Are you a vegetarian or vegan, or simply a green-minded environmentalist type who would like to travel while eating healthy and with minimum impact to the environment? Come visit our Bulgarian farm in the centre of Bulgaria! We are located in a small village just north of Bulgaria’s second largest city, Plovdiv (on the way from Sofia to Istanbul, Turkey). Which means that you could use our organic farm as a base from which to visit the many beautiful places in Bulgaria, and always come back to a delicious, healthy meal grown straight from our own gardens! And while you stay with us, we can certainly help you choose the nicest and secluded places to visit.
Our village is very small and quaint, and our “farm” is actually the tract of land on four houses, so there is plenty of nice accommodation where to stay. We are also organizing wwoofing in Bulgaria, which is about working on organic farms, so you can expect lots of vibrant, environmentally conscious youngsters working the organic fields to serve delicious, organic vegan and vegetarian cuisine onto your plate. With guitar playing and nice times around the campfire in the evenings.
The next village has a healthy mineral springs centre for 1 Euro a day, and the owner of one of the organic farms owns Extreme Sports Bulgaria, so there is plenty for you to do, such as paragliding from Bulgaria’s favourite paragliding mountain about 30 minutes away, or exploring caves in the area, riding horses, booting around in four-wheeler motor bikes (not so environmental, but we care about nature and know where to take you), and all sorts of fun activities.
You can also join me on a trip around Bulgaria in my green bus [pic]. I’ve been traveling around Europe for the last four years (Cheap Travel Europe Tour Guide), operating my business through mobile internet connection and solar panels on the roof. Green laundry in the sea with soft soap, just as Greenpeace suggested, and taste my fantastic vegetarian cooking. Feel free to contact me for more information or to book some accommodation on these organic farms.
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Nasko owns two of the houses, and between all four houses there is quite a lot of land on which we grow organic vegetables. Nasko and his wife are strict vegetarians and they understand the balance between different vegetables and spices. They are also knowledgeable in meditation and yoga exercises to achieve chakra balance, so you will have plenty of opportunity to learn from these very wise and caring nature lovers.
My friend Justine owns the other two houses and organic farms and he is a very kind and peaceful person. Except for the diesel I occasionally have to consume when moving my caravan design truck, I consider myself a very nature caring and good spirited person. You may check out my couch surfing profile here and read the rave reviews from travelers who have been fortunate to taste my delicious, vegetarian cooking while I was parked on some scenic coast
Couch surfing is a good way to travel and we also accept couch surfers, when there is room. We are selective who we accept as visitors, so if you do come down to visit us, you can expect to be surrounded by nature loving, caring and positive people. What better way to travel!
Bulgaria may be the cheapest country in Europe, and may seem rather backwards at times, but I consider it on the forefront of progressive thought, if you are a green-minded person who cares about the state of our planet. When you come visit our village it will feel like you’ve gone back in time hundreds of years. Cattle, sheep, goats and horses roam freely while nibbling at the grass. No need for stinky, gas-powered lawn mowers around here!
On Bulgarian “highways” I’ve often had to pass horse drawn carts filled with a family after another long working day on the farm. There are no animal factories in the country and, by default, all consumable foods may be considered as free range.
Many times I’ve been amazed at how cheap the prices are here and wondered how the locals could survive on so little. I asked a few people and they explained: “in our special Bulgarian way”. Over the years I’ve learned what that is, and how Bulgarians in general are very good at recycling, finding free ways to do things, and not waste. Which is why I consider their way of living and thinking progressive, because we will all need to learn these techniques if we want to save our beautiful planet earth.
Bulgaria has a lot of beautiful nature spots to see, and if you come visit us we can point you in the right direction. Or you can come stay with me while I’m parked on a virgin beach on the Black Sea – secret locations that only certain locals know about. There’s plenty of room in the truck, or I have three tents, or you can just enjoy the ride in the bouncing green bus and I can help you track down a quaint pension to stay at.
In many countries tourism is one of the largest, revenue-earning industries. There is constant talk about the Kyoto agreement and the failure of lobbied political leaders to come to an agreement. But we do need to wait for their action, do we, as the dollar or Euro held in your hand can also be a powerful weapon against waste, if you consider carefully how you spend or consume.
If you are an environmentalist and nature lover, you are not alone, because ecotourism has been increasing annually by a rate of 10 to 15%. Ecotourism often takes conscientious travellers to natural areas, so that they can enjoy pristine nature without harming it. The valley in which we live is also interesting from a natural perspective because it is called the Valley of Roses, where 90% of the world’s supply of rose oil is produced, used for the making of perfumes. The reason why wild and domesticated roses grow here so well is because of how clean the air is, so expect to benefit from that as well. Otherwise, the valley is surrounded by mountain ranges, filled with historic towns and forested nature, so expect lots to see.
