10 May 2018, Thursday
After spending nine days in Greece, it was time to move on to Bulgaria, the second country of my trip. Our Thessaloniki Airbnb host Asteris swung by the apartment in the morning to check us out. He then gave us a ride to the railway station, saving us the hassle and cost of getting a taxi.
The Union-Ivkoni bus to Blagoevgrad was not luxurious and the air-conditioning was a little weak, but it was decent and comfortable enough. At 9:34am, the bus departed Thessaloniki railway station and we reached the Greece border at 11:55am. As this was our first land border crossing on a bus, we were a little nervous about how it would go.
A customs officer boarded our bus and he went around checking all the passengers’ passports. After that, he collected all our passports and went off, while we remained on the bus. Less than 10 minutes later, he returned with all our passports and we were cleared for entry into Bulgaria. We checked our passports and saw that there was an exit stamp for Greece and an entry stamp for Bulgaria. There was no need to alight from the bus and it was super fuss-free. What a breeze!
The scenery in Bulgaria was beautiful and we drove past some nice hills and rapids. At 1:31pm, we arrived at Blagoevgrad bus terminal. After dropping us off, the bus continued its journey to the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, which was our destination tomorrow.
As there were very limited Airbnb options in Blagoevgrad, I had booked an apartment via booking.com instead. The apartment was about 1.2km away and at least 15 minutes by foot. I initially considered walking there but decided that a taxi would be a better option because of our big suitcases.
However, we had a small problem – we didn’t have any Bulgarian lev currency with us. The lev is one of two elusive currencies that we couldn’t find in Singapore, the other being the Serbian dinar. Uber is also not available in Bulgaria so we had no choice but to take a taxi. We were not sure if the taxi drivers here could accept Euros or not but we just gave it a try.
We managed to flag a yellow-coloured taxi near the bus terminal and tried asking the driver if he accepted Euros. He was a genial old man and didn’t speak any English at all so I showed him the address of our apartment. Thankfully he knew where it was, and agreed to take us there.
It was a very short ride and we paid him 2 Euros. He accepted it with a smile and we waved him goodbye. It was the first instance of the many kind and friendly people that we would meet during our short stay in Bulgaria.
Sky Apartments
Address: 12, Dame Gruev Str., 2700 Blagoevgrad
Price: 48.50 Euros / S$78 for 3 pax for 1 night
Link: http://www.booking.com/Share-94UJqn
It was a serviced apartment but there was no front desk reception. A female representative was there to meet us and she showed us up to our apartment. It was very nice and well-furnished and we loved it as soon as we stepped in.
We asked the lady where we could obtain some Bulgarian lev and she told us that we could exchange our currency at a bank nearby. So I went to the bank and changed some currency (remember to bring your passport along). The exchange rate was 1 Euro = 1.947 lev, or about 1 lev = S$0.835.
After that, we quickly left the apartment and took another taxi to go back to the bus terminal. The taxi ride cost only 2 lev (S$1.67), which means that we had overpaid the first taxi driver. No wonder he was so happy with the 2 Euros, hahaha.
Anyway, we were back at the bus terminal to catch the 3pm shuttle bus to Rila Monastery. The monastery is situated in the southwestern Rila mountains, at an elevation of 1,147m above sea level. It is located about 117km south of Sofia and most people visit it as a day trip from Sofia. However, as we were coming from Greece in the south and eventually heading to Sofia, it made more sense for us to visit Rila Monastery along the way and spend a night at Blagoevgrad, before moving north to Sofia tomorrow.
The one-way ride from Blagoevgrad to Rila Monastery costs 4 lev (S$3.34) and the attendant issued us tiny paper tickets. Very old school. The small shuttle bus was fully occupied but we were the only tourists. All the other passengers were locals and they dropped off at small villages along the way.
At 3:35pm, we stopped briefly at Rila town, where we had to alight the bus. 15 minutes later, we boarded again and moved off. The drive up to Rila Monastery was very scenic, with lush green forests and rapids on either side as the road wound steadily up the mountain. The water in the Rilska River was so clear and it was perfect for white water rafting. At 4:15pm, we finally arrived at our destination.
Rila Monastery (click here) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed onto the list in 1983. It was founded in the 10th century by St. John of Rila, a hermit who was declared a saint while he was still alive. His humble cave dwelling is located not far from the monastery.
The present structure comprising of the residential buildings for the pilgrims and Hrelyo’s Tower, the 24m-high tower inside the monastery yard, were constructed in the 13th century. A large fire at the beginning of the 19th century destroyed most of the buildings and only Hrelyo’s Tower survived. The monastery was rebuilt between 1834 and 1862, and it was during this time that the colourful main church in the courtyard, the Nativity of the Holy Mother, was built.
