First topic message reminder :

So! All you would be Bulgaria bound people!
Do you really want your Bulgarian Dream to be a dream? If you do,then stay in the UK and just do that! The reality of this place beggars belief in so many ways. NOW,before someone jumps on me from a great height,let me say i have been a resident here for nearly 5 years,and to a great extent can speak with honesty about this Country.
The main problem here is the majority of the ethnic population. They cannot lie straight in bed! So if you insist on joining us over here,please be prepared to be conned,robbed and deceived like you wouldn`t believe. And as for animal cruelty,a lot of them have it down to a fine art. Especially in the villages,where most of you would like to realise your dreams. Yes,i do live in a village! Yes,i do know what i am talking about too. My work with poor creatures over here bears witness to my words.
So,if you do get here,please remember to get yourself a really big and nasty dog first. This i assure you should be a priority,to protect your property from all the thieving chappies that abound here. The chances of you being done over bigtime is very very good! Being English/British makes you a target from day one.
Now,as for the driving around,well thats gonna really do your head.In my opinion,they are one of the worst drivers ever. Once again,i speak from experience. In my life,i have been to over 80 different Countries,so can speak with authority on this one. I swear that in Varna,there must be a Driving Licence shop. It works like this. A BG goes into the shop,exchanges his/her brain for a Licence,and roars off in a 100mph car with a 10mph mind! Simple eh? 20miles down the road,they join the pile of bodies in the morgue in Varna.
As for the local Bobbies,well thats a laugh too.Make sure you carry some 20lv notes with you.This is their wages dont you know! Like most things here,corruption is rife.Sorry,i mean corruption is life.
Builders! what can i say? They dont exist! Jobbers do!
Real Estate Agents? 99% are as crooked as they are in the UK.
For God`s sake folks,dont come here and get a "
Builder"
to work on your property while your in the UK. And NEVER pay up front. Cos when you return,the job aint been done,the "
Builder has done a runner with your hard earned cash. Ah! i hear you say,"
I have a contract"
,well just remember this, people. The word Contract starts Con,as does the word Conman! A bit similar actually to the word Builder. That starts with Bu, as in Bull****.
Oh you poor people over there in good old Blighty,your Bulgarian Dream is waiting for you.
Dave Smith

PS. Dont forget to pick up your big and nasty dog from the nice honest man at Varna Airport.

Hiya junenan I have to agree with netsniper you can not tar all Bulgarians with the same brush ? there are good and bad everywhere and as you say you love the country, well if you think about it ? its the Bulgarians that have given you that pleasure [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] I would have preferred it if you had said "
The Bulgarians that you had met"
anyway I an sure the members will know what you mean, I am sorry to hear that your experience hasn't been more positive? but who knows as time goes on you may start to see some light that may put your confidence back into the Bulgarians as a whole.

ATB

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Having never lived there and only visited I can not give a true view of the people there but what I would say is that no matter where you choose to live you will always find this kind of problem no where on the planet is perfect for everyone ? it is a shame that you have chosen to live in Bulgaria and you sound as though you have made a mistake? but my advice would be if its as bad as you say then perhaps you should consider liver somewhere else? but there is no guarantee that you will be happy with all the folk in any given country after all its the same here in the uk if some one thinks they can rip you off they will ? but this is not how it is with everyone here just the few that you come across from time to time :( but you have to live and learn from it but as I have said you can't tar everyone with the same brush

sarah

Hi all,
Sorry have to add my piece as well.

I have lived here for a few years now and i think my opinion is well balanced. I have a Bulgarian as a partner, and after living with me for 6 months, she hates most of the bg's in our village. Anyone is free to ask her. We do have a very small amount of Bg friends in our village and it is small. The rest I would not help if they were on fire, nor would Aneta, from her choice. Maybe it is a regional thing, I don't know.

But I would be very careful with Bg's. We do have a driver who is excellent and I trust him, to a point. Aneta and I since living to gether have had more problems with other BG's than you could imagine. If Some areas are good, then that is great for the people living there, but many places are not good at all.

My opinion is that the people don't make the country, they just make the life in it. I love BG warts and all and no one will make Aneta and I move out. But they are trying very hard, almost all the time, to make us move from the house we both love. For most of the time, it is S**TE in our village.

But we do have some very wonderful BG friends, sadly few in our village. Mostly the BG's just want to rip me off for money all the time, Aneta has found this and hates them for it. And we have tapserup as well.

In time this country will change for the better and we as imigrants will have to be part of it as well. Many Brits come here and do the most stupid of things, BG's think we are all the same and that is why the problem. Many of us are not as stupid as they think we are.

Aneta and I have these sorts of problems every day. Life in our village is all about money and how much they, the BG's here can get off me for free.

I love this country and it is our home, I'm staying and will fight everyday if I have to, too get peace and quiet to live here. Now the Village knows Aneta and I have live firing guns, we have peace. What a way to live, just to get to live in peace.

Sorry folks, this is my opimion, not the forums. But I have put every penny I have into BG. And I'm not leaving now, not for anyone.

