Arrival in Bansko
Visiting Bansko for the First Time
Flew into Sofia yesterday via London, Luton. I flew one way as I’m not certain how long I will be in Redenka. This cost around £100 all from Belfast. The main aim is to prepare my appt. for rental and to see the finish. The flight from London took around 3 hours.
When I arrived in Bansko I was picked up by a staff member from Bulgarian Property Management who ferried me the 2 plus hours drive to our property at Redenka lodge. He kindly give me a run down of the significant buildings we passed in Sofia with the little English he had. I don’t know if this was part of the 80 Euros pickup charge 
On the way we passed two hookers who were either the ugliest women in Bulgaria or men in drag 
. I’m sure they were the latter - they had adams apples the size of melons.
The road to Redenka Lodge which is around 8 km before Bansko is fine until you come off the motorway around 40-50 km from Bansko and start up the mountain roads. Then it becomes a roller coaster ride. This driver was not shy of putting the boot down so my heart was in my mouth more than once.
The good news is that there seems to be a lot of road works going on in this area so hopefully it will not be long before the passage is greatly improved. It needs it badly.
When I eventually arrived at Redenka Ski Golf and Ski at around 3am GMT and surveyed my apartment I was pleasantly surprised at the overall finish. All of the photos I had seen beforehand just hadn’t done it justice.
It is much bigger than I had imagined and there was an extra bathroom in the apartment which I had not known about and hadn’t been informed of.
When I got to see the overall Redenka development in the light of day it I was glad to see that both indoor and outdoor pools at Redenka Palace have been tiled, and the finishing at the Palace appear to be underway - from what I could see through the dusty windows.
Grand Redenka is a fair bit behind the Palace and is due for completion May 2008.
There are also a number of other developments being built directly beside and behind to the right of the Redenka complex. At the minute I don’t see the building closest becoming an obstuction to the views from our apartments at all as most apartments are facing a different direction.
I travelled earlier today to Bansko town centre and was initially shocked at the amount of building work going on, with half built apartment blocks all over the place. This is in contrast to the old part of the town which is much nicer and quieter at the minute.
The place is littered with Mehanas(Bars) with old ladies parked on wooden benches around every corner. I passed at least 3 ski shops, numerous property or real estate businesses and more than a few souvenir shops.
I had a Cheeseburger, chips, coke and a tea in the Lions Pub for under four quid. All the way to Bansko to eat a cheeseburger. 
I have seen the people from Bulgarian Property Management and Furnish BG at least twice today at their request. I was also issued a rep. to help me iron out any problems while I’m here which I thought was very professional. I know there are lots of horror stories about various property companies but overall the positives in my case have far outweighed the negatives.
So far all the Bulgarian people I have met have been more than pleasant and helpful too. Long may it continue - at least until I go home 
There are a few snagging problems that need to be addressed but this does not seem a problem to me as long as they are fixed before the first rental customers arrive - hopefully in December.
I am writing this post from the lobby of Redenka Lodge as the wireless connection is not strong enough to reach my apartment on the second floor. There were numerous unsecured wireless internet connections in the centre of Bansko which means you can hook up to the net from just about anywhere in the town.
When the Lodge opens officially there will be internet access from every apartment. I think this is the case throughout the development.
I hope to visit Razlog tomorrow and will report here with some thoughts and details.
Tags: bansko, redenka lodge, redenka palace, grand redenka, razlog, ski in bansko, bulgarian property, bansko property, bansko rental