so popular tourist destinations in Eastern Belgium, West Germany and Luxembourg. Nowadays, this blog no longer exists, but I'm still here - passionate about architecture, art and mysteries and eager to share my discoveries and point of view with you.

Personally, I am a sensitive soul with a strong sense of justice.
Traveling and photography are my greatest passions.
Sounds trivial to you?
No, it's not trivial. Because I still love to travel to not so famous destinations.🗺️
Of course, the current situation does not allow me to do this, but I still find a way to satisfy my hunger for knowledge, new places, beauty and art.
Sometimes you can find the most amazing things even in the backyard of your house.😊🧐🧭|