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We have some friends in Bulgaria (Ina and Marty) so we went there a couple of times and we spent a wonderful time. Though Bulgaria is a beautiful country to visit,

Bulgaria 2000

Trucoto
2004-02-28 16:14:11

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We have some friends in Bulgaria (Ina and Marty) so we went there a couple of times and we spent a wonderful time. Though Bulgaria is a beautiful country to visit, I have no idea how a regular tourist could do it, as it is not very touristic friendly in general terms. We rented a car with our friends and followed them to a great variety of places, all of them fascinating. Sofia, the capital city, has no great things to offer, and all the fun is in the rest of the country. The first place to visit is very near from Sofia, an ancient monastery in the Rila (Рила) mountains. The monastery is very well preserved, and the frescoes are awesome. The contrast between the colourful paintings, the black and white archs and the green tall trees outside is breathtaking. It is one of the rare places in the world that is unique and incredible to see, but it is not ruined by tourists. There are a couple of them, to be honest: always a Japanese here and there with his camera taking pictures of everything, but not the flood of people you would usually find in the Sixtine Chapel, for example. The surrounding mountains are an incredible context for this place, that was saved from the destruction of the Turks thanks to them. Most of the Bulgarian culture survived the five centuries oppression of the Turks hidden in monasteries, that is why they are so important. Another monastery we visited is the oldest Monastery in Bulgaria: Bachkovo (Бачковски манастир), that it is a bit closer to what the real life of a monastery looks like. They have priests and animals and it is not so touristic, so prepared to amaze like the one in Rila. People visit it because of its religious values, rather than for a touristic urge. The church itself is small and lovely, full of wood and looks very ancient. The priests are naturally very different from those we catholic risen people are used to. The Slavic world is normally forbidden for the common European tourist, and religion is one of the ...