I arrived back in London early last week after a ten day trip through Bulgaria with Rez and Iz. I reeeaaaally enjoyed it.
ArrivalsWe landed in
Sofia on Saturday evening and picked up our hire car from a pretty decent gentleman outside the airport. This was the first experience, of many, we had that convinced us that Bulgarian people are pretty down to earth. As for the car, if it was up to me alone, I'd not have had the guts to go driving there. Luckily, fortune favors the brave and having that car turned out to be one of the best decisions we made. After learning we were headed for Borovets and telling us that signage is not a strong point in the country, the fella decided to show us how to get to the road south out of Sofia.
It took around two hours, with some cool-headed driving on Iz's behalf and flawless navigation (between beers) on Rez and my behalf before we arrived at Hotel Lion in
Borovets. It is a pretty nice establishment about a 5 minute drive from the town center and ski lifts. We chucked our gear in the room and headed into town a bit before midnight and settled into a nice restaurant where we were acquainted for the first time with the Bulgarian food. Oooh boy it was good; real chow you know? The heart burn I had a couple of days after we arrived back was almost certainly caused by overindulgence and not the quality food.
On our way back that evening we were waved over to the side of the road by a police officer. Apparently they take quite a strong stance on drink driving over there. As the car came to a halt we realised we didn't have our passports (back with reception at the hotel), the car documents, Iz didn't have her driver's license and I had twisted her arm to have a drink (just one) with us over dinner even though she was driving... We were all feeling a bit hot under the collar by the time the bill came up beside the car. He said something in Bulgarian and Iz replied with a chirpy "Hello". After some failed attempts at communicating, Bulgarian from him and English from us, he shook his head and waved us on. We drove off holding our breath. It turns out they were after the locals. We were told later in the week that if you are Bulgarian and driving at that time of night it's almost a certainty that you're a few drinks down.
Starting out on the pistes
The next day we were all in a pretty good mood as it was to be our first on the pistes. After a late-ish breakfast we headed into town under a perfect blue sky to hire our boards and boots and sort out the lift passes. Before long we were in one of the gondolas babbling and squeeking with excitement on our way up to Yastabrets. Between all of us, we'd spent 2 weeks snowboarding, so our first day was mostly a lesson in how to get back up after you've fallen down. The views from up there were absolutely amazing though. Having been in stuffy old London the previous day, it was sooo nice to be out there breathing the fresh air and taking it all in. There is something special about being able to see for as far as the eye can see. Ok I'm getting carried away. We arrived back at our hotel late that afternoon completely shagged out and all fell asleep infront of the TV.
The next two days were spent on the slopes slowly getting better. I managed to conquer a snowboarding demon of mine and make it up one of the drag-lifts without falling over. I still hate those things though.
A trip to Valingrad
On Wednesday we went for a drive to try and find some hot springs - 0ur destination was Valingrad. This was a time when we really got a feel for Bulgaria. In total it took us around 4 hours to drive 150 kilometers or so but as is most often the case, the journey was half the fun. Technically, we never got lost; we always ended up exactly where we intended to be. It was just that the roads didn't go where the maps said they did. Driving through the small towns and trying to decipher the cryllic signs was a real adventure.
On one of our shortcuts we ended up at a dead end at the base of an abandoned dam. Rez and I climbed up to the top and just stood there looking around at the water below and surrounding forest and hills. It was snowing slightly and completely quite. There were a few old buildings but absolutely no one around; it was very eery. Anyway we made it to Valingrad eventually and had a lunch fit for kings. Rez and I went to a banya afterwards - Iz waited very patiently - and then we all headed back to Borovets.
Thursday and Friday we did some more snowboarding. It had snowed enough over the past couple of days for the lower runs to be opened up, so we got to board through the snow laden pine forests. Rez and I also found a great vantage point where we could lob snow balls at people going up in the chair lift. It must have been karma because after the next couple of bends we got ambushed by two kids hiding behind a snow bank. For a snow holiday, that rounded it all off nicely for me. Oh that and the hot chocolate and brandy we had at the bottom of the runs.
On the road again
So it was without regret or sorrow that we left Borovets on Saturday morning for Pamporovo. Once again, driving in Bulgaria was a real experience. God I have to mention the roads. There is something about the roads there.
- You find people walking along them in the most unusual places.
- It's almost a requirement to have a four wheel drive on account of the potholes. OK that is an exaggeration but it made for interesting driving on some stretches of road where they had dug holes out before winter with the intention of filling them in during spring.
- The local drivers absolutely love overtaking. So much so, I am sure it's their unofficial national sport. It was like their was a competition to see who can cut into the smallest space between our car and the car ahead of us. Sometimes the oncoming traffic would veer out of the way to let them make it. And it was no different on the winding roads with blind corners!
It was all part of the fun though.
We stopped off in
Bansko on the way for lunch. This was one of the places where you could instantly see how tourism has taken off in Bulgaria. Lower Bankso was a sea of apartment blocks (either completed or in development) and, for us, the place didn't seem too inviting at all. It has to be said that the pistes looked pretty nice but on first impressions, I'd not choose go there for a holiday.
Late in the evening we arrived in Pamporovo. Much like Borovets, it was a ski town set in protected forests which really floats my boat. We had headed there to meet up with a property developer who was going to show us around some of his undertakings. The fact that we were getting free accommodation helped a little too. After having dinner with the fellow we headed into town for a drink or two. It was the last night of the season for a few of the bars so our barman had drunk more than us and was in even a chirpier mood.
Back to Sofia
We spent the next day driving around with our host and then left for Sofia later in the afternoon. That evening we shacked up in the Hilton thanks to Iz and enjoyed a relaxed evening in the restaurant and bar. Mostly those kinds of places are all the same but the customer service was so good. This is worth mentioning because it seemed so great after what we had experienced in other hotels in Bulgaria. It was such a strange thing, we always had really great nights out at restaurants and bars where the owners and waiters were unbelievably charming and friendly but we consistently had bad service in the hotels. Hmm, it sounds like I am having a whinge but I'm pointing out how new tourism is to the country and more broadly why I liked the place so much. There didn't seem to be any pretenses. People seemed like real people.
So there we have it - my trip to Bulgaria. It took me two weeks to finally write this monstrosity but I'm glad I did. It was a good holiday with great company and I still find myself pining for the slopes.
Photos can be found here.
PS.On a side note, my third year abroad passed on March 25th. That's a fair amount of time. Occasions like that make you wonder about what you've achieved/done/experienced/contributed and whether it's enough - whether you are making the most of your time. I can't decide if I have.
All this pondering reminds me of a good video I saw the other day. So I'll leave you with
Alan Watts on Music & Life.
