From: speer@pilsner.cs.colorado.edu (Rick Speer)
Subject: Re: Help for summer vacation in BG, please !
Followup-To: speer@cs.colorado.edu
Summary: Hints and help for summer vacation in Bulgaria.
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 02:02:53 GMT


Dirk Meyer (ansme01@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de) asks for
'Hints and help for summer vacation in Bulgaria'. Here is
some free advice-

> 1. What is the accomodation like, are their special hotels
> or other facilities one has to visit, or is one absolutely
> free in choosing the accomodation ? Can the level of the prices
> be described generally, i.e. can you give an idea, what I have
> to pay for one night in Sofia or in the countryside.

The following is all based on my experience in BG last summer. I
found the hotels, in Sofia at least, to be very expensive.  You
could hardly get a room for less than $60 US / night. Some were
much more (more than $150). Perhaps they are less if you plan to
stay a long time, several weeks, e.g. Your best bet might be to
have some agency that organizes tours make the reservations for
you. They seem to get the best prices, perhaps because they reserve
many rooms at once. The worst plan is to walk in off the street in
Bulgaria with nothing arranged in advance; this will cost you a
lot.

The least I paid for a room anywhere in the country was 660 lv (about
$33 at the time) for one night. This was in the village of Pamporo-
vo, near Smolyan, in the far south-western part of the country. The
price scale is roughly linear for cities between this village and
Sofia in size.

One bargain possibility: in one small village I saw an Orthodox monas-
tery that allowed guests to rent rooms. One in fact was a German stu-
dent who was studying for some exams in the fall. All of the guests
seemed to be fairly long-term ones, staying for one or more weeks. I
don't know the price they charged but I imagine it was not very much.
Perhaps you could find such an arrangement.


> 2. What about car rental, I would like to rent a car to meet
> and see friends abroad, is it possible to rent a car, best
> perhaps to rent a car which is widely used in the country, 
> not something imported or exotic ? Any idea of the prices
> for this?

Two points about this- yes, it was expensive too, at least at the
Hertz and Avis places I checked. The odd thing, to me anyway, was
that there seemed to be a trick to it. Example- I went in one Fri-
day and asked to rent a car for that weekend (this was in Sofia).
I was told there were none available. They called out to the air-
port; 'none there either', they said. I went away and was fortune-
ately able to make other arrangements. Later though I was told by
some locals that it was very unlikely all the cars in fact were rent-
ed; why and how would there happen to be so many rich people in BG
that day, they asked? Instead they suggested that what in fact was
going on was that a bribe was expected... They said this is what hap-
pens if you don't call on Wednesday or so to make weekend arrange-
ments...

I have no way to know what the truth was. I can only say, based on my
experience, it's far better to plan ahead.


> 3.Is it -in general terms- cheaper to buy ticket, vouchers
> in the country or already in my own country ?

I had a short interaction with the Lufthansa office in Sofia and
found them to be very professional and helpful. In general though
I think you are much better off buying your tickets, etc. in your
home country. Unless you are pretty fluent in Bulgarski.

Some other advice-

1. Take lots of film, more than you think you will need. The
   quality of any film you can find in BG is dubious.

2. Likewise for any other such supplies- audio- or video-tapes,
   batteries, toilet paper.

3. Bring your own maps just in case; I could hardly find any
   there. I found that Nagel's Guide to BG (published in Swit-
   zerland? and available in several languages) was an excel-
   lent book to have along. The maps were very good and there
   was something in the book about almost every city I went to.

4. The people in the villages tend not to accept foreign currency.
   Change your money before you get out into the country.

5. The more Bulgarian you can speak and read, the better.

6. Bring thoughtful gifts- extra blank audio cassettes, chocolate,
   etc. The people tend to be very kind and you will want to thank
   them. Some candy for children can be helpful. A camera that takes
   instant pictures could be useful too. I learned that country-west-
   ern American music (Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, etc.) was very pop-
   ular among city people last year. Such cassettes might also be ap-
   preciated this year.

7. I found that a 'pit stop' out of Bulgaria and back to it, in the
   middle of my month-long visit, was very helpful (I went to Frank-
   furt). At the airport there I was able to buy more film and gifts
   like the above to bring back for friends who had been very helpful.

8. A portable radio might be useful, depending on your plans. Ask
   the net whether AM, FM or shortwave is best.

9. I found a portable audio cassette player to be very helpful.
   My friends took me around the country in a rented Lada that the
   radio have been taken out of. My cassette player became a nice
   way to relieve the boredom.


Have a good trip.
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|               Rick Speer (speer@cs.colorado.edu)                  |
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