Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Well folks? How bad is it to be back to work after a week on the pish (oh sorry, i mean piste!!)

We departed on the 25th from Dublin and we were all in good spirits even after our hotel change by Balkan Tours 2 days previous.
After a painless 3h45min flight and 2.5hr transfer to Borovets we arrived at the Samokov Hotel, not knowing quite what to expect.
Given that it was now 6am Bulgarian time we were horrified to hear from that reception staff that our 3 rooms were not ready for us. Our Balkan Tours 'representative' that night ahnded us a 'welcome pack' (water, luck warm coffee with no milk and a dry cheese bap) wished us well and left the hotel for us to fend for ourselves. What was going on????

After a wait of 30mins we finally got our room keys and headed off for some well earned sleep.

4* hotel rooms they certainly werent. Although warm and clean, the beds were like bricks, pillows filled with baby potatoes and the bedsheets resembled the sack from which the pillow spuds had just been emptied out of. The bath was falling to bits and water didnt drain from either the sink or the bath, and the decor looks like it hasnt been updated since the 80's. The 100 station cable TV didnt work either (this was meant to be part of our upgrade compensation pack). What a dump of a room!

Undeterred, and after a few hours sleep we headed off to breakfast. The breakfasts could not be faulted in any way. A wide selection of warm and cold foods including freshly made omlettes. If you left the restaurant hungy after breakfast then its you own fault for being far too fussy. It was excellent.

We met our new Balkan Tours rep Pat for our welcome meeting and he was fantastic all week. Very helpful, friendly and informative. (Perhaps Balkan Tours could employ more people like this??)

Skiing was excellent all week. Some foggy days followed by heavy snow and alot of blues skies. Any thaw was soon sorted our by fresh powder.
DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THE SNOW SITUATION - IT IS PERFECT!!!!!

The lifts were very busy due to the gondola being closed due to high wind for 3 days and a Bulgarian holiday on the Friday.

All in all the skiing conditions were absolutly fantastic and we even managed some off-piste through the trees. Pictures will follow later.

Apres ski was simply brilliant. Food in the restaurants has improved dramatically since even last year. They now understand what well done is supposed to mean.

Titanic Bar - Above Rila - THE BEST
Great Steaks, Beer, atmoshpere and the best looking waitresses - Silvi and Megi!! Hi to you both and thanks for the free wine & T-shirt.

Katys Steakhouse - Opposite Samokov
Again great steaks and ambience. A close run second for an evening meal.
You may well need to book

Karaoke Bar - Opposite Rila
The best Burgers we have ever eaten - cooked from fresh while you wait (expect it to be busy at lunchtime)

Napoli & Venice Pizzerias -
A very good choice for lunches with very helpful staff.

Mamacitas - Near the Buzz Bar
Excellent Food, staff and Band. Highly recommended. You will need to book a day early.

The food, beer and drinks were excellent everywhere and we didnt have a bad meal once. 7 of us were in a group so at 3 meals per day for a week that makes 147 meals without one bad one! Pretty impressive! Prices were not any more expensive than a year ago.

Ski Equipment is very cheap and high quality. I bought a pair of salomon boots for £80 and two other mates bought skis for about £140 quid a pop. See Alex in the skishop beside the white magic pub.

A few pointers:
1. Agree a fare with taxis/horse&carts etc before you get in.
2. Dont believe the beggars, they are an organised group.
3. The skidoo safris are a waste of money
4. Everything 'branded' in the shops are fake.
5. If the queues for the gondola are too big, get a taxi to the bottom of the yastrebets chairlift. £3 will save you about 1hr30mins skiing time.
6. Tell the guys in the ski depot you want to keep your skis till the end of the week - handy for night skiing and saves you time in the mornings.
7. The beer is 11-12% so be careful (2 large ones = 1.5 bottles of wine!!)
8. Take some walkie-talkies.

Above all remember you are on Holiday and that you are experincing a different culture that might differ from what you are used to. If you give it a chance you will have the time of your life!!

Take care

Nasdravid - (Bulgarian for Cheers, Perhaps Tangette can fill me in on the correct spelling!)

Enjoy

Alan

Enjoy (any room in your suitcases!!)