Mountain Paradise Aparthotel Bansko

Hallo zusammen,

wie im vorigen Eintrag erwaehnt bin ich zum Rila Kloster gefahren, dem Jerusalem Bulgariens, UNESCO Weltkulturerbe und in 1000m Hoehe in den Pirin Bergen gelegen.

Von Sofia bin ich zunaechst mit dem Bus nach Dupnitsa gefahren, 60km im Sueden, 2,50 Euro fuer die Fahrt. Dupnitsa ist tiefste Provinz, englisch spricht hier niemand (und ...

A lot of Americans celebrated and had fun on this day but not me. I went to the central bus station on time to catch an early bus but somehow the cashier sold me a wrong ticket so I missed the bus, and then she refused to give me the refund. The first really unpleasant experience for this trip. And the day didn't get much better after this. I ended up catching a later bus to Bansko, but because of that I ...

8th June

Sofia to Rila Monastery

Sunny am 27 degrees Late storm

After breakfast we left our lovely hotel room in Sofia to drive to Rila Monastery. We made one detour to see some sign-posted rock formations where we drove up a goat track for a while, then climbed a hill and got to see a nice view but with no sign of the rock formations ...

... though as we wended our way up to the Monastery on the narrow twisty winding roads, as again they have no snow plows in evidence here, so they we just driving on hard packed snow and ice - thankfully I didn't realize this until after the first half of the journey was over. The Monastery though was spectacular and well worth the visit! It was a huge circular structure 4 stories high and because we were in the mountains ...

... there is a drag lift for the beginner area, and a magic carpet nearby, both for beginners, the drag lift is not very nice as it wrenches your arm. A little further on is a button pull on a slightly more demanding beginner slope. I stayed with the three beginners in this area, while the other four headed straight off to the top of the mountain to see how quickly they could break their legs. There were some queues in ...

... they stepped on a hot spot of the dirt or ground. Some of the bears were standing in the same spot for minutes on end just shifting feet and taking one step forward and then one step back. The rangers who worked there explained this was either due to the hot spots on the ground or too many years of horrible mental torture. Such a sad place, but definitely an eye opener and worth the visit ...

Had a lazy morning since we weren't leaving Sophia until 2. Got moving just before noon and then went in search of food. Quick piece of pizza, of course covered in Ketchup. I'm actually starting to get used to the ketchup on pizza slices! Then I tried to do some travelers errands. Browsed some stores and bought a bracelet for my mama while I waited for my pictures to be burnt to a CD. Made friends with the girls at the picture shop and then went to find more ...

... then cutting up the whole pig, and doing other cool gross stuff like squeezing out and cleaning the intestines. The women's jobs include serving them hot rakia and start cooking as soon as there's meat to cook. The whole process took about 4 hours. About an hour later we ate a ton, and about 6 hours after that we ate a ton again. And again the next day. I don't think I've ever eaten so much. The attached pictures are not for the squeamish!!

A Sabor is each individual town's special holiday or party. It's always on the same day every year - or the closest weekend. One of my friends, Allison, a primary TEFL trainee, lives in a town the size of Kocherinovo 20 minutes outside Dupnitsa, and they had their sabor this weekend. I went ...

Today, for about 5 minutes, I was nervous for the very first time in this whole experience. This morning our language trainer gave us some info on our host families. The paper said their names, there were 3 generations including grandparents in their 50s, a son and his wife, and a 4 year old granddaughter. Also that they have a dog, speak a little English, and smoke. The bus ride from the hotel in Panechishte to the peace corps office in Dupnitsa, the HUB site, took about an hour. We all ...