 |
| Bansko |
Bansko Bulgaria
Saturday 9th
January 2016
A
great start to the New Year has approached as I take on another adventure. This
time though I would be taking up skiing to a place called Bansko situated in Bulgaria. I was
dead excited to get going but my flight wouldn't be until the afternoon. I
spent the whole morning making sure I had everything I needed for the trip and
to visit my family before my grandfather would come pick me up. I treasured
every moment I had with my family before he eventually arrived. Anyway I soon
grabbed my bags and placed them in the back of the car, got into the car and we
soon set off waving goodbye to my family. We got talking straight away about
what we did this morning and then talking about cars and what to do on my
holiday passing the time well. At this point it began to rain which was a
surprise giving the fact the sky was pretty much clear in the morning. We took
a bit of a longer route to get to the airport due to the fact there were quite
a lot of flooded areas along the usual route. Before I knew it the airport was
right in front of us as we approached the car park. I got out the car, grabbed
my things as well as giving my grandfather a hug before we parted ways heading
into the airport.
 |
| Newcastle Airport |
It
was great to see the familiar sights knowing my way around the place and I soon
found the screens with the departure information. It was Sofia I was looking
for and once I located it on the screen I noticed the check in numbers weren't
up yet, so I headed for the sitting area right next to one of the entrances and
sat pretty much staring at the large departure board right in front of me as
well as watching the majority of people coming in with all their skiing
equipment. An hour or so passed before the numbers finally came up so I grabbed
my belongings and rushed to the desks without wasting anytime. I gave the staff
member my passport and e-ticket watching her look at my ugly passport photo
probably sniggering under her breath. I then asked her for a window seat just
before she was about to ask me if I would like extra legroom for £15. I said no
and after weighing my bags she gave me my boarding pass and passport and sent
me on my way to the departure lounge. I set off straight for the customs area
which wasn't jam packed for once soon arriving at the scanners watching on at a
few people getting searched. I placed all my belongings on the trays and soon
stepped through the machine. Surprisingly, the machine didn't go off and I got
straight through. I placed my things back on and walked straight through the
duty free area being overwhelmed by the pungent smells of aftershave and
perfume.
I
cleared the duty free area and arrived in the departure lounge. It was quite
busy but not jam-packed like it usual was which meant there was a greater
chance at getting a seat for once. I headed straight for the window area
overlooking the runway as I caught my eyes on the planes being prepared. The
closest one to me was the jet2 plane which I assumed would be my plane. I sat
for a good while looking on at the runway with the boarding time vastly
approaching for once. I watched on at the few planes taking off as I was
getting excited for my turn to take to the air and then 14:40pm was the time I
checked the board. My gate number eventually showed up so I grabbed my things
and headed straight for gate 19. For once it wasn't at the very end of the
terminal so I pretty soon arrived. There was a security guard informing everyone
to go straight downstairs and towards the plane. So after having my boarding
pass checked and verified I headed straight out for the plane. My heart was
beating a bit faster as I approached the Boeng-737, especially at the point
when I climbed the steps and into the plane. The stewardess greeted me aboard
and helped me find my seat at ease. I sat down and had a great view of the
engine right next to me with the wing over my shoulder. I got my headphones out
ready as well as my sweets as I watched on at the other passengers coming on
board.
A
moment later everyone was on and I then noticed that the plane wasn't full and
no one was sitting next to me which was great. Then a thought came to me that I
pretty much saved money on leg room which was a great feeling as I was a
cheapskate. Eventually, the plane began to reverse out which brought the heart
rate up again. We soon started making our way up the other end of the runway
rapidly as there were no planes in front of us. In no time at all we started
turning onto the runway and as there was no planes landing too, the plane
accelerated fast straight away which pushed everyone back in their seat waiting
for the plane to lift its nose up. All of a sudden we were up gaining altitude
quite rapidly flying above the lower rain clouds and then soon banking right
heading towards the coast. I knew exactly where we were going to fly over so at
this point I had my face pressed up against the glass looking down at the
incredible height. Luckily the rain clouds below were breaking apart and I
managed to see the river Tyne at the distance and just below me was St Marys
lighthouse plain as day. It was incredible to see it at this height and as the
plane turned right again, I managed to see a small section of the coast of
Blyth and its piers.
 |
| St Mary's Lighthouse |
It
was soon behind us as we gained altitude climbing above the higher cloud line.
