I see that Paul, did not go to the Blue Mountain Trip,, I did last year and found it a bit of a rip off, The bus trip is mainly for the older traveller.

I am 50 and felt a bit out of place, although I also blackmailed my 3 sons in their twenties to go and by the end of the trip a few of our older passengers were trying to get off the bus with them to go to the dancing in Sunny Beach, theres life in the old dogs yet..

The trip is a long journey into the centre of Bulgaria, stopping off at the guides favourite watering holes to pay over the odds for a bottle of Coke and the use of a toilet.

Even the visit to the Bulgarian village and Church is staged as the streets are lined throughout your walk with people selling home made tat and a
very out of tune band singing Frank Sinatra songs.

When you think things cannot get worse you are taken into some industrialised town and ushered into a cafe courtyard where you are given a set menu that would'nt feed a hampster and ONE drink, anything after that you buy...... Again a rush to the loo before you are practically thrown onto the bus and whisked off to god knows where.

The only good parts of this trip were the visit to a Crystal factory, you dont actually get inside the factory, only the gift shop, (I wonder why)
By this time we were actually thinking that the Balkan Holidays Rep was on commission.

However the Crystal factory is very cheap for some excellent work... I am hoping to return there this year (By taxi would probably be cheaper) to get some more crystal, it is about half the price of the shops.

Also do not miss the Blue Mountains Chair Lift, It was only about 12 Lev each and lasts about 20 minutes in both directions, (Brilliant)
The views are fantastic and you actually get the chance to rest with a beer at the end, (The Rep cant be on as much commission for this one)

So if you can arrange to visit the crystal factory and the Chair Lift without all the tripe in between then do so.....

Davie