|
|
|
If there’s one
overriding characteristic about Bulgarian tourism, it’s that beyond the
ski slopes, few know much about it. During the Communist era, the Black
Sea coast was the holiday destination of choice for the entire
eastern bloc. You might be expecting a grey, grim, concrete sprawl…but is
that fair? Ruth England went to find out.
Ask a random group of people to come up with a few fascinating facts
about Bulgaria and
chances are they’d be hard pushed to know what to say. Few distinct
images come to mind; it’s less newsworthy than the former Yugoslavia, and
less touristy than either Greece or Turkey. Oft
dismissed as little more than a dour, pre-1989 prime ally of the
erstwhile Soviet Union, it is,
in fact, a great open-air museum of Balkan culture and architecture.
Check out the beautiful churches, fine mosques, pretty villages and
folklore by the bucket load.
Sitting in the far south-eastern corner of Europe, Bulgaria borders Greece, Romania, Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Turkey. Around
85% of the 7.9 million population are Bulgarian,
speaking a Slavic language similar to Russian or Serbo-Croat.
During the long Communist years, Bulgaria all but
turned in on itself. As the Eastern bloc dismantled in the late
1980s, much of the Bulgarian economy collapsed. Market forces have been
introduced, albeit more cautiously than in other former Communist states,
and the steady growth of private enterprise is making its mark.
Progress, such as it is, isn’t entirely welcomed by some, who blame the
inevitable loss of full employment and security on Bulgaria’s move
towards capitalism. This is still a nation in transition, but Bulgaria is
patently more open to the outside world, and more visitor-friendly than
ever before. Can tourism help to restore Bulgaria’s
fortunes in the 21st century? Let’s hope so; certainly there’s enough
here to justify a vibrant, successful industry.
The mountainous interior makes this one of Europe’s top
hiking destinations. The long, white sandy beaches on the Black
Sea coast, where Ruth stayed, is a natural for beach buffs.
Indeed, this coastline was earmarked for extensive tourist development as
early as the 1960s. Better still, it’s a cheap place to visit. Who knows?
Maybe, finally, Bulgaria’s time
has come.
Ruth stayed in Elenite, close to the
fast-growing resort of Sunny Beach,
described by some as the next Costa del Sol. The
first thing to strike Ruth was how far her preconceptions were from reality.
Rather than sitting in the midst of some urban jungle, her hotel was
surrounded by woodland and a blue flag beach.
That wasn’t the only thing she got wrong. Like many, she’d assumed it was
a fairly chilly nation. In fact, temperatures regularly hit the 30s in
summer, much like Bulgaria’s
neighbours, Turkey and Greece.
One thing she is right about, however, is that this is still one of Europe’s
cheapest holiday destinations. Ruth stayed for a week at a 4-star hotel
on an all-inclusive basis for around £450. Granted, 4-star in Bulgaria doesn’t
mean quite the same here as elsewhere, but it’s still fantastic value.
It’s all too easy to stay put on an all-inclusive deal, but Ruth decided
to see what else was in the area. First, a trip to Nessebur for lunch. On the 40-minute boat trip, she
asked other holidaymakers what they made of Elenite.
The verdict was resoundingly positive: the food was good and it was
cheap, so they were happy enough. All in all, they’d got more than they
bargained for – and only in a good way.
Nessebur is a charming little town, with echoes
of its Greek, Roman, Turkish and Bulgarian history. The pretty cobbled
streets and eye-catching architecture are a far cry from the bleak images
of the communist years.
It’s also a great place to grab a bite to eat; locals reckon some of the
best restaurants in the area are here. Enter Preconception Number Three,
preparing to crash to the ground: Ruth had assumed that the food might be
a bit stodgy. She was pleasantly surprised; in one restaurant she counted
no fewer than 15 different salads on the menu.
It’s great for shopping bargains too, with a mean line in wartime
memorabilia. Interestingly, Ruth found that if you pay in sterling,
rather than lev, the local currency, you’ll get
a better price.
Time to move on. Ruth joined an all-day jeep safari into the surrounding
countryside. Again, she was in for a surprise, with vast plains as far as
the eye could see, followed by rolling hills covered in trees.
Their first stop was at Erketch village.
Bearing more than a passing resemblance to a set from “Fiddler on the
Roof”, just 300 people live here today – a tenth of the former
population. Most left when farms were nationalised during the 1950s.
There are a couple of things to see. One household makes their own
traditional lemonade (not that there were any lemon groves in the
vicinity). In another area, the village seemed to be frozen in time. No
matter, the visiting Russian tourists seemed to like it, as they arrived
by the busload.
Varna couldn’t
be more different. Bulgaria’s third
town and the region’s capital is a bustling, vibrant city. It’s come a
long way from its unfortunate history as a cholera-ravaged garrison town
in Ottoman times. There’s plenty to keep the culture vultures amused, and
great shopping if you prefer less cerebral distractions. A word of
warning, though. Ruth was approached by a couple of men offering a very
favourable rate to exchange money. Don’t do it, no matter how tempting it
looks. Black market transactions can easily mean a wad of newspaper,
topped and tailed with a genuine note. Ruth’s top tip: stick to the
banks.
In keeping with much of what Ruth had seen, Varna would
benefit from a bit of tarting up. That said, the old town has a lovely feel to it. One of the
more unusual features: the outdoor maritime museum, close to the beach,
with its display of Soviet wartime artefacts.
Bulgaria was more
westernised than Ruth had anticipated, yet it still feels unmistakably
eastern European. How long will it last? Not long, if the major tour
operators have anything to do with it. This place is destined to figure
large on the tourist maps soon.
Ruth England
|
|
|