Love Bulgaria... many of the stores are small and medium size business or just "mom & pop" stores. They want cash not card... because the card company wants 3%. Only bigger businesses & corporations will take card. Bulgaria is not like corporate America :) Thank you for posting!
@@JoelTAMARA No problem, go to any city in Europe and the food stall at the railway station will be owned by a chain, ""subway"" or some company like that. Not so in Bulgaria. Bulgaria is almost all, single owner, small and medium size businesses. You are brave because it is difficult to travel if you do not know the language. But many of the teenagers have learnt English at school. So they are always good to talk to. Also, not many Bulgarian people have ever travelled outside Bulgaria ... many in the villages have never seen a black man. But Bulgarians are not all raciest... but more.... just interested and curious. You are unusual and exotic to them, smile and you will be fine, Bulgarians are friendly. Good luck my friend and keep posting videos of your travels :)
Huge tip for Bulgaria, always use cash. There are so many little shops and problems with online payments. A couple went to Rila mountain and wanted to pay for the lift but they were told that there is no internet so the cards don't work. Careful with taxis they are huge scammers , they even scam local people so a tourist is a big catch for them. Always check the prices on the side or maybe online and always order a taxi from an app or from a phone call cause when you go up to a taxi they always try to do something. Public transportation in Sofia is decent thanks to the Metro lines and you can get a card for the whole day for all line for only 4 leva. Things should be written in English but to fight with the challange you can download a translater and use the scan option and it translates it directly.
When you want to talk in English - try with the younger people. I recommend you to visit Pleven - direct connections with the capital, here is so easy to orient, you need 1 minute to walk to one of the biggest malls in North Bulgaria near the train and bus stations, you don't need to take the city transport to reach the center, there are foreigners because of the Medical University, good restaurants, water cascades are so beautiful during the night, etc. The town is not big but it is not small (about 100 000 people). Almost everywhere you can buy with credit card.
You should get a debit card with no foreign transaction fees or ATM fees and then just use an ATM to get cash. It would be the cheapest and easiest way.
i am from bulgaria , and here you can pay your ticket in the train station by law in every train station but in small viliages like ypu can pay only whith cash, but in 99 of 100 station you can by credit card!
Never exchange inside of station and most of those who speak is not in Bulgaria our nation disappears really fast I will be happy to go back to my country after one year
Use translation apps with people who don't speak English. The train station in Koprivshtitsa is far from the actual town. You should have asked at the hostel and save yourself trouble. Only way is taxi. Few people go to Koprivshitsa by train
you can pay evrywhere whith card expect small shops and some tourist attractions! But always take some cash like 20-25 euro - 50 leva for emergancy, and do not exchange money in the airport, you can also use ATM expect euronet which is scam company for ATMs around Europe and some asian places, and dont take a taxi in bulgaria cause they overcharge even locals like me for an example! In sofia we have one of the best public transport system i think even in europe, burgas, varna, pazarjik is the same, but in plovdiv 2st largest city my home town public transport is more than awufull!
I always carry cash, always tell this to my children, you never know what can happen when travel 😊, by the way, I'm staying in Sofia, and learned Cirilico so I understand better 🙏🏼
I've just come back from Sofia and I liked the metro. Like you said, it's quite easy to use. I stayed near the Hadzhi Dimitar station and purchased a 3-day travel card to get around, which made things even easier. I thought it was very cheap. The only thing that confused me is you have to scan on the LEFT side of the barrier and not the right. I was expecting the wrong one to open. People looked at me like I was nuts! Lol. All the time I was there I didn't notice any ticket inspectors on the trains or buses. Sorry to hear you had that problem with the credit cards.
I lived in Sofia for three years and took the metro almost daily and NEVER managed to get used to the crazy left side of the barrier 😂. People watching felt for you, they know that pain 🤭
Very interesting impressions on Bulgarian, indeed their Cyrillic alphabet would make it challenging to understand. I would have thought more Bulgarians would know English, you used some Italian there!
First rule of travel. Always have cash. In the central bus station 2 minutes away from the train station there is a currency exchange bureau. Why no one told you beats me. You went too far. Yes, the signage in the train station used to be English back un the days, but no one bothers these days. Beats me why
Good luck, despite being 'Sofian' I've never been there in years and frankly don't miss it - yet just be carefull about scammers, racists or hot weather.
Nikolai Paunov, Bulgarians have never been racists. On the contrary, Bulgaria is one of the most welcoming countries. In ancient times, war captives have usually been freed and respected. Bulgarians have never tolerated any form of slavery and all slaves had become free men once they had set foot among Bulgarians. Not to mention the 10 000 Jews that were saved by Bulgarians during WWII...Паисий го е казал много добре : "О, неразумни юроде, защо се срамуваш да се наречеш българин и да четеш и пишеш на родния си език...". Не ви прави чест да говорите така против родината, от която сте произлезли. Аз също не винаги съм в България, но тя винаги е в сърцето ми, независимо от това къде се намирам, но щом на вас не ви липсва, още по-добре. Стойте си там където сте и то възможно по-дълго.
