Bulgaria - Eastern Europe - page 54

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Bulgaria

By Pippa de Bruyn

F ounded in 681, Bulgaria is the oldest
state in Europe, but its roots reach far
deeper into history. In the Valley of Kings,
in tombs adorned with frescoes and bass
reliefs, archaeologists continue to discover
mankind's most ancient gold treasures—
the beautifully worked objects buried with
Bulgaria's Thracian forebears, some dating
as far back as 3000 B . C . Uncovering the
countless burial mounds dotted through-
out Bulgaria's central “belly”—a process
only started in earnest less than a decade
ago—has revealed that this was home to
the world's most sophisticated goldsmiths,
and prompted local claims that it was here,
in the shadow of the Balkan Mountains,
that Europe's first civilization was birthed.
Traversing Bulgaria's mountain
ranges—carpeted with ancient forests
and carved by mineral-rich rivers—you
can see why these sophisticated warrior-
artists chose to settle in its fertile plains.
It's a magnificent country, rich in natural
resources, with a climate that is more
southern European than eastern. It is this
temperate climate—along with a sweep-
ing coastline of sandy soft beaches,
lapped by a gentle, warm Black Sea—that
continues to attract new visitors, the vast
majority of whom arrive in high summer.
Thank heavens. For Bulgaria's treasures
lie elsewhere, hidden in the ancient
tombs of the Valley of Kings, in the mix-
ture of Bulgarian Renaissance architec-
ture and ancient Roman ruins that line
the cobbled streets of Plovdiv, in the
views of Bulgaria's medieval capital, the
university town Veliko Tarnovo, that rises

precipitously from limestone cliffs that
guide the winding Yantra River below,
and in the architectural museum towns
that lie scattered throughout Bulgaria's
mountains. It is particularly the latter,
their narrow cobbled lanes and alleys
lined with 19th-century stone-and-tim-
ber homes, that define Bulgaria as one of
the most exciting destinations on the
Continent. It's not just exploring the vil-
lages themselves, with picture-perfect
opportunities around every corner, but
getting to them—snaking your way along
empty roads, through high embankments
laden with red poppies and blowsy white
elder flowers; past women in patterned
headscarves tilling fields by hand, and
toothless old men pulling hillocks of hay
so huge you can't see their cart wheels. It's
Bulgaria, Eastern Europe even, at its
unspoiled best, relatively undiscovered
and offering a combination of natural
beauty and ancient history, comfortable
accommodations, and wonderful fresh
cuisine, in surroundings that show little
sign of the so-called advances of the 21st
century. It's no surprise then that tourism
here is on the increase, albeit it slowly,
with (at last count) almost 6.5 million
visitors now including this rough Balkan
jewel in their Eastern European itinerary.
With a lack of tourism infrastructure,
shocking service levels, and a foreign
alphabet, Bulgaria may not be the easiest
destination to master, but—armed with
this chapter—it will provide you with
some of the most authentic experiences
that Eastern Europe has to offer.