Before coming on this trip, I had seen pictures of Rila Monastery on the Internet so I knew what it looked like. What was amazing was that the candy-striped façade of the main church was as whimsical in real life as the pictures suggested.
It was quiet during our visit and there weren’t many other tourists around. Nestled high in the mountains with green trees all around us, Rila Monastery was a picture of calm and solitude. I took my time to photograph the church and soon covered all the different angles. Access to the surrounding residential buildings is only granted to the residents and pilgrims, so we could not go to the upper floors.
Photography is also not permitted within the main church so I could only take photos of its exterior. The outer corridor of the main church is covered with colourful and richly detailed frescoes, which were very impressive.
Rila Monastery is smaller than I imagined, and we spent less than 45 minutes there because we needed to catch the last shuttle bus back to Blagoevgrad, which departs at 5pm daily. As we were leaving, it started to rain and we hopped onto the bus not a moment too soon.
We reached Rila town at 5:24pm and alighted once more. It was a longer wait this time round and the connecting bus departed only at 6pm. By the time we arrived back at Blagoevgrad, it was around 6:35pm. As we only had one night here, we wanted to explore the town centre before all the shops closed. We then took a taxi from the bus terminal to Largo, the only modern shopping mall in Blagoevgrad. The ride cost only 1.90 lev (S$1.60). Taxis are cheap here!
Blagoevgrad is a small town with 80,000 residents, and about a quarter of them are university students. It is not a touristy place at all, because all the tourists are at the capital Sofia, about 101km away in the north. However, its relative proximity to Rila Monastery (about 40km away) makes Blagoevgrad a good place to stop over for a night or two. Indeed, as we walked around the town centre, the locals all looked at us as if we were aliens. I figure most of them had never seen Chinese tourists before.
As you can imagine, the town centre is very compact. Largo is the only shopping mall, with H&M as its anchor tenant. But you don’t come to Blagoevgrad for shopping anyway. To cater to the university crowd, the town centre is filled with many cafes and bars. The town square in the old quarter has been beautifully restored and the surrounding area is occupied by charming old buildings.
We went to the restaurant at the top floor of Largo, called Largo’s View, and discovered that it had an amazing view of Blagoevgrad. It was so nice that we decided to dine there. From the outdoor seating area, we had a splendid view of the old quarter and the surrounding mountains. However, it was too chilly so we sat indoors.
We ordered a Mexican Burger, an American Burger and a mushroom risotto. The food was very good. We also tried the local beer, which was smooth and light. The bill came up to 31.86 lev (S$26.60), which is considered cheap by European standards. If you ever visit Blagoevgrad, I recommend dropping by Largo’s View for the best view of the town and for some cheap and good food.
It was about 8pm by the time we finished our dinner. We headed back to our apartment, walking along ulitsa Todor Alexandrov, the main pedestrian shopping street. The street was decorated with colourful umbrellas suspended in the air, forming a very pretty sight. The sky was still quite bright but all the shops had already closed.
Dad looked at the window displays of the shops, spotted some nice floral shirt designs and lamented about the missed opportunity. Indeed, the stroll along ulitsa Todor Alexandrov was very pleasant and it was quite a pity we didn’t have more time here.
We reached our apartment at 8:30pm and spent the rest of the night washing up and getting ready for our departure tomorrow. Our apartment was very comfortable and we loved it. It was also on the top floor so we had a nice view of the rooftops. It was a pity we were only spending one night here.
Looking back at today’s programme, to be honest, I felt a bit underwhelmed by Rila Monastery. Perhaps it was because we spent about 3.5 hours travelling to Rila Monastery and back, and we only had less than 45 minutes to explore it. We had to catch the last bus back at 5pm so our visit felt rushed. But then again, the monastery is very small (especially when the upper levels of the residential buildings are out of bounds) so I think a maximum of two hours will be more than sufficient.
Perhaps it was also because it came too soon after we had visited the Meteora monasteries in Greece just two days prior. Meteora had several large monasteries and the surrounding landscape with the unique rock formations were truly magnificent. It is perhaps unfair for me to compare them because if I were to just visit Rila Monastery on its own, I’m sure it would have been more impressive and I would have felt differently about it.
I think I can conclude that the effort taken to visit Rila Monastery (the long journey and the change of buses) was greater than the final reward, that was why it was a little disappointing for me. If anything, the drive up the Rila mountains was very scenic and made the visit worth it. Nevertheless, I didn’t regret visiting Rila Monastery.
It would have been nice to stay one more night in Blagoevgrad because it was a quiet and charming small town. Even though most of the people here didn’t speak English, we could still feel their warmth and friendliness. The people here were more genuine and simple, not cunning or scheming like some of the bigger European cities. We felt safe and welcome here even though we were the only Chinese faces in all of Blagoevgrad.
One short night in our cosy apartment and we’re off to Sofia tomorrow!