Blogs from Bulgaria, Europe - page 12

Sozipol on the Black Sea From Plovdiv towards the Black Sea the Bulgarian roads, agricultural vista and general scenery continue in the same pleasing tone as the Sofia to Plovdiv journey. It is a stark contrast to the south western part of Bulgaria. However some towns away from the highway tell - through their run down housing, neglected local infrastructure and sad old people - their tale of Soviet colonialism. In these old towns men gather in the mornings for a heart starter and sit all day. Women sit outside their houses looking blankly at the road. The bigger cities have their old soviet built apartment blocks to provide perpetual visual poverty. Along the main highway we see the harvesting of abundant grain crops as a sign of new wealth for farming in Bulgaria. Then on ... read more

PLOVDIV AND CENTRAL BULGARIA From a pleasant, but unremarkable camp on the banks of Lake Iskar, the road to the east toward Plovdiv improved. So also did the general outlook. Away from the feral looking south west, agriculture looks more productive with broad acre farming across a broad plain showing how well this land can produce. Now that Bulgaria is in the EU, those farmers who have recognised the opportunity are said to be doing very well. When we passed through we saw auto headers and other modern machinery reaping excellent looking yields of wheat while sunflowers decorated alternate paddocks. All this under a hot sun hardening seeds to a high quality. What a different face we saw in Plovdiv. In the south west of Bulgaria people may have all but given up. In Plovdiv the ... read more

South Western Bulgaria We entered Bulgaria from Macedonia on Bulgaria’s west. Crossing into Bulgaria we were checked more thoroughly than anywhere else so far. Later we read that the Macedonians and Bulgarians crossed each other of the Christmas card lists some time back. The exit from Macedonia was manned by border police and customs agents. Each made separate inspections of the vehicle as well as the Carte Gris ( French ownership certificate) and original Green Card insurance. The customs guy sought assurance that all the equipment was for personal use. Then we moved across no-man’s land to the Bulgarians. Another search by customs agent and a long quizzing look at the Carte Gris ( as if they had the slightest clue of what all the French words on it mean) and even longer on the Green ... read more

Sunny Beach - a new tourist attraction for Brits looking to get drunk on 80p a pint. However, despite its new found strip, with a vague resemblance to its predecessor Shagaluf, Sunny Beach remains untouched by the stain of drunken youth culture that scarred Spain and Greece. I met a German woman in Hollister (the club, not a clothing store which I originally thought), who was shocked when I told her I was from England; she explained that it wasn't really an English destination. We stayed in the Wela hotel, which was really pleasant. The pool was big, the rooms were lovely and the staff were helpful. I highly recommend the Off Road Adventure. We had a guide called Ivan who was brilliant. He said we could call him 'Papa' and honestly, he made the excursion ... read more

After visiting so many places in Europe, both tourist attractions and simple rural villages, it came to me that I had never been in any of the Easter European states. Well, to be truthful, it didn’t just strike me while fantasizing about my next travel vacation. I have a Scottish friend from Glasgow that had been to Bulgaria before and we were having ale one night when he told me all about his tour of Bulgaria. This guy, let’s just call him Willy for the sake of our story, had taken up a 7-day tour of Bulgaria. A local tour operator had sold him the package and planned his itinerary. Each night he stayed in a different city or village and during the day he traveled and visited the most beautiful places – from historical landmarks ... read more