I have just returned from an amazing trip to Turkey & Bulgaria. Here are some of my thoughts on Bulgaria.
Unfortunately, I'm not old enough to remember the days when the dollar was stronger than the currencies of Western Europe. By the time I made my first trip to Europe, they were already using the Euro and the exchange rate was not in my favor. I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that if I wanted to travel and spend money like it was nothing, I'd pretty much have to rule out Europe for sure.
That was before I came across this article on one of my favorite blogs:
http://www.priceoftravel.com/69/bulgaria/sofia-prices
That site indexes various cities around the world based on prices, so you can compare cities to each other or just get an idea of costs. When I saw that Sofia was the cheapest city in Europe, I had to make a visit!
Prior to visiting, I wasn't sure what to expect from Bulgaria. I'd heard some horror stories about how little they've advanced from the Soviet era, they were Nazi sympathizers, or that 'Resident Evil' took place near there. I found it hard to believe that this was a country of politically conflicted flesh-eating zombies and that it was probably just like anywhere else in the sense that it was filled with normal people just trying to make a living.
That's exactly what it was. Good people, trying to make a living, trying to modernize and provide a better future for their country. In terms of sense of safety, I felt safer there than I did in parts of Western Europe.
Costs were unheard of for Europe. We took taxis everywhere and RARELY spent more than $5 on a ride. The average cab ride was about $2.50, with the most expensive being $6 to get to the airport. Food was EXCELLENT and also very cheap. We ate at all sit down restaurants. Nothing 5-star, but leaning more towards upper-scale dining, rather than family-casual restaurants. Meals rarely exceeded $7 per person, and keep in mind these are the fancier restaurants in the city even in the tourist section of town.
The food was excellent! After spending the full day hiking, we went to a traditional Bulgarian cuisine sit-down restaurant. Sort of a Mom & Pop style restaurant, with homestyle cooking. When the bill came, which included full meals for 8 people with drinks, the total was $35. Another time, we went to a fancy Italian restaurant and ordered 3 appetizers, soups, salads, two entrees, and 6 bottles of water. Total was somewhere around $15.
With the amount of traveling I do, I usually have to be pretty careful in my budget. It is not as if this is my one big trip per year or something. In fact, this was the 3rd or 4th international trip this year that exceeded 2 weeks in length. Needless to say, it was nice to save some money. I'm going to need it when I go to Japan in March.
Turkey was a little bit more expensive than Bulgaria, but not on the level of Western Europe by any means. If you're considering a trip to that region of the world, go to Turkey. It is quite possibly the most amazing country I've ever been to. More about that later! If you want to go to Europe and be rich, go to Bulgaria! I could even see living there at some point, as long as I could be paid in dollars and play in leva!
-Jason
No comments:
Post a Comment