Bansko - Bulgaria

Coat of Arms - Bansko - Courtesy of Wikipedia

David and I had been planning to travel to Bansko together this winter, so I was delighted to accept an offer from my sister and brother-in-law to accompany them on their recent trip. Despite having only been home a few days from my long haul travel I had decided after initial doubts that I should take up the opportunity. I am so glad I did as it was a very enjoyable trip with plenty of relaxation in the pool and jacuzzi, delicious local food at a few of the many restaurants and of course some ski-ing!

Postcard purchased in Bansko

Location of Bansko:
Bansko is a  mountain resort located in the south-west of Bulgaria. The town is situated 6 km from the town of Razlog and 160 km from the capital of Sofia. Bansko lies on the two banks of the Glazne river at the foot of the Pirin mountain, just below its highest peak. The Pirin mountain is an Alpine type mountain with its highest peak - Vihren (2914 m). The town of Bansko is located 925 m above sea level with the ski area - at altitudes of 2000 to 2600 m.

Map of Ski -Area

History of  Bansko : 
The archaeological traces of the inhabitants of Bansko appear to date to the early periods of the Roman Empire. There are several housing structures at the outskirts of the town, which date to 100 BC, but it is not known who these people were. There are several legends about who founded Bansko. According to one of them, Bansko was founded by people who lived in Dobarsko, a village in Rila, itself according to a legend founded by the blinded army of Tsar Samuil. Another legend claims that Bansko was founded by an Italian painter by the name of Ciociolino, hence the existence of the name Chucholin in Bansko.

Still according to another version it was a Slavic tribe called the Peruns, who lived in Pirin and worshiped Perun, that founded the village later to become a town.

Bansko became part of Bulgaria, during the reign of Khan Krum, most probably around 811 AD and has been part of Bulgaria, ever since except the period when the country was under Ottoman rule.

Bulgarian Flag

I was very taken with the resort especially the older parts of the town and in some ways it reminded me of Italy as it was when we first started visiting over forty years ago.  I have tried to capture the atmosphere of Bansko through my camera lens and hope you will enjoy the photos I have chosen to share here with you on a walk around the town when we first arrived, which was before the snow arrived at town level!

Bansko - Holy Trinity Orthodox Church
Post on church will follow soon.

As you can see the snow did arrive down in the town! Don't forget the photos will enlarge to view, just click on any one. Meanwhile I hope you got the feeling of some the town's atmosphere, back soon with more Bansko posts.

With thanks to the following sites for the background information included in this post. The links will take you directly to the pages on Bansko if you are interested in learning more about the town and the ski-slopes.

General
Bansko - Wikipedia  Municipality of Bansko - Official Website
For Skiers:
Bansko Blog.com  Facebook Page - Bansko Blog   Twitter - Bansko Blog

                           All photos unless stated otherwise are my own taken in January 2014
  

 All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection

More photos from this trip may also be viewed individually in the collection entitled  

Bansko - Bulgaria at My Flickr  account.

Tram Advertising 2014 - Des Voeux Road, Hong Kong.

The tram system is one of the earliest forms of public transport in Hong Kong as they have been in existence for over one hundred years. The tramway runs on Hong Kong Island between Shau Kei Wan and Kennedy Town, with a branch line circulating Happy Valley. The trams which are an environmentally friendly mass transit system are not surprisingly a major tourist attraction. 

No surprise then that previous posts on this blog about the Hong Kong Tramways are amongst some of the most visited. Therefore whilst I was in Hong Kong recently it seemed a good idea to take a walk down to Des Voeux Road and see which companies the trams are advertising this year.

There are many more but I hope you have enjoyed the small selection I captured on my walk

Tram Stop Information

Map showing the current tram termini and major stops along the route.
Wikipedia

Just in case you would like to read more about the history of the Hong Kong Tramways I am including the links to my earlier posts.
Trams in Hong Kong - August 2012
Hong Kong Trip 2010 - Trams

With thanks to the following sites for the background information included in this post. The links will take you directly to the pages on  Hong Kong Tramways if you are interested in learning more about the history of the tramway.

Wikipedia - Hong Kong Tramways    Hong Kong Tramways   Hong Kong Extras

                           All photos unless stated otherwise are my own taken in January 2014
  

  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market - Rachaburi Province - Thailand

Damnoen Saduak is a tourist friendly floating market in Rachaburi Province about 100k outside Bangkok. It is interesting to see the wooden boats selling produce both to people on land and others on boats. It is a colourful scene but the main area is definitely very tourist orientated.

Arriving by boat is a must if you go to this particular floating market as otherwise you do not fully appreciate that the area is an extended water based community and not just the market which sadly tends to be mainly a tourist trap. The sights we saw en route to the market were we felt just as interesting if not more so in a way than the actual market, as we were seeing peoples homes and shops. I will let you judge for yourselves by sharing my photos, let me know what you think.

If you have read my earlier post River Trip to the Grand Palace - Bangkok you will know we were in Thailand at the time of some serious flooding. If you look closely at the photos above, you will observe that the water levels were very high en route to the market, the gardens of the residents are under water.

A sea of colourful umbrellas heralded our arrival at the market.

Finally this friendly Thai soldier was collecting donations for to help the flood victims all over Thailand. I hope you enjoyed your virtual trip to the market.

The following website links may also be of interest.

Trip Advisor - Damnoen Saduak Floating Market   There are many markets in Bangkok, which you can check out on the Markets in Bangkok - Wikipedia  page.

All photos are my own taken in October 2011. 

  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection 

More photos from this trip may also be viewed individually in the collection entitled  

Asia Trip - October 2011 at  My Flickr account.