Irakli Nature Reserve - Beauty Spot or Crime Spot
A couple of weeks ago we planned to go camping at the Nature Reserve/Eco sport - Irakli, situated just past Banya and before Obzor. We arrived and followed the track to the beach, where there were several cars, a cafe and fair few people.
Looking for the camping area we drove further along dirt tracks until we came to a small parking area where there were 4 or 5 other cars. However, having left the car for 15 minutes to find a suitable place to camp, we came back to find window smashed and my bag had been stolen with all documents, passport etc....The car was parked with along 5 others and people were coming and going from beach all the time so looks like someone watched us leave and ensured we were a safe distance away while someone else broke in quickly and did a runner.
Police 'helpfully' said that there had been 20 to 30 such breakins over last year or two and possibly mafia related in that mafia connected developers want to build there and so they are trying to put people off going camping etc.
Personally the place is nothing special anyway and the campers had ruined it with rubbish everywhere etc. Alright beach but not much else.
Still waiting for police report so I can get a new passport. First one they issued failed to mention my bag at all and has now taken several phone calls and over a week to get them to send new one.
What the heck is this???
Just look at what I found in the dog's bowl. Horrid isn't it? Not sure of the name of the thing but apparently eats all your plants. So this little sucker got tossed over the wall.
And on with ant saga......
The
Raid just keeps on getting them. I went back to check on one room in another property that had got ants sneaking in through a hole. I blasted them all with
Raid a couple of weeks ago and hoovered up the hundreds of dead black bodies. Yesterday I discover hundreds more apparently dead ants. Only when I started to hoover them up, all of a sudden the hoover packed in and when I opened it up, loads of nasty, live ants tumbled out. Guess they are very good at pretending to be dead and having a whirl around a vacuum cleaner brings them back to life. So another dose of
Raid for both room and hoover.
Ants - amazing creatures but very annoying
While ants are amazingly organised creatures, this level of organization can cause havock in the garden. The above photo was taken of a huge an colony on a tree branch in my garden. This
army got blasted with RAID ant killer as the little buggers kept eating my cucumber seedlings.
And I discovered a large mound of grass seed by an ants nest in one of my other properties. The ants had obviously spent many days collecting seeds and transporting them back to their nest. Unfortunately for them, I have since swept up all my
removed grass seed and placed back on the garden.
This year there seems a massive amount of ants around and there are ant holes everywhere you look in the ground.
Kotel & Jeravna
The other weekend we decided to head up Kotel way. We left Stara Zagora around 5pm and headed towards Sliven in search of the 'Blue Rocks' in the mountains behind. After a couple of hours we reached Karandila, an old communist resort area high in the mountains. There were several old and run down hostels but apart from some stunning views across the valley below, not much else to commend it. And the rocks were basely blue, more a silver grey, but then we did not go to the main formations as daylight was running short.
We headed on north up and over the mountain on a very windy road until we came over the other side and into the Kotel region. It was just getting dark when we reached Kotel. As it is known as a tourist destination due to the National Revival style wooden houses, we expected there to be any lovely traditional hotels to choose from. But not so....there were basically 2 - a more modern one in the centre and an older style one on the edge of the village. Only the more modern (and more expensive at 60 levs a night for a room) one had space and so we booked in there.
The next day we went to explore the village. There is a small old part with quite a few wooden cladded traditional houses and 2 or 3 museum houses. We visited one but to be honest when you have seen one, you have seen them all, so we headed to the Museum of Nature and Science, which houses a large collection of local and international 'stuffed' wildlife and was fairly interesting.
At around lunchtime we headed back in the Sliven direction but took a slight detour to see the old museum town of Jeravna. And this was worth seeing.
Nestled in the mountains it is very beautiful and nearly all the houses are off the traditional National Revival style. There are several traditional restaurants and many small guest houses. We spent a lovely few hours wandering around, visiting a museum house or two (famous Bulgarian writers/artists etc), had a lovely meal in the sun and then headed back over to Stara Zagora.
Private Sales - Some interesting offers
Here are a few private sales listing - all different: a new build shell near Varna for completion, a very cheap little house Rousse way and a magnificent old house in need of some TLC.
Shell For Sale in Popular Village 30 Mins from Varna
This project was begun by an English lady in the summer of 2006. She purchased the plot of land, which is 1,100 sqm and gained all relevant planning permissions to build a good size bungalow of 155sqm.
It is at the edge of the village and occupies a corner plot. The village is very popular with British and several British families live there. It is only 30 minutes from Varna and the airport and 20 minutes from the beach.
Work started to build the house in June 2006 and it was done to shell stage with internal and external walls and the roof is 80% tiled.
For anyone looking for a project to finish for a lovely holiday home, close to the sea and Varna city, then this is a good value property.
I can help you source good quality builders to finish the job and have a colleague who can over see and project manage the whole thing for you.
Price: 44,000 Euros (including commission)
Small Cottage on Edge of Bistrentsi Village, Rousse area
Sweet cottage on the edge of the village of Bistrentsi, close to Byala and not far from the northern Bulgarian city of Rousse.
The cottage is in attractive, rolling countryside with only one near neighbour. There are 2 rooms on the first floor and a small room which would be ideal for a bathroom. There is the possibility of building living accommodation and a kitchen in the 2 room basement. Both water and electricity are connected to the property. There is a large plot of land (1480 metres square) and there are already productive grape vines and strawberries in the garden in front of the house.
This cottage, with renovations, will make an ideal summer holiday retreat from the stress and hurry of western European life.
The price reflects the fact that there is renovation to be carried out.
Price: 6,000 Euros (plus commission)
Fantastic Character Property For Renovation with Stunning Views
In its time this was the best house in the village but has not been abandoned for many years and fallen into rack and ruin, yet with some TLC and of course money, this would make a magnificent, imposing family home.
There are 6 rooms covering 130sqm and a plot of 1000sqm with lovely views to the hills and village. Accessed by a good, gravel track, it is 20km from Lovech in the village of Katunec.
It requires all new windows and doors, roof repairs, new wiring and plumbing, septic tank, internal and external plastering so is not a project to be undertaken lightly but it is cheap for the size of property and plot and once renovated, would be simply fantastic.
I have never personally seen this house but it belongs to a friend who inherited it from his grandfather and is now looking to sell it.
Price: 6,000 Euros (including commission) or nearest offer
