Are you going to Bulgaria? That's what you can't do in this country!

Bulgarians are very friendly people. You need to do something extraordinary to make them offended or angry. But still, there are taboos and peculiarities here.

Use the word "chicken"

As well as other expressions with this root. In the Bulgarian language, "kur" is a very indecent word denoting one of the variants of the name of the male sexual organ. Chicken in Bulgarian is "kokoshka", chicken meat is "pileshko", smoking is "pushene".

The second taboo is words with the root "put", for example, "traveler"; this root is consonant with another taboo word, already associated with the female genital organ.

Under the influence of neighboring Croats, some advise not to pronounce the word "matches" in Bulgaria (on the shores of the Adriatic — an unprintable swear word). There are disputes, some representatives of the Bulgarian youth claim that the consonant Bulgarian words "pichka" (cool girl) and "peach" (cool guy) in the local language have a positive connotation, but the older generation may not agree with this.

Believe that the sights are authentic

Bulgaria has not only cheap beaches and nutritious national cuisine, but also many historical attractions: the remains of ancient Greek seaside colonies, Roman fortresses, there is also a local Stonehenge — Beglik-Tash. Some of them are included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

However, if you visit the same object twice, with an interval of, say, a year, you can notice an amazing thing: they change. It is a well-known fact that in winter there is nothing to do in seaside towns except construction.

A perfect example is the Roman castle in Kabyle, near Yambol. There it is quite obvious that part of the objects (baths, basilica) is already "completed" and ready for tourists to visit, and the other part (barracks) it has not yet been brought into "marketable" form. However, this does not detract from their historical significance.

Bargain

Unlike their eastern neighbors, Bulgarians do not like to bargain, and if a tourist from Russia starts knocking down the price, they will also be offended. Bulgaria is not a rich country, even Russian pensioners (at least those who come here) are considered quite wealthy people here. Bulgarians will perceive the desire to get a discount of some lev (half a euro) as pettiness. An equally harsh answer will come from a taxi driver, and from an old man selling fruit in a seaside park, and from a grandmother who sits next to an ancient fortress and sells jam from green figs.

Hurry

There is no hurry here: several cars can stand in traffic for 15 minutes on a narrow street and patiently wait for a truck to unload in front of them, which brought drinks to a small shop. And no one will say a rude word to anyone, some will even get out of the car to participate in the process. However, not even out of a desire to speed it up, but rather out of a desire to communicate.

The cook will cook your signature dish for a long time, the saleswoman in the store will diligently hang up the kebabs you have chosen (a kind of cutlets). Everything goes on as usual, even in the highest season.

Download rights

Scandal as a method of emotional pressure does not work in this country — neither in a store where the cashier has gone somewhere, nor in a restaurant where you have a bill for ten minutes, nor in a hotel where you noticed divorces in the corner on the mirror in the room. An enraged Bulgarian can rarely be seen, usually they experience their difficulties in silence. Perhaps worldly peace should be learned from them.

Walking in the Gypsy quarter

The number of Roma population in some regions of Bulgaria reaches 15% of the total number of inhabitants of the region and is growing, moreover, because the titular nation gives birth to children at a much slower pace and, moreover, leaves en masse to other EU countries in search of a good job.

There is a Gypsy quarter in almost every locality. With a high probability, you will notice it already from afar — mountains of garbage, shabby houses, small children right on the roadway and horses in harness right there, and loud but peculiar music sounds from the windows. It is better to photograph local exotics without leaving the car, otherwise the chance of losing your movable property is very high.

Go to the forest

Now the forests in Bulgaria are left only in the mountains. And this is not at all like our usual woodlands: rocks, steep paths, sheep and shepherds, snakes, thorns, jackals and larger predators. The berries and fruits that you will find there are much worse in quality than those that are sold on the market, and the mushrooms may be local, unfamiliar to you. In general, there is nothing to do here.

However, ecotourism is developing in Bulgaria: eco-trails with toilets, information stands about the inhabitants of the protected area, convenient bridges and places for picnics and fishing began to appear. Ecotropes (in Bulgarian, "ecopotheca") can be found in mountain resorts, but they are popular not in winter, but in summer and autumn.

Get involved in alcohol tourism

It would seem that wherever you look, Marquis Karabas grows grapes in all the fields, and along the road you will see wine production every now and then. And Bulgarians themselves like to drink, while knowing the measure: you will not meet a drunk on the street, and in a number of cities (for example, in Plovdiv, Varna, Pernik and others), regional laws even prohibit drinking alcoholic beverages on the street. Tourists are expected to behave in the same responsible way: not only the beach and rakia. And there really is something to see here.