Bulgaria is about the only country in the world that shakes their heads to say yes, and nods for no. This causes much confusion for foreign travellers! In Kalofer we had been trying to buy cigarettes from small shops. We’d gone in asking for them and they said something, and shook their heads, so we said thank you and walked out. With hindsight, they probably did sell them and were confused as to why we’d left without buying any!
One of the people we met related the story of his first visit to Bulgaria and they’d been in a restaurant ordering food. Each dish they asked for the waitress shook hear head and looked sternly at them. After asking for lots of other things, to be met with the same response, they finally decided that they would just have a coffee and then try somewhere else. Half an hour later the waitress brought out these twenty or so dishes that they’d ordered! She was very good natured about their mistake, and packed all the left-over food for them to take away.
This happens in India too! 😉