Plovdiv & the Southern Mountains - Romania and Bulgaria - page 748

and antlers. The enormous traditional menu includes the 'chef's special' satch , a riotous
mixture of various meats, cheese and vegetables baked in a clay pot. Service is friendly
and attentive.
Information
The combined post office and telephone centre, near the town square, has internet, and
there's a nearby bank and ATM. The informative municipal website,
www.chepelare.com , has ski information.
Tourist Information Centre ( 2110; [e-mail]; ul Dicho Petrov 1A;
8.30am-12.30pm & 1.30-6pm) A helpful place 100m up from the square, on a side street,
the centre provides detailed brochures about hiking routes, skiing and other activities.
Getting There & Away
The bus station is across a footbridge, 200m northeast of the square. Buses leave hourly
for Smolyan (5 lv, one hour), via Pamporovo. Regular services between Plovdiv (11 lv, 90
minutes) and Madan, and Plovdiv and Smolyan, also stop in Chepelare.
Pamporovo
3095 / ELEV 1650M
Pamporovo (Pam- por -ovo), 6km south of Chepelare, is one of Bulgaria's four major ski
resorts. As with Bansko, rampant expansion has left the place - full of cranes, stacked
building supplies and the skeletons of characterless, identical luxury apartments - looking
like one monstrous construction site. However, unlike Bansko, there's no settlement, just a
decentralised resort. Pamporovo is increasingly popular and thus more expensive; it's also
expanding deeper into the forests, with almost 30km of new trails connecting Pamporovo
with Chepelare (the 35,000-sq-km 'Perelik project') and dismaying local environmental-
ists.
Although there's good nearby hiking, most of the town closes in summer. Other nearby
villages have more atmospheric accommodation, which means that Pamporovo is recom-
mended only if you're on a planned ski holiday. Otherwise, you can pass it by without