Bulgaria

May 12-19, 2016.

WEDNESDAY WANDERERS INTERNATIONAL FORMATION DRINKING TEAM TRIP TO BULGARIA

Distance: Averaging 14 miles a day.

Difficulty: Variable.

Weather: Mostly blue skies and sunshine: occasional showers.

Walkers: Tom Cunliffe, Mark Gibby, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart, Peter Johnson, Julian Ross and George Whaites.

Main Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Grami Hotel, Bansko, Bulgaria.

Tom has come in for considerable criticism over the years for his cavalier approach to the organising of trips and walks which he often fails to attend. So it with great pleasure that we congratulate him on the flawless execution of his planning of this cultural mission to the former Soviet Bloc country.

Tour polo shirts were distributed as promised at Manchester Airport before we set off for our 3 hours 20 minutes flight to Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. The cost for the return flights with Easyjet  were less than £85 for those who decided they could manage for a week with only hand luggage.

(Those of us who had concerns about our personal daintiness paid an extra £35 to take more than one change of clothing).

Despite learning after the booking that May was the wettest month in Bulgaria, we enjoyed hours of glorious sunshine and blue skies in the most spectacular scenery.

Bansko is situated in south-west Bulgaria at the foot of the Pirin Mountains. The town is 3,500 feet above sea level and the 47 miles of ski slopes start from a lift-served summit at 8,500 feet.

According to legend, Bansko was founded by the villagers of Dobarsko in Rila, who were the survivors of the army of Samuel, Emperor of Bulgaria from 997 -1014. He had early successes in battles against Croatia and Hungary, but was driven back by the Byzantines under their leader, Basil The Second. 

When his troops won the Battle of Kleidion in 1014, Basil ordered that the 15,000 captured Bulgarian soldiers should be blinded. He instructed that one in every 100 should be left one-eyed so they could lead the others home. It was these men who founded first Dobarsko and then Bansko.

There was a hitch at Sofia Airport when our ordered minivan driver failed to materialise. Just before his arrival 15 minutes late, there was an amusing scene reminiscent of Robert de Niro in the movie classic Taxi Driver.

When Tom was approached by another cabbie seeking our business , he told the Bulgarian we wanted to go to Bansko and that we had booked a minivan. The driver shook his head, and Tom temporarily forgot that Bulgaria is the only country in the world where people shake their heads for Yes and nod their heads for No. Consequently Tom demanded belligerently “What are you shaking your head at me for ?” When the bemused driver failed to respond, Tom repeated the question in the style of de Niro. Your diarist stepped in to defuse a potential diplomatic incident.

This was to prove our only misunderstanding with the friendly natives, who gave us warm welcomes wherever we wandered. This was especially true at the Grami Hotel in Bansko, a 2 hour 20 minute drive from the airport.

Our single, en-suite rooms, complete with balcony and colour TVs which, I am told, offered a choice of three different porn channels, cost just 10 Euros a night for bed and breakfast. The total cost per person was the equivalent of £58 for a week-long stay.

Beer was just under £1 per pint and at one nearby village we paid a total of £40 for 12 pints of beer, 2 pints of cider, seven starters and seven main courses.

Our walks ranged from climbs and descents of the snow-capped mountains, with drinks and lunches available in wooden huts, to flat walks to the nearby villages. Not much English was spoken and we soon found that unless you specified otherwise, the starters and main courses were likely to arrive together. 

There was also an element of “menu roulette” with no guarantee that you would always get what you ordered, but the service was friendly and the food was both good and plentiful.

Reaching the villages could appear hazardous when we passed herds of cattle or flocks of sheep in the fields. They are guarded by huge Alpine dogs who are employed to keep wolves and bears at bay. The sight of them barking out warnings from a few feet away might have alarmed lesser men, but the Wednesday Wanderers never flinched.

Lawrie enhanced his reputation as a leader during a week in which we rarely put a foot wrong or took a backward step. Meanwhile Julian and Mark were the star hikers when they marched 5,000 feet up the mountain and 5,000 feet down again in one day.

Bulgaria will be a hard act to follow for the quality and variety of its walks, its scenery and, above all, its value for money. But there is talk of a further adventure in Benidorm in January or February, 2017.

Happy wandering !