Bansko
We rested in Bansko from the 21st to the 28th of January.
The bus of the Bulgarian company WELT turned out to be old, not very clean and without a toilet. We were told that good new buses are not released on Ukrainian roads (it's a pity to spoil it). You can also not count on tea or coffee or just boiling water on the way - the issue is sabotaged. But the chairs are comfortable, the back did not hurt. The temperature in the bus was quite comfortable - warm enough, oh not hot, my feet were not cold, there were no drafts. Drivers are Bulgarians. The guide is ours, a badly brought up martinet.
The road itself took 26 hours (from Odessa to the hotel in Bansko and vice versa), hard of course. It took a very long time to reach the entrance to Romania - 9 hours, we drove through Romania in 6 hours. Breaks between stops for the toilet can be up to 8 hours, the toilet on the bus is not opened under any pretext.
Back the bus was already different (probably something happened to the regular one) - new, more comfortable. But we drove around Romania for a very long time, with some gardens all the way. There is a suspicion that not all documents were in order for the new bus.
I have traveled all the blue lines.
My classification according to the degree of difficulty.
For beginners to learn; to remember skills after a break; warm up; or return to Bansko after a ski day – Route 1 from Bndriska to the end or to Chalin Valoga (there on a chair and then on a gondola up or down).
The next stage is to climb the Kolarski chair and go down to Shiligarnik along the blue ends of routes 6 and 4 and then along the beginning of route 1 to Bderishki.
Then route 10.
The next ones are 5.3, 11 in any order.
The trails are wide and long, not ideally prepared. In the morning (if there was no snowfall at night) - all are good, plowed up by lunchtime, with snowdrifts and bumps.
Armchairs - after Dragobrat yokes - this is the height of comfort!
There are markings on the tracks, but they are not intuitive enough.
Bansko is a European resort, that is, toilets, cafes are everywhere you need.
Skis / sticks / boots were rented, which is in the same building with the ticket office (to the right of the gondola). They say that everything is new... but I would not say. But everything is of decent quality, you are selected, regulated. You leave everything there for the night - it dries, and you don’t need to carry it. Gryat that in the city you can get everything cheaper, but... I was reluctant to carry all this.
Queues. We got into them once - on Sunday (our first skiing day) - an hour at the box office and 40 minutes on the gondola. And it was not the top season yet!
For my family, I quickly developed the following ski day routine
- 8:15 I am already at the rental with a ski pass bought yesterday after 4 hours - I get up without any queues, I ride on the corduroy for my own pleasure;
- 12:30 I go downstairs and meet my family at the box office, buy ski passes for them for half a day and go up without queues, ride with the whole family together.
By 4:00 or 5:00 we go down. It is quite enough for a wife and a child - there is simply not enough physical training for more))).
For the future - I see no reason to go to Bansko in the top season - standing in lines will kill all the joy. In addition, we were in the low season, and there were a lot of people on the blue slopes... but what will happen in the high season?
It makes no sense to buy a multi-day ski pass (other than to avoid daily queuing in high season). The discount is negligible. And the risk of losing a paid day is big (fatigue, injury, illness, bad weather).
We skated the first two seasons just in the right suits and gloves. Ripe for more this time. We bought thermal underwear, fleeces, thermal socks, glasses (masks) number 2, helmets.
Absolutely everything justified itself! We didn’t sweat or get cold, we didn’t get wind in our heads and faces, we didn’t squint our eyes. Most importantly, no one got sick.
And finally, a couple of tips from an advanced teapot))) for beginners.
Do not climb difficult slopes (red and black) only to show off later - they say, I went down there! There will be only grief for you and people!
I decided this for myself - until I pass all the blue tracks so as not to fight for survival, but go with the wind, and with pleasure, and without stops, then I will not meddle on the red ones. However, my wife considers me a reckless daredevil))).
In Bansko, on the 2nd day, by misunderstanding, I got on the “black” route 16 (I found out that it was black later). And I even skied down it without falling (on the edges, of course). But this is not a reason for me to imagine myself a great skier...
Of the 6 skiing days, one was sunny, two with partly cloudy, three - overcast, two of them with snow, sometimes heavy.
We deliberately bought a tour only with breakfast at the hotel, knowing about the delights of local mehans (ethno restaurants), and we were not mistaken !! ! Food in mekhanas is very tasty, plentiful and inexpensive. Not more expensive than in Odessa. For 15 euros per body, you can thoroughly (combining lunch with dinner) a non-budget meal with wine or raki). The portions are just huge. Twice we were not able to eat everything ordered and took a "plate to take home".
After 20, there is usually live ethno music in the mechanics. If the Bulgarian company dances, the pleasure is twice as much.
We especially liked the Veselo Selo mechanic.
A very pretty place. It looks like a large mountain village that suddenly became a European resort should look like - the hotels are built in the same style, the tourist streets are updated accordingly. The town is worth a walk on the day of departure. Be sure to go to the church in the old town - it is unsightly on the outside, but inside it is very beautiful and unusual.
In general, the trip was a success. Bansko is our next step up after Dragobrat. We are thinking of coming back here again. But not on the bus… maybe on the plane.
