Sunday 11 September 2016

Walk along the coast from Rezovo to Sinemorec



The staring point of the trek was the Rezovo River, which serves as border between Turkey and Bulgaria and therefore is the most southern point on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The village with the matching name Rezovo happen that is small and pretty pleasant place by the look of it.

From there after a bit of walking there are interesting rock formations called Kastrich, after that was something that really surprised me big fence with barbed wire and cameras patrolled by armed police and soldiers which were on high alert because of illegal immigrants trying to enter the country from Turkey, so in fact the passage along the coast is closed and one must got to the main road, which is couple of kilometres away and cross there.

After that there is the very famous beach called Silistar, which is a natural reserve and I guess it used to be place were animals and plants can live without being destroyed, but I use past tense, because it looks now kind of the opposite thing, way too many cars and people and actually worse then the average. The Sand Lily was very nice species indeed, but it is picked up by people not caring about the nature or not interested to know is its protected or not. For example there was a plaque dedicated to two life guards who died saving a child and it was decorated with sand lilies.

And later on during the trek are the beaches Listi and Lipite. Lipite seems to be one of the designated as naturist/nudist beaches and looks very nice place, in fact much better then the more popular Silistar and Butamyata. After Lipite with half hour walk is Butamyata and the village Sinemorec.

Important point to note is that there are couple very dangerous for walking areas, where the trail passes exactly on the edge of 30-40m high nearly vertical cliffs, which on top of that are some kind of easily crumbling rocks and I'd advise to be prepared physicaly for a bit of bouldering and to use suitable foot gear.

Saturday 10 September 2016

Walk from Ahtopol to Sinemorec along the coast



I decided to walk along the coast from Ahtopol to Sinemorec (Sinemorets). The distance in straight line is probably 5-6 km, but I think following the the shore line makes it probably twice more. It is indeed very pleasant experience and its very easy to do, there is a trail, so this mean there are people regularly walking that route.

Now I had more time to have a proper look to the village Sinemorec and its two main beaches and I am very disappointed. Its just some poor place that got somehow famous and was instantly overbuilt and shortly after overcrowded. Despite being favourite for may Bulgarians I can't recommend such place, it is simply very unpleasant and to top it the locals were not friendly at all, but rather greedy and trying to do as much as possible profit from the short touristic season.

The only reason to visit Sinemorec is to see and if you are inclined to fish in the river Veleka. It is indeed very interesting and particular river, which runs 7-8 m deep and is surrounded by nearly virgin forest and nature.

Friday 9 September 2016

Walk along the coast north of Ahtopol, Bulgaria


It was still windy and I decided to see the coast north of Ahtopol. The wind makes it difficult to hear speech sometimes, but still one can get impression what looks like the area. There are no real paths or trails, so the walking is not very easy.

This place looks like good option for campers and the there is the option for naturism/nudism on specially designated section, known as "Delfin" (Dolphin) beach.

Thursday 8 September 2016

First impressions of Ahtopol, Bulgaria


Ahtopol is a village in the south part of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, around 16 km with car from the border with Turkey. Its ancient settlement, but in the beginning of the 20th century it burned down, so there is about nothing older left.

Despite the bad weather exactly this day, the place gives impression for subtropics and is very warm place indeed on par with the Spanish Costa Brava. The prices are like half of what you can find in the other villages around, the quality of the sand and the water is great and they are couple of beaches, one of them specifically designated as "nudist beach". Also there is pretty big camping area and even more bungalows as historically it was one of the popular resorts in Communist Bulgaria.

And finally, most of the closer beach is given on concession to somebody (common occurrence in the country) and the access is limited. There are signs that unless you don't pay you can't sit or live belongings in the area. And to make the things even uglier, the umbrellas are up to and even in the water in many places. So, this was enough to spoil my otherwise relatively positive experience.

Wednesday 7 September 2016

First impression of Sinemorec (Sinemorets), Bulgaria


Here I decided to check the famous in the last few years village called Sinemorec (it means something like Blue Seas in Bulgarian). Its the second closest to the border with Turkey village and it was supposed to be place less touched by the civilisation, because during the times of the communism normal access to places close to borders were forbidden and as side effect the nature was left in near pristine condition.

As touristic attractions there is about nothing except the river Veleka and the three beaches covered with high quality sand, however they are way too popular and during the holiday season are densely packed with people.

Tuesday 6 September 2016

Short walk in the centre of Burgas


I spend an hour in Burgas, in the early morning and had a look around. Burgas in the biggest town in the south of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and serves as a hub to the more popular touristic destinations. The town itself is not a bad choice for holiday either, it has a beach, nice centre and in general is worth to be visited.