Bulgaria Ski discussion board

hi

Just got back from bansko yesterday, as the reviews i read before going out were so helpful, i thought it is only right i return the favour and hopefully help out a few future travellers to the area.

OK, so last Saturday we travelled to E.Midlands airport, for of apprehension for the Tu-154m. After a delay of 25 minutes, we were on the plane. First impressions were dodgy, with exit signs in Russian and seats folding and breaking all over the place. It was certainly no airbus. Every joked about it, but the flight itself in the end was extremely comfortable, and not a bit of turbulence.

Plovdiv airport is an experience, lets just say, I have seen bus stops bigger. Fortunately, it being so small meant we got the luggage reasonably quickly, and we were soon directed towards the rep dealing with Bansko. He told us which coach to get on. The coach was comfortable - as good as any normal coach in Britain to be fair. However, the 3.5 hour transfer to Bansko can get a bit tedious and tiring, and the first delight to see a bit of snow as you wind your way through the mountains (in the dark) was soon replaced with boredom, as everything looks the same.

On the coach we were given the details for ski hire and ski school the following morning, as it was our first family skiing holiday, we were unsure of what exactly we were going to need to do, so having it all spelt out by the rep really helped.

Eventually we reached the town, and our hotel, the hotel Bansko. Check-in at the hotel was quick and we were soon on our way to the room. We were very pleasantly suprised when we opened the room door. The room was made up of a large main room with a double bed and TV, and a second room which was almost as roomy, also with a TV and 2 single beds. The bathroom was also very plush. The room was lined with wooden effect, similar to what you would see at a lodge at center parks or something - very nice.

We went straight to bed as it was pushing Midnight and we had a lot to sort out in the morning.

On waking in the morning, we put on some casual clothes and headed down to Breakfast. Unfortunately, the food was limited with toast and an apple the only things I could stomach to eat.

We headed back up to the room, got into the ski wear and headed down to the bottom of the hotel, and waited for the pickup from the shuttle bus that serves the hotel bansko.

The bus came almost immediately which was a pleasant suprise, and it was a very modern minibus. However we sat on iot for a good 10 minutes waiting for it to leave. The journey to the lower gondola station was quick, less than 5 minutes.

Once at the gondola station this is where the chaos starts. We made our way to the ski hire place, where we met the rep once again, who presented us with the lift passes and the vouchers we needed for ski hire and school.

We were fitted with out boots and skis, which all looked like good stuff.

Now we were faced with where to go for ski school. The chief instructor was hanging around, and we were told to leave the little one who was a beginner, just at the bottom there. We then asked where intermediates should go, he gave a distracted point upwards. We were very unsure of what he meant so we asked again, got pretty much the same response. We went backwards and forwards asking different people, and we never got a difinitive answer from anyone. We eventually gathered that by upwards he meant up the stairs towards the gondola, but on asking another instructor at the top of the stars, he told us to go back down to where we started. With more and more people streaming into the station, it was very chaotic, and VERY stressful. Also, being presented with all this contradicting information left us very worried about leaving the little one down there by herself, we didnt want her to get left behind. after a good 20 minutes of confusion, we finally gathered that by up, they meant take the gondola to the top. This may seem obvious now, but as people who have never visited the resort before, it should have been made a bit clearer. With great trepidation we left the little one, and made our way onto the gondola.

The gondola is fantastic and it obvious they have spent millions on it. Once on it, we relaxed a bit and enjoyed the ride.

Once at the top gondola station, it was then obvious we were in the right place, with a lot of other unsure people mulling around. After a few minutes all the instructors came and gave us a little ski test. Fortunately, the 3 of us were all put in the same group (the best intermediate group ) We waited for about 20minutes while everyone was assigned a group. The wait wasnt a bad wait, as we were relieved to finally be up there.

We were then introduced to our instructor, Tony. He took us on a chairlift, and we started to get to know our group.

We snaked around the slopes and just did a few simple exercises being that it was the first day, but it was obvious we had a really nice and friendly instructor.

All day in the back of our minds was how the little one was doing at the bottom, we were getting the horror thoughts that maybe she had just been left there and was in tears by herself or something, but they were just normal worries.

We stopped for lunch and what would become our regular place, and the top of the chairlift and opposite the drag lifts (forgot the resteraunts name).

They had some really good stuff in there, and it was always easy to have a hearty lunch to prepare yourself for the afternoon.