@@Beazoner Racists do exist sadly, its mostly against gypsies but some even against africans, which i do not understand! Every Black person I have met (which are not many) are really nice!
@@dessievaughan5350 yes i think its good, they just need to improve the wagons and perhaps introduce some rules, sometimes I get stinky people who don't shower lol
@Christo S. Seriously? You "can get stinky people" everywhere in the world, especially in warm days. But that's O.K. as long as their thoughts, words and actions are "not stinky" or hateful.
@@dessievaughan5350 no no no, I'm telling you, I have lived in many many places around the world and as a Bulgarian I can tell you that if you get a really bad match they would take out their socks and once you feel those cheese sticks you'd want to run. Sometimes there was also some drunkards, but they get kicked out easier than the stinkers. I have travelled many times and the main problem usually is that in the night such rules are not always enforced and if the train is full it's a big problem. But I must say for the price our rails are working fairly OK, just need to change the rolling stock soon cause it's at least 30 years old in some cases. I'd recommend the night rooms, they are very very good for the price.
Love Bulgaria... many of the stores are small and medium size business or just "mom & pop" stores. They want cash not card... because the card company wants 3%. Only bigger businesses & corporations will take card. Bulgaria is not like corporate America :)
Thank you for posting!
Oh okay I got it now😉 you’re welcome! And thanks for taking your time to explain the reason behind their refusal of accepting credit cards.👌🏾
@@JoelTAMARA No problem, go to any city in Europe and the food stall at the railway station will be owned by a chain, ""subway"" or some company like that. Not so in Bulgaria. Bulgaria is almost all, single owner, small and medium size businesses.
You are brave because it is difficult to travel if you do not know the language. But many of the teenagers have learnt English at school. So they are always good to talk to.
Also, not many Bulgarian people have ever travelled outside Bulgaria ... many in the villages have never seen a black man. But Bulgarians are not all raciest... but more.... just interested and curious. You are unusual and exotic to them, smile and you will be fine, Bulgarians are friendly.
Good luck my friend and keep posting videos of your travels :)
Koprivchitca is one really nice place with history
Huge tip for Bulgaria, always use cash. There are so many little shops and problems with online payments. A couple went to Rila mountain and wanted to pay for the lift but they were told that there is no internet so the cards don't work. Careful with taxis they are huge scammers , they even scam local people so a tourist is a big catch for them. Always check the prices on the side or maybe online and always order a taxi from an app or from a phone call cause when you go up to a taxi they always try to do something. Public transportation in Sofia is decent thanks to the Metro lines and you can get a card for the whole day for all line for only 4 leva. Things should be written in English but to fight with the challange you can download a translater and use the scan option and it translates it directly.
Kircho, Колко бързаме да си покажем кирливите ризи пред света, само заради един мимолетен блясък в нечии очи...
When you want to talk in English - try with the younger people. I recommend you to visit Pleven - direct connections with the capital, here is so easy to orient, you need 1 minute to walk to one of the biggest malls in North Bulgaria near the train and bus stations, you don't need to take the city transport to reach the center, there are foreigners because of the Medical University, good restaurants, water cascades are so beautiful during the night, etc. The town is not big but it is not small (about 100 000 people). Almost everywhere you can buy with credit card.
you should also visit ruse, vidin, pleven, stara zagora!
Really enjoyed this debs xx
Yeah this is a adventure
Something not many people do is use Google translate's image translation option. You'll have zero problems with Cyrillic that way 👍
The Kamenitsa bus stop, most famous bus stop.
You doing good brother man
Thanks brother
He may look disappointed in the thumbnail but I think he really enjoyed it
Good video
Hello Joel. How easy was it to go back to Sofia. is there a timetable with the bus going back to the trainstation? Thank you
0:59 iconic sound
You should get a debit card with no foreign transaction fees or ATM fees and then just use an ATM to get cash. It would be the cheapest and easiest way.
Brother when you take any transport as train or bus 9 there is any ( police check) ? in the station or in the way
At the end when you read the text on the sign that said Kamenitsa - that's actually a brand of beer
Най-добрата бира, батка!
i am from bulgaria , and here you can pay your ticket in the train station by law in every train station but in small viliages like ypu can pay only whith cash, but in 99 of 100 station you can by credit card!
Could you have got $ from the atm at the train station ?
Never exchange inside of station and most of those who speak is not in Bulgaria our nation disappears really fast I will be happy to go back to my country after one year
Greetings from Cloudy😂
Use translation apps with people who don't speak English. The train station in Koprivshtitsa is far from the actual town. You should have asked at the hostel and save yourself trouble. Only way is taxi. Few people go to Koprivshitsa by train
you can pay evrywhere whith card expect small shops and some tourist attractions! But always take some cash like 20-25 euro - 50 leva for emergancy, and do not exchange money in the airport, you can also use ATM expect euronet which is scam company for ATMs around Europe and some asian places, and dont take a taxi in bulgaria cause they overcharge even locals like me for an example! In sofia we have one of the best public transport system i think even in europe, burgas, varna, pazarjik is the same, but in plovdiv 2st largest city my home town public transport is more than awufull!