All of a sudden, the cabin brightened up thanks to the glorious sun which was
slowly emerging to the west. I was happy we were under way with hardly any
turbulence until about 15 minutes later where the seatbelt sign popped up on
the panels above us. However, this time I was more confident flying and the
moderate turbulence didn't bother me at all which was a relief. It would be
short lived as the turbulence stopped and it was smooth flying once again. This
meant I could relax and listen to my music whilst looking at the marvellous sun
as it began to set in the distance. I was really happy I was heading for
another country thinking what I would be getting up to when I arrive. Everyone
else was busy talking and laughing to each other whereas I was constantly
staring out of my window. Then a freaky moment came as I looked out of the
window. To the right hand side of my window was the sun at its final stages of
setting and to the left of my window was the blackness of the night sky slowly
creeping alongside us. It felt as though we were entering into the abyss of a
black hole; it was a bizarre beauty to witness nonetheless.
 |
| Setting Sun |
Anyway
I tried to pass the rest of the time reading magazines on the plane or trying
to find patches of light on the ground below. I could see some but not much
because of the cloud cover. The captain came over the tannoy and stated the
route we would be taking which was across Germany,
Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and then the Bulgarian
border. This was the first time I had been along this route which was quite
interesting to know. We definitely ate up the miles too as the captain came
back onto the tannoy an hour and a half later stating that we were making our
descent. I was relieved to finally realise we were almost at our destination.
We all strapped our belts in and I began to feel the pressure building up in my
ears as we were lowering towards the ground. A long while later we were below
the clouds as the faded patches of light became brighter and vibrant. We were
making a lot of left and right sharp turns before we straightened out and
closing in on the runway. The runway came into view and then a thud on the
ground brought the reality to us that we had landed safely. We came to a slow
steady pace as the pilot began to take us to the gate. From what I could see
the airport was about the same size as Newcastle maybe smaller so in no time at
all we had arrived at our gate as the engines switched off.
Everyone
at this point was frantically getting out of there seats and grabbing there
belongings where as I sat waiting for it to calm down. The doors were soon
opened and people were leaving heading for the busses waiting at the steps. I
eventually left my seat and began heading out into the cold wintery air of
Bulgaria for the first time and my god it was cold. I wasted no time getting
onto the bus as was everyone else hanging in the back like pigs in a butcher’s
truck. In no time at all we set off straight for the terminal where we were
then greeted by the border control point. I managed to get in front of the
hustle and bustle of the passengers so I got seen straight away. I handed my
passport to the officer in the booth and stood there for a good minute as he
checked through my passport to see if I was a wanted criminal. With luck I
wasn’t running from the law so I headed for the baggage reclaim area which was
quite easy to locate plus the fact that there was only two conveyor belts. So I
stood with everyone else waiting for the belt to move. I was wrong to assume my
rucksack would come on last as it was amongst the very first when the belt
began to move. I had to quickly chase it around the belt trying to squeeze
through the ever growing crowd until I eventually grabbed it and went on my way
through to the arrivals hall.
 |
| Sofia Airport |
As
soon as I arrived I noticed there were a small amount of people scattered
around the area but to my left was the Balkan holiday group I was looking for.
They noticed I was approaching them and asked for my name. They told me to head
outside to the coaches and look for coach 58. So I headed out of the building
avoiding the taxi drivers pestering me and straight for the coaches. Funnily
enough the first coach I seen was coach 58 so I headed straight for it. A woman
approached me and asked for my name so afterwards she said that I wasn't on her
list. Typical I thought as she escorted me to another coach which turned out to
be the wrong one too. So I walked back to the front end and tried to resolve
the situation. Eventually I was located on the list and then got escorted to a
van. Riding in style I thought as I was handed a pamphlet, placed my rucksack
in the back then sat down with the rest of the small group.
At
this point I could definitely feel the cold air of Bulgaria blowing in my face
and neck until the driver closed the doors and turned the heater on. We were
soon underway to the small town of Bansko
which was a dreadful 3 hour drive away. What made it worse was the fact it was really
late and there were no views to see. So the majority of the journey was boring
so I spent the time trying to catch some shut eye. It was hard though as the
roads were incredibly bumpy knocking us around quite a bit. A long while later
we were approaching our stop off where we could have a 15 minute break. We
pulled up at a small outside bar and shop which was quite beneficial as I
hadn't ate for quite a long time. I quickly left the van and entered the shop
grabbing two bags of crisps and wolfing them down. It was time to head off
again for the second leg of the journey so as soon as we left I tried to get
some shut eye once more. Yet again more bumpy roads lay ahead of us but I tried
to block it out.
A
long time passed until we finally got the call saying that we were approaching
Bansko which was a satisfying sound to hear. Despite this I was still tired and
with luck I could see my hotel as the driver came to a stop. It felt great
being the first off for once and as I got out, the rep informed me that I had
to be at a place called ‘Happy Ends’ bar the next morning at 8:30am despite the
fact I arrived at the hotel at midnight. I headed for the entrance almost
forgetting my rucksack due to the tiredness and walked up to the reception
area. I gave the receptionist my name and passport and in no time at all he
gave me my room key card and pointed which way I had to go. I wasted no time
and entered the lift for the second floor. My room was 211 and it didn't take
long for me to find it. I used the key card and entered into a beautiful
looking room just for me.
 |
| Hotel Pirin |
Even though I was
really tired I managed to empty my rucksack and have a quick look at my view
from the window which obviously had nothing much to show as it was pitch black.
Despite this my mind was still thinking of what wondrous things I'd get to see
and do in the coming days and the fact that I was now in Bulgaria.
No comments:
Post a Comment