The afternoon was enjoyable and at the 3pm finishing time, we headed down on the gondola, to meet the young one. Fortunately, on seeing her it was obvious she had had a good time and made some little friends, and we were very happy and relieved.

We decided to go back up on the gondola to give her a bit of extra practice on the tiny slope by the top station, even though it was at this point raining. We were the only ones going up and we did get some funny looks. We practiced with her for about 20minutes and then we headed down.

We caught the bus easily enough back to the hotel.

Once back, we decided to check out the pool. We were stunned on entering the pool area at the luxury of it. The floor was heated, there were towels on tap lol, it was delightful, and was beautiful just to lie on the sunbeds next to the pool and relax.

We then got ready for the evening. We headed down to the hotel resteraunt. The food was OK, with chips and sausages available, but it didnt really match the standard of most British hotels, and there wasnt much for vegetarians. Drinks were available cheaply from the bar.

We were so shattered after our first day skiing we headed back up to the room rather than heading out. We watched a bit of tele, which had a good variety of sattelite channels.

I could go through every single day in this manner, but it would get boring so ill get to the important bits:

Slopes: the slopes were really good, as mentioned, they were sometimes a bit icy, and slushy towards the bottom, but there was a decent variety, and easily satisfied a group like us. After ski school a personal favourite of ours was to go onto run 5, which is only a blue, but has some great fun off the piste to the side, going in and out of the trees and doing the many jumps that have been carved out. We also enjoyed a great variety of reds and after ski school one day we tried the black a few times.

Ski school: Ski school for both us and the little one was fantastic, we learned a lot having fun at the same time, and made some good friends in the group, the instructors were fantastic as well - Tony for us was a great laugh, and George for the young 'uns was also brilliant.

Ski hire: We did have a bit of a problem with the ski hire. After each day you hand your skis in, rather than taking them back to the hotel, but we found on 3 occassions, they actually lost skis - obviously they were filed in the wrong area, and they had to be refitted. This made us late on one day, because once they couldnt find them, they preferred to just ignore us and serve the rest of the people behind us.

The town of Bansko: Very, very different to anything you would see in central europe. for example you saw many horse and carts going past, and at first yuo thought, 'thats as nice tourist feature!', and then you realise it isnt a tourist feature and just some local on his way to work. There is a lot of poverty, but at the same time, it is something different and not necessarily a bad thing.

Going out: The town center is OK, if a little confusing if you dont know exactly where you want to eat. For example, one night we are walking through the town, and just look at the menu outside a Mehana. Before we know it we have been ushered in and served with drinks - and with the whole family of bulgarians sitting around this tiny tavern with a low ceiling and dark lighting, it was very intimidating, and we certainly couldnt leave. BUT - in the end the food was fantastic, lots of drink, and the atmoshphere really livened up as the place got busier. The guy on his keyboard was a classic, playing lots of old hits, and then suddenly saying 'here is one for the children' and starts to sing JINGLE BELLS, we laughed so hard. In the end the meal came to about £20 - which you certainly cant complain with!!
Here is the best piece of advice i can give, - easily the best place to eat out is the Hotel Bulgaria. Unlike most of the hotel resteraunts, their resteraunt is luxury and the food is absolutely fantastic. They have a barbecue where you see your food being cooked, and a variety of water features etc etc. We are certainly thinking about actually staying at the hotel bulgaria next year, if the rooms are anything to go by the resteraunt!

The return flight: It was once again uneventful, on the same plane, but again no turbulence or discomfort, and i hate flying.

Plovdiv airport: lol cant describe it, just see for yourself.

One final note, we were shocked to discover that a 16yr old lad (my age) who was staying in our hotel at the same time as us, actually died on the slopes, hit a pilon. We were sitting in the lobby bar and actually saw his mother get the news -terrible scene.

I have loads of pics and I would be more than happy to send them out, just request them.

thanks

tom

We have just arrived back from Bansko 3 hours ago. There is enough snow on the slopes to last at least another few weeks, even if there is no more fresh snow. We stayed in the Hotel Strazhite. Sadly my husband was at the first gondola station when the young lad that Tom mentioned was brought down off the slopes, along with who I assume was his older brother who was hysterical and couldn't be consoled. We learned from our Balkan Rep the following morning that tragically the young boy had died. Our thoughts go out to his family.