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Shopping & the
town
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Shopping
in Bansko is very good, with a wide selection of small shops
selling clothes, ski and snowboard gear, souvenirs, electrical
goods, bikes, lamps ... the list goes on. The shop-til-you-droppers
will be glad to know that there is almost always a cafe in
sight, most serving speciality coffees, soft drinks and alcohol
together with a selection of local pastries and other snacks.
Many
shops close for siesta at around 1pm and re-open at around
3pm, staying open until 8pm in the evening. After hours,
many shops stay open 24hr selling beer, wines and spirits
as well as food, snacks, sweets and other everyday items.
The nearest 24hr shop is about 5 minutes walk from the apartment.
On
Sundays, the market comes to town. Here you will find a varied
range of goods and local crafts at what are often rock bottom
prices. Behind the square is the fruit & veg market,
where you can sample some of the local organic produce.
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town's old quarters are best visited on foot. Here you will
find the old stone built houses, mehanas and small shops
lining the cobbled streets. |
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Relaxation
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| Next to the apartment
is the Belle Vue, where for a small cost, you can enjoy the
facilities of their health spa. Among the facilities are an
indoor heated swimming pool, a sauna, a jacuzzi and a turkish
bath. You can also enjoy a wide range of alternative therapies,
with everything from massage to reflexology available. |
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Day trips
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Rila
monastery
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| The best known
of Bulgaria's monasterys, justly famed for both its architecture
and mountainous setting. Although you may wish to visit the
monastery on a packaged day trip it is perfectly possible to
get here independantly and the abundance of trails leading
off into the densly forested hills make an extended stay more
than worthwhile. Though the monastery gates are open daily
to visitors from dawn till dusk, some of the sites within the
complex keep more restricted hours. If you want to see a service,
morning prayers start at 7 or 8am, evening prayers at 4 or
5pm. Services are preceded by monks hammering on wooden panels
in the monastery courtyard, a ritual designed to remind the
congregation of Christs nailing to the cross. The start of
the Saturday evening service is usually announced by a monk
ringing a carillon of bells from hrelyos tower. While the Thursday
morning service is traditionally dedicated to St. John and
features sacril chanting throught to date the 15th century.
Apart from Easter, the two main religous festivals celebrated
here are the birthday August 18th and feast day October 19th
of St. John of Rila. |
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Melnik |
The smallest
town in the southwestern Pirin Mountains, about 440 m above
sea level. The town is an architectural reserve with 96 of
its buildings listed as cultural monuments. Melnik is popular
amongst both locals and tourists for its unusual landscape
of sandstone formations, cliffs and pyramids as well as it's
robust red wines.
Melniks layout
is simple, with a single main street running alongside a
riverbed spanned by rickety foot bridges then diverging into
two gullies. Tiny back streets invite aimless wandering,
while the hillsides are abound with tortoises and lizards.
Kordopulov House
(opens daily from 8.30am to 12pm and from 1.30pm to 6pm for
about 5 lev) protrudes from a rocky shoulder above the gully
with twenty-four windows surveying every approach. The first
floor, is now a Mehana (bar/restaurant) providing spacious
yet intimate rooms. The reception room, a superb fusion of
Turkish and Bulgarian crafts, with painted panelling, rows
of cushioned bench seats, intricate lattice work ceiling
and a multitude of stained glass windows. Below ground are
the wine cellars, huge wooden barrells occupying vast caverns
cut from the hillside, connected to the vinyards at the rear
of the house by a network of tunnells. |
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The Dancing Bears Rehabilitation
Park |
| The park is located in a forest
area with natural water resources and home to the wild brown
bear. Each bear has its own territory with access to water
and plenty of space for climbing. The food for the bears is
deliberately hidden at different places in the park, so that
they find it themselves, just as they would in a natural wild
environment. The Dancing Bears Park is an international project
of “Four Paws” Foundation, a non- profit organization
and financed mainly by charity. Guided tour visits are available
between April and November |
Yagodinska cave |
| The Yagodinska Cave is the “pearl
in the crown” of the Rhodope Mountains. It is situated
near Buynovska River, 3 km from the village of Yagodina. The
cave is a part of the unique Karst of Buynovsko Gorge. It is
10 km long, and 5 stories high, with many labyrinths and abysses
inside. Visitors enter the cave through an artificially dug
opening, while the natural entrance is 30 m above.A special
path through the cave offers the opportunity to see the wonderful
underground world formed in the course of millions of years.
Atmospheric lighting illuminates the mysterious formations.
Draperies, pipe-like stalactites, cave pearls, “leopard’s
skin” and hanging stalactone visible along with many
others. Some of the formations inside resemble the well- known
Santa Claus, Snow-White and The Seven Dwarfs, Virgin Mary and
her newborn child, the Elephant, the Crocodiles and hundreds
more. |
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| Natural
Spas & hot springs |
| The spa resort is situated in
a mountainous area at some 550m above sea level and close to
the Mesta river. The area is rich in mineral water springs,
which had already been used during Roman times. The remains
of Roman spa facilities have since been transformed into the
village`s public bath. Ognyanovo offers perfect conditions
for recreation and spa treatment all year round with its mild
mediterranean climate. The mineral water temperature here is
43 degrees and is used for the treatment of a number of illnesses. |
Train
journey - Bansko to Velingrad
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| Why not take the Mountain train
to Belitsa or Velingrad. The narrow-guage railway winds through
the mountains with the most spectacular scenery. There are
organised trips taking tourists from bansko to Velingrad or
Belitsa, where you can visit the bear park as mentioned earlier.
The organised tours include return transfer and a traditional
Bulgarian lunch. |
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