So best wishes to all, have a good day where ever you are.

quick PS,

Yes the doctors rip you off as well, I bought some injections for Aneta when she was ill and some of them were stolen by the local Doctor, I had to go and buy some more. Even the syringes needed were also stolen by the Doc as well. Sorry, thats BG. The most favourite phrase you'll hear from Bg's and Brits alike is "
thats Bulgaria"
, normal life.

I'm totally shocked at reading some of this.

We live in a mountain town of around 4,500 inhabitants and we've never had a problem with anybody, even if we are the only English here.

We're treated as equals, the price for my beer is the same price as all our Bulgarian friends. Everyone stops for a chat everyday whilst we're out walking the dog of a morning.

One small note to add ... a few months ago my wife was taken ill at about 03.00 am with severe chest pains. I went next door to our neighbour and threw stones at his window until he woke up ... I explained the situation and he hit the telephone.

6 minutes later an ambulance with two paramedics arrived ... they took a look at Jain, gave her two different injections (one for the pain, one to help her sleep) and instructed us to turn up at our Polyclinic the next day. They refused any offers of money or even a drink.

All our neighbours are nice, they invite us for meals, bring us food from their garden and have never asked for even one stotinki from us (although I'm happy to give them a free lift to Sliven if I'm visiting Billa now and again).

If the villages are as bad as they appear, then I'm glad I live in a town!

Chris

I have to agree with everything you have said here Chris, but not all villages are like that ? the one I have my house in and lived there for some time, is fine and the neighbors are as you have said above

:Salute:

Hi oldun I think how you have put it here is a much more clear way of saying the same but perhaps less offensive to others that have different views [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

thakyou everyone for all the replies to my sad letter so much of bulgaria is the luck of the draw we got it wrong we should have looked into things a lot more than what we did when we eventally move we will explore all avenues I have spoken as I & my partner have found as you can tell its not been good we do like the country we have a nice house its just not in the right place we were misled by the estate agent telling us there were 15 english families in the village wrong 1 man had a holiday home here and that was it we learned the hard waywe find you get told one and it means something else we are not so green now a bit older and hopefully a bit wiser we love the climate and we will just soldier on we think it will improve as time goes on junenan

Hi all,

Yes we are all on a learning curve living here. My first 6 months here were in VT and life there was nothing at all like it is in my village, it is like living in 2 different countries. With 2 completely different types of peoples, there is no comparisons to either.

Yes, it is a case of looking carefully at the villages and finding out as much as you can before you buy. But if you are in the hands of aan REA, you will not get that chance.

You have to come here for a fact finding holiday and look around. To late for me I bought with out checking things out. Now I know what to do with everything.

But it is still the best place to live for me, I too have visited many countries and Spain for me is not the place to live, been there and seen how life is.

To all people thinking of coming here, come and look, fall in love with the country and go find the right house in the right village. You will not find all the info in 1 week, I promise you. You will need to come here for at least a month to get all the info.

I wish I could pick my house up and move it to another place, Aneta and I love our house.

Best wishes to all.

By the way, I too am trying to sell a house here, in another village, for me the village is too quiet. But for many it would be a great village. I personally like action. My other house is in a very sleepy village. There is a Northern Island Guy living there by the name of Carl. The might be many on here who know him. He has lived there for many years and is happy. There is an American, A Swede, I think or maybe a Norwegian. The village is called Korsarka, near to Dreanavo, south of VT.

Tony is quite right about searching out the best village. REAs definitely don't want to help with that. We have often been told that there are 20 Brit couples living in our village. There are now 6 of us plus some holidayhomers who visit irregularly except for one couple. Don't assume that having a lot of Brits in a village is necessarily a good thing though. Its best to try to get the feel of the village itself and its villagers because they are the ones who its best to get on with. Yes, they will assume you know nothing about anything so revert to childhood and just listen. Try not to come to any conclusions about them until you have lived for a while. Small villages have a network of friends and family so if you upset one you will alienate them all. In the right village you can be very happy. In the wrong one, likeTony has experienced, it can be hell. If you want a big social life be aware that even if a village is growing, many do not have a restaurant or many bars. Remember REAs are very economical with the truth or do not update their info. They are in the business of selling you a house and not a lifestyle - that is completely up to you.
Best advice I think I could give is to stay in a town near the villages you think you might like in the area of your choice. Spend time looking around them on your own and checking out what they offer. Don't be afraid to enter the local bar even if you don't drink. This is often the hub of the village and the locals are usually friendly. If they aren't - enough said! You will be a novelty and when we first arrived we were welcomed by the Community. Some took a while because they just didn't want foreigners at all and were still firmly Communist. Bulgarians are very political and watch TV news and weather on a permanent basis. We think we are finally accepted after many years even by them. A visit to the Mayor's office can be quite a good idea too.
We have been very, very lucky in our choice of village bought before much help was available. We are quite near Veliko Turnovo and have had good experience with everyone we have had dealings with. If we have ever paid over the odds for anything it was nothing to call a 'scam'.
I hope some of this advice helps. It does not in any way mean that I disagree with the unfortunate folks who have not been so lucky. Bulgaria is a very diverse country in every way from climate to terrain to people just like most places around the world. Take your time and good luck everyone who is looking to live here.