And ecotouism isn’t always about inspecting local fauna, nature and wildlife, but also about experiencing the local culture and people. You can therefore look forward to live Bulgarian music around the campfire, Bulgarian dancing and the fine taste of home-brewed wine and Rakia.
Naska (Nasko’s wife) is an expert in organic farming and cooking and she will be busy training the wwoofers who will come to Bulgaria to help us on our organic farms. But this year we will start experimenting with permaculture, which is an amazing and not-so-recent science first developed by Indians to maximize crop yields from an area of land. More recently this science has been adopted and developed in Australia, and now it is being spread around the world as a very green approach to solving much of our world’s problems.
The basic principle is to understand fauna and vegetation on a local level and to plant vegetable, fruit and other consumable food producing plants so that they work together in harmony. This can also be combined with such animals as chickens, to help regulate weeds. Fauna can be planted together with trees and vines to create several layers of food production. The trees can provide valuable shade while certain plants keep certain pests away. Essentially to create a self-sustaining ecosystem whose soil does not need to be overturned in the fall, requiring less maintenance and producing 4 times the yield (per area) compared to traditional, large scale farming.
Although many people grow their own vegetables in their gardens here, or between apartment buildings, and livestock are generally free range everywhere, Bulgaria is a post eastern block country where the prevalent mentality is to eat meat, meat, meat. And often not the best quality. Bulgarians being so good at not being wasteful, they tend to use cattle for milk until the cow has reached a (not – excuse the pun) tender age. In any case, if you are a vegan or vegetarian traveler, you may not find it the easiest to come upon vegetarian restaurants or meals. No problemo though in our neck of the woods. You can expect veggies straight from our gardens, without the use of any chemicals, and Naska’s fine vegetarian cooking, which employs fewer spices, instead applying the flavour of the vegetables using a special cooking technique. We are also knowledged in the balance of vegetables where, for example, potatoes should not be cooked with tomatoes. But if you like that combination, we’re certainly willing to please!
Four years ago I moved myself and my business into my home-made caravan so that I could travel freely around Europe while continuing with my work. I get internet through mobile phone, my rooftop solar panels with battery and regulator ensure free energy 24 hours a day, and I love to find beautiful and secluded spots in nature where I can park for any period of time. Perhaps a kilometer walk to a local grocery store, where the veggies might be locally grown and organic. In the interior of Bulgaria, and especially in the mountains, crisp and clean water gushes amply from the ground, and man-made spouts can often be found by the roadside. With those I fill up my 20 litre container and I enjoy cooking with a beautiful view [pic]. I myself am 98% vegetarian and my favourite dish to cook here in Bulgaria is a mixture of potatoes, veggies, white beans, lots of olive oil, sesame seeds and a little whey powder for added protein. With my nifty pressure cooker it’s done within an hour, which helps me conserve my cooking propane, a canister which costs me 8 Euro to fill about once every 9 months. Check out my profile if you would like to see how visiting couch surfers [ have raved about my cooking.
While traveling randomly around Europe I find myself in the most interesting corners, off the beaten track, meeting interesting people. At the bottom of this page I have posted the hotel of one such friend. I met Justine in the summer on the coast in a small village named Varvara, where young folks from all over Bulgaria come to enjoy the endless summer festivities and live gypsy music in the streets. The surrounding area is a large nature preserve and everyone sets up a tent or caravan in the forests by the sea. I told Justine I had reconstruction experience, as I had spent a year helping one friend in Bulgaria with his projects (where I was put in charge of finding construction chicks). Justine asked me to help him reconstruct his homes, in exchange for free accommodation over the winter (Bulgaria is too cold in the winter to comfortably sleep in my truck). Over time I learned about their organic cooking and, since I’m such a whiz with the internet (search engine optimization), they asked me to help them find wwoofers if Bulgaria during the summer, or eco-tourists and traveling vegetarians and vegans, such as yourselves. While traveling I will often stumble on such isolated paradises and I like to help my friends by putting together such webpages for them. And I believe it makes it more interesting traveling for people such as yourselves. No need to be cooped up in a big stinky city in some expensive and fancy hotel when you can meet real and genuine locals somewhere in nature. A much nicer way to travel, and healthier too!
Important Keywords (for the search engines)
Organic, travel, Bulgaria, vegan, vegans, green, vegetarian, vegetarians, healthy, traveling, travelling, farm, tourism, tourist, tourists, traveler, travelers, traveller, travellers, eco-travel, holiday, holidays.
Vegetarian Vacations Directory - List of tours offering vegetarian or vegan food.
Bicycle Beano Veggie Cycling Holidays UK - Cycling holidays in England and Wales UK with delicious organic vegetarian food.
Another project we are working on: Eco Tourism Resorts in Koh Phangan, Thailand.
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