There are TV screens above the cash desks on the -1 level that are supposed to flash Bulgarian and English for all trains.
Aha but the only one I saw is only in Bulgarian, maybe I wasn’t in the right place where the TV is
They don't. It is only in Bulgarian
I always carry cash, always tell this to my children, you never know what can happen when travel 😊, by the way, I'm staying in Sofia, and learned Cirilico so I understand better 🙏🏼
Good for you! Congratulations on learning Cyrilic! I hope you enjoy your stay🙂
I've just come back from Sofia and I liked the metro. Like you said, it's quite easy to use. I stayed near the Hadzhi Dimitar station and purchased a 3-day travel card to get around, which made things even easier. I thought it was very cheap. The only thing that confused me is you have to scan on the LEFT side of the barrier and not the right. I was expecting the wrong one to open. People looked at me like I was nuts! Lol. All the time I was there I didn't notice any ticket inspectors on the trains or buses. Sorry to hear you had that problem with the credit cards.
I lived in Sofia for three years and took the metro almost daily and NEVER managed to get used to the crazy left side of the barrier 😂. People watching felt for you, they know that pain 🤭
@@huskytail Lol. Yes, crazy is the word! 🤦♂
OmGod 😂 thats ismy Bulgaria
bro u would be your guide 😊
😉
@@JoelTAMARA I left my country years ago. for many reasons. But i still love my homeland ❤️
There were 4 banks 3 minutes from the station but no one told you and you went where there is nothing. Sorry
14:00 Само се заслушайте.
" Everything is written in Bulgaria "😅
Honest mistake, but it's actually bulgarian
Nice vid 👍
Thanks 😊
Very interesting impressions on Bulgarian, indeed their Cyrillic alphabet would make it challenging to understand. I would have thought more Bulgarians would know English, you used some Italian there!
Most of the younger generations know English fluently, but the elderly people that lived under the Iron Curtain know Russian.
I found it was mostly the older generations that didn't understand English.
First rule of travel. Always have cash. In the central bus station 2 minutes away from the train station there is a currency exchange bureau. Why no one told you beats me. You went too far. Yes, the signage in the train station used to be English back un the days, but no one bothers these days. Beats me why
Good luck, despite being 'Sofian' I've never been there in years and frankly don't miss it - yet just be carefull about scammers, racists or hot weather.
Thanks I will be careful, yeah the weather is hot 🥵
1
Scammers, racists?! It is not the 90'for 20 years now, what are ypu talking about?
Nikolai Paunov, Bulgarians have never been racists. On the contrary, Bulgaria is one of the most welcoming countries. In ancient times, war captives have usually been freed and respected. Bulgarians have never tolerated any form of slavery and all slaves had become free men once they had set foot among Bulgarians. Not to mention the 10 000 Jews that were saved by Bulgarians during WWII...Паисий го е казал много добре : "О, неразумни юроде, защо се срамуваш да се наречеш българин и да четеш и пишеш на родния си език...". Не ви прави чест да говорите така против родината, от която сте произлезли. Аз също не винаги съм в България, но тя винаги е в сърцето ми, независимо от това къде се намирам, но щом на вас не ви липсва, още по-добре. Стойте си там където сте и то възможно по-дълго.
@@Beazoner Racists do exist sadly, its mostly against gypsies but some even against africans, which i do not understand! Every Black person I have met (which are not many) are really nice!
if you found just traveling through Bulgaria to be inconvenient, you have no idea what im going through living here xD
If you find travelling through Bulgaria inconvenient, try doing it in Luxembourg. Or actually, don't, you'll have to be rescued daily.
They should write police in both characters latin and cyrilic.
They do
It's not a great idea to travel in Bulgaria by train.
Aha but it’s not that bad I think
It's not that bad, either. It's fast, cheap and pretty straightforward.
@@dessievaughan5350 yes i think its good, they just need to improve the wagons and perhaps introduce some rules, sometimes I get stinky people who don't shower lol
@Christo S. Seriously?
You "can get stinky people" everywhere in the world, especially in warm days. But that's O.K. as long as their thoughts, words and actions are "not stinky" or hateful.
@@dessievaughan5350 no no no, I'm telling you, I have lived in many many places around the world and as a Bulgarian I can tell you that if you get a really bad match they would take out their socks and once you feel those cheese sticks you'd want to run. Sometimes there was also some drunkards, but they get kicked out easier than the stinkers. I have travelled many times and the main problem usually is that in the night such rules are not always enforced and if the train is full it's a big problem. But I must say for the price our rails are working fairly OK, just need to change the rolling stock soon cause it's at least 30 years old in some cases. I'd recommend the night rooms, they are very very good for the price.