Hi its Darrell

This is my first post ( so here goes )

We joined this forum because we thought it would be informative, both positive and negative, while I agree that you should be able to post negative points, should you not as well try to post positive points.

I live in a small village called Ilindentsi, near Sandanski in the south west of Bulgaria, when we first came here we travelled Bulgaria with a budget in place and a list of what we wanted from our village, we visited many villages but could not find what we wanted until the last couple of days. We left a deposit and came back on several occasions to view the village again, without the estate agents, we went to the local bars etc and made an effort to fit in, people were friendly and polite.

We then purchased our house and got to work renovating it, we met with some problems, over charging etc, so we stoped the build, and used locals workers (after viewing there work), they knew what we wanted and how we wanted it doing end result a good job done and new friends made.

We have now lived here for 2 years and have been well accepted by the locals, we have bulgarian lessons 3 times a week, and we get by, our nieghbours husband died last week, we went to the hospital every day to see how he was, my wife cooked a couple of meals for there sons as they work shifts.

We went to the funneral and it was as though we were expected to be there.

I can go on all day about examples of help that we have been given, and at what cost, well let me tell you a dam good meal, plenty of wine, and rakia, and everybody was happy, this has been done from jobs such as putting on the roof, to painting inside the house, putting up the fence etc etc.

I recently made my first batch of wine 300liters and never paid for one grape, when that is finished it will be made into rakia at a friends house

Our nieghbours look after each other and not once have I been approached for money, we pay little for our wood as we cut it ourselves in the forest with the permission of the local authorities it cost 40lvs for 5 cubic meters and 40lvs for the tractor.

I hunt each Sat with the local group and have shot several wild boar and have represented our village in a shooting competion.

I could go on but my advice to anyone wonting to come here to live is dont rush in do your homework both on the net and on the ground, and who cares if there are english in your village there is only us at the moment and it adds to the fun.

Dont listen to much to those that have got it so wrong there is a reason for this, and there are always two sides to the coin.

It is a name day on the 26th of this month, we will be going to several houses to celebrate with those concerned.

If anybody is reading this and wonts some more infomation pictures etc get back to me on here and I will give you my E Mail address.

P.S Today in the hunting shop I was given a free T Shirt with my coffe.

Hi Darrel your experience sounds very similar to mine, I lived in a village that had only one other English couple in and I have to say that they all made me feel very welcome, and as it was for you I didn't part with a single stotinky, no matter how I tried to pay for the things that were done for me by the people in the village they would not take anything, however I can't say the same for those in the uk, good post mate [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hi Darrel,

I'm glad for you that you made it right and your very happy. But people should listen to both sides as the bad will warn an make others more careful.

I agree with you that some parts of Bulgaria and some villages may be very good. But not all and people should know about thses as they are here wether you like it or not.

I've been here for quite a few years and many know me and what sort of problems I have had here. I never had the benifit of help, advice or any pervious knowledge for others, I learned the hard way by making mistakes. It also cost me much money.

But I'm happy for you and others who have made it lucky and have no problems.

Best wishes,

A great first post Darrell and it sounds as though you are well accepted and happy in your village. You sound even more integrated than us. However, I would take issue with your comment that there will be a reason if people are not so lucky. Sometimes it may be because the Brits really don't know how to integrate or cause trouble, often drink related, but this is definitely not always the case. I sense that Tony has been upset by your comment because he has had problems. Not all villages are so accepting for one reason or another and at the risk of being a little controversial, a mainly Roma population will not react as your villagers have. Certainly not all Bulgarians invite you in for meals etc no matter what you do. I feel extremely lucky to live in a village such as yours in many ways, but any invites come from the Community at large and not from our lovely neighbours. We just exchange gifts of rakia, meat, veg etc rather than meals and this seems the way in our particular village.
I can understand and commiserate with people who are not as lucky as we have been and I do think its important to really make people take the location and village into account before making a final decision. Its not all about the house or how much money you have - to live a 'dream' (can you truly do this completely?) its necessary to be very careful and always realise that it just might turn into a nightmare and be prepared for a few stumbling blocks along the way.
Your post Darrell, brilliant as it was to read, should not necessarily be a benchmark for everyone so that people reading it and not being so lucky, might think its all their fault. It could be but not necessarily.

Nice reply oldun and I think that what you have said is a fair view of things, and I also believe that no matter where in the world you choose to live you will come across some problems or differences but I do believe that in some cases its a matter of communication and understanding of the different cultures, and integration, as said if you choose to live maybe in a heavily populated Roma/Gypsy village then you may find it very different to living in a village that is populated by mainly true Bulgarians? I don't know if this is correct ? but its just my gut feeling, and lets be honest one man's meat is another man's poison ? Bulgaria is not for everyone, and neither are places like Spain, Cyprus etc etc, so I would say its a case of finding your niche in these places ?