Bulgaria and other considerations

We got back from a holiday in Bulgaria at the weekend.

I'll just let you digest that for a moment.

....

It was an organised group that we were part of. Last year the same group went to Croatia. I had very little knowledge or expectation of anywhere in Eastern Europe so I was blown away by Croatia and the Croatians, who couldn't have been more charming and welcoming. They've had a shocking past, and one so recent that you are aware that every transaction you conduct is with someone who has first-hand experience of the horrors of war. In Dubrovnik, where we were based, we visited a museum of war photography (www.warphotoltd.com) which chronicled the recent, troubled and troubling past, which sent us back to the cocktail bar chastened. Many of those images stay with me still.

I know little about Bulgaria. I know that they elected their king as Prime Minister a few years back. I know that there has been quite a lot of deforestation. I know that back in the 70s a Bulgarian dissident called Georgi Markov was assassinated in London with a poison-tipped umbrella. So not much then.

So I was open-minded and expectant. But Bulgaria is very... different. Bulgaria was a tourist mecca for Communists all over the eastern bloc after Stalin imposed travel restrictions in 1948, as it was one of the few warm coasts to which they had access. So really, until the effective demise of the Warsaw pact, they probably didn't have to try too hard. And, dare I say, it still shows a teeny-weeny bit. Now I have to state that I've googled quite a bit on this subject and most people are very pleased by their Bulgarian experiences, and indeed we did come across some charming people, but by and large I found myself confronted with an attitude of defensive resentment.

People harassed us in the street to come and eat in their restaurant. Being a friendly sort of chap I was very nice and smiley in response to this, even though I found it deeeply irritating. But then one woman approached me and fixed me with an unsmiling gaze as she said "You must come to eat in my restaurant - you promised." "No, I didn't." I said, smile gone. She stared me in the eye for a moment as if she would like to hit me, then she shrugged and said "It's your decision." "Yes," I said, "it is." In shops people would rush up and hold up objects or press clothing against me. And really, it wasn't my kind of kit. They were almost friendly until it became clear that we weren't going to buy, at which point they became actively rude, turning their backs. If a shop didn't have what I was looking for and I asked the shopkeeper where I could find it, in all but one case they said "No idea" or gave me a shrug to that effect. No matter that they weren't losing out. Guess where I spent my leva.

And then a taxi driver charged me for a two minute journey what I'd spent in total for a bra, some toys, a coffee, sun-tan lotion, juice and two pairs of flip-flops. I was spitting with rage when I questioned him and he was borderline aggressive in response. Of course he gets this reaction about a dozen times a day so he's used to it. It didn't occur to him that he could charge half the fare, smile, give me his card and get thirty fares out of me. But no - he drives everybody once. After that we used taxis sanctioned by the hotel and happily spent a fortune on them.

My impression was that they hadn't passed the point of exploiting tourists rather than nurturing them. Many of the people we had dealings with are still grasping for that extra buck NOW rather than investing for the future. A straw poll on the plane revealed that there were very few tourists who would return. One man said "I'll wait until they've learned to smile."

However, there are lovely beaches, the local fish is delicious and cheap and the hotel was fine, if a bit like a holiday camp. Many of the younger people are much more open and friendly and I think it's a place on the up. Investors are buying up flats and apartments while they're still dirt cheap and while this means that at the moment places like our resort look like massive building sites, there will be great benefit to the local economy and they will raise their game to the higher demands of Western tourists.

And then I'll go back.