Bulgarian Balkans :: Mar 6, 2012

Over the weekend I took a drive to the South West of Bulgaria to check out Bansko, a local ski resort in Bulgaria. Bulgaria along with rest of Europe has had an epic season for snow. The ski report says a cool 100″ base has been put down over the season which is huge and on par with the likes of Whistler this year. After a terrible season last year, the ski resorts will be breathing easy again.

Bansko is a small ski town and there isn’t a great deal to do other than ski, relax, try some Bulgarian cuisine and swirl a few local red wines (which are extremely good and dirt cheap by the way). While in Bulgaria, you have to try a ‘Sach’ for dinner and finish the night off with a shot of Rakia (don’t get too carried away with this stuff, it is pure gasoline! Try the home made stuff if you can). There are some great authentic traditional Bulgarian restaurants around the place, some of which are still in the original housing that dates back hundreds of years. Bansko’s first inhabitants apparently settled in the early Roman years, there are still some ruins in town from buildings that were built in 100 AD!!

Within a few hours drive of Bansko there is another ski resort, Borovets. Borovets is slightly smaller but the town isn’t as built up and it has a slightly cosier feel. So if you’re looking for a less expensive ski holiday, Bulgaria may be worth a look.

On the drive from Sofia to Bansko, you can peel off the main road for about 30 clicks and find Rila Monastery. This place is set right in the mountains and well worth the journey out to have a look. The walls and ceilings are all painted with the most vivid colours from top to bottom.

For those into photography, the last shot was taken with the new Canon 8-15mm fisheye lens which is absolutely awesome. It opens up a lot of doors for creative shots, just remember to get close… real close! The lens is almost capable of capturing a full 180 degrees, so keep those shoes out of the shot!

Questions or Feedback?? Fire away!

Got a question to ask or want to leave some feedback? Leave a comment below, and let me know what you thought of this post.