Sunny Beach Resort

"Bulgaria? Where in the world is that?"

They were my first thoughts when my parents told me that for our summer holiday in 2004, we would travelling to the eastern European country known only to me as the place in which footballing legend, Histro Stoichkov was born.

My knowledge of the country was limited at best. I knew that it was in Eastern Europe, I knew a few footballers, as mentioned above, and I knew that a lot of people from the country had surnames ending in ov and ev.

I learnt a vast amount more from spending just two weeks there.

Bulgaria lies in south-eastern Europe, bordering the black sea, Turkey, Romania, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia & Montenegro. The population of Bulgaria is nearing 8 million. The Bulgarian weather is temperate with cold, damp winters and hot, dry summers. Bulgarian money is in Levs and Stotinki's (Stinky's as they are referred to by many tourists); 100 Stotinki's is equal to 1 lev. 1 lev is the equivalent, or at least was in 2004, to about three quid.

My holiday was great. We stayed at the Elenite Holiday Village situated in a quiet bay 10km north of Sunny Beach. The village works on an "all inclusive basis". This was the first time we'd ever gone all inclusive and as everything in the town is so cheap, if we were to go back it would probably have been the last time we'd gone all inclusive aswell.

The apartments in the village are clean. All rooms have terrace, telephone, SAT TV, mini bar, bathroom with hairdryer and air conditioning. The family suites have a bathtub as well. Rooms were cleaned daily and fresh towels provided.

The beach was beautiful, the water, clean and blue, the sea bottom is shallow and safe for swimming.

The food on offer in the hotel's buffet style restaurant was not great, but nevertheless it was edible and as Bulgaria is fresh out of communism and still trying to make a name for itself in the tourism market, you should expect things not to be perfect.

There really is absolutely nothing outside of the Elenite complex, just hills and mountains. The nearest town to the Elenite resort is the resort of Sunny Beach. To sum Sunny Beach up, I'd say think Magaluf and Benidorm without the larger lout mentality. Some parts of Sunny Beach reminded me of Blackpool, a Bulgarian-Blackpool styled by soviets.

Sunny Beach is still developing but even now it's the biggest Black Sea resort. It boasts the longest and widest beach strip, over 100 hotels and a prestigious 'Blue Flag International prize for proven ecological advantages'.

Bargain shopping is a huge attraction when visiting somewhere such as Bulgaria. Designer tops sell for around £10, trainers are for sale at a fraction of the price of those back home and CDs go for only a couple of pounds. Even if they aren't kosher, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

A pint of lager will only amount to 60p maximum in most bars and your meal not much more. I recall one evening when in Sunny Beach- seven of us visited a restaurant, each ordering a main course, dessert and plenty of drinks. The cost? Just under £10! To think in England, that would set you back nearly £100, a heavy dent in your wallet back home.

That is one of the key pulling points of Bulgaria. The cheapness of everything is out of this world. Sadly though that won't last long. Bulgaria is all set to join the EU in 2007. If prices don't skyrocket in Bulgaria, I'd be very surprised.

Aside from the beach resorts, we were offered a variety of trips in which to attend. One in particular stood out: The visit to Nessebar.

It was touted by the holiday reps as being one of the oldest towns in Europe and one with "beautiful medieval architecture". Oh how wrong that was! I don't like being critical of holidays, especially ones which I enjoyed but Nessebar was terrible.

A boat runs from Elenite to Nessebar every morning and returns in the evening or if boating isn't your thing a taxi ride covering the 12km costs no more than a few levs.

Nessebar is the successor of the ancient Thracian settlement called Mesambria founded in the Second century AD. The name means 'town of Melsa'. Mesambria became a Greek colony at the beginning of the 6th Century BC. It fell under Roman rule in 71 BC and it was one of the most important strongholds of the Byzantine Empire from 5 AD onwards. The Turks captured it from the Byzantine Empire in 1453 and the decline began from there on.

At one time Nessebar boasted 40 churches. What are left now are just ruins from about two of them. The ruins haven't even been left alone; they've been touched up with breezeblocks, resembling nothing of the original stone work. It looks very shabby; I personally would have much preferred to see the original ruins and not some fake building.

The town is full of wooden houses with loft extensions (again ruining the affect), tourist shops and café's/restaurants. Nearly every single shop sells table cloths, doilies etc- that's one thing I did like, honest people were selling there home-made goods in order to make a living.

It was more disappointment with Nessebar rather than pure dislike. I had all these expectations and yet none were met.

Don't let that put you off though, Bulgaria is brilliant. The people are friendly, the cost of living is low, it boasts lovely countryside and a great climate with proper seasons.

I urge you to try Bulgaria while prices are low.

I doubt it will be the same Black Sea haven that it is now, once it joins the EU.