Eastern Rhodopes, Bulgaria

Comment

Comment by Adventures in Eastern Rhodopes on June 7, 2012 at 1:50am

Culinary trip in the Eastern Rhodopes Mountains, Bulgaria

Tour description: During this eight days village tour you will taste delicious meals prepared with ecological products from the pure nature of the Rhodopes mountains, you will enjoy the authentic folklore, and great hospitality of the Bulgarian people.
Best period: Late August – October
Tour type:Guided group tours – the guides are specialists in Bulgarian history, culture and cuisine with good knowledge in English. The size of the groups is up to 16 people.
Difficulty grade: General – see the description of the grade
Level of comfort: General – see the description of the level

Day 1
Transfer from the Sofia airport to a family hotel at the bank of the Kardzhali lake.

Day 2
The morning in the Eastern Rhodopes always begins with the famous Bulgarian yogurt and white cheese. After that we depart to one of the biggest Bulgarian artificial lakes – Studen kladenets where a boat will take us to a local fish-farm. We will fish carp and cat-fish, then have a lunch with local products. The fish-farm is a part of a game reserve where we will observe many Fallow deers, and Roe deers. In the late afternoon we will visit an ecofarm near Arda river. The family there grows the oldest wheat crops in Bulgaria which are known as wild wheat or eincorn. The housewife will prepare us the dinner with local vegetables and herbs. The man will demonstrate us how the bread from eincorn is being prepared in the past. The eincorn crops and the land where they grow are organic certified.

Day 3
A light walking in the surroundings of the village will give us opportunity to collect some local herbs. The area of the Eastern Rhodopi Mountains is clear of industrial activities, that’s why most of the products are reputed to be ecological even with no label.
Proceeding south to Ivaylovgrad area where two young farmers will prepare a village lunch for us. One of them is a sheep breeder and he will demonstrate us how the milk and cheese go from the farm to the table. Ivaylovgrad is the region of the wine and sesame. We will explore the sesame fields and will taste sesame meals. Here also grow wild walnuts and almonds. The locals collect them and sell them to buyers. You will taste wildly collected and extremely delisious nuts from the pure nature of these south mountains.
The evening will be devoted to the wine. Ivaylovgrad is a border area with Greece that features with its fertile soil, and mild climate influenced by the Aegean sea. We will visit the first organic certified winery in Bulgaria where we will taste great quality wines of the types Merlot, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat...