Bulgarian Transportation of the Week: The Bus!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Bus (автобус) Better late than never!
Buses are the most prolific of all transportation modes in Bulgaria. The highways are also filled with them. They are a faster and make fewer stops than trains. The downside is less room, more expensive and a potential wishy-washy schedule. It pretty much comes down to what you want-Time and a thrill ride or money, space and near 24 service. I say thrill ride because several buses drive, uh, quickly. This PCV has been on several buses that have arrived more than 30 minutes early and a few that have driven on the shoulder for several miles. It can be a hair raising experience.
The types of buses vary. The best buses are transnational whereas the most Soviet-looking ones are regional. Going from Sofia to say, Chirpan, the buses are all quite nice (and like trains, from Germany). Service to villages are usually old or microbuses.
Where do you catch these buses? Well in villages, you catch them from small bus stations like in Devin (left), really really nice bus station like in the capital, Sofia (middle), or shack.
Sometimes, you have to flag the bus down on the side of the road. In order to catch a ride from the Central Bus Station in Sofia to Dupnitsa, you have to find a bus driving south through Dupnitsa and haggle with the bus driver to convince him to top on the freeway to let you off. I'm sure they all wonder, why on earth would you want to go to Dupnitsa!? On the way out of Dupnitsa to the Central Bus Station, you have to stand on the side of the free way and wave the bus down. They will, more often than not, stop (at least, this PCV has yet to have any problems).
So there you have it, the автобус: Fast and thrilling.
J-Dub "The Duke" Paperstax
Posted byJimmy at 9:27 PM
Labels: Trasportation of the Week
I'm currently writing SPA and PCPP grants to tear down Dupnitsa and have more frequent trains from Kresna to Sofia.
The bus station or the entire city? If it's for the whole city, I suggest we give Krensa the crown of "Hard Rock Capital of Bulgaria"