Britons living in Bulgaria. Guide to Bulgaria, Sofia and Varna

Kosharitsa is pretty, unspoilt place, just a few kilometres from ...
A big attraction for Britons is the cost of living in Bulgaria. Yvonne and Stephen’s monthly water bill is only £1.50 and electricity costs between £10 and ...

A big attraction for Britons is the cost of living in Bulgaria. A small river – “Suha reka” flows through the village and pours into the Black Sea.Antique traces1.5 km south of Kosharitsa on the Gyoztepe hill, there are relics of an old fortress – Kaleto. Above Gyoztepe on the main ridge of the Balkan range is the fortress Goliamata Kapia. According to the legend once during the time of Khan Krum, it has been the frontier of the country. All the Kents miss about Britain is bacon, friends and family. And because rural parts of Bulgaria have so far not been invaded by coachloads of tourists, the couple still attract quite some attention when they visit remote villages. Below the hill west of “Kaleto”, is the fortress “Malkata Porta” also known as “Malkata Kapia” with a fortress wall. Bulgaria was lovely, and although there are a lot more people here now we still think it’s great,” Yvonne said. But a growing band of British couples are doing just that. But for those looking for a permanent foothold and respite from the crowds, Kosharitsa is pretty, unspoilt and just a few kilometres inland. Here is also found an extremely rare golden idol – schematic human image dating back from the Stone Age. Here the same pension allows us to live very well. If Bulgaria joins the EU, prices will rise, but if locals are still earning the same wages it will remain comparatively cheap. If you ask for directions they go out of their way to help and cann’t be kinder,” Yvonne explains. If you look back you will see a valley formed between the hill “Biberna” which is next to Kableshkovo village and the slopes of Emin Mountain. If you’re not careful you can be tipsy by teatime every day. In the village, there is a habitat of the swamp snowdrop, covering 20 hectares, a natural reserve since 1970. Incredible though it may seem to those with less trusting natures, their faith in their new friend was amply repaid, with a fine three-storey detached four-bed house with a sun terrace on the first floor and a verandah upstairs. It contains 90 coins with the name of Philip II, 10 with Alexander the Great and 2 coins from Messambria. It is also rumoured that bears still exist in remote areas.Mike and Margaret Mellor have also retired to Kosharitsa in an attempt to stretch the small pension that Mike receives from British Steel, which he worked for as a joiner in Teesside. Its residents have been doing robberies along the roads and in the Christian villages. Kosharitsa is pretty, unspoilt place, just a few kilometres from Sunny Beach resort Today we have 28,026 properties for sale and rent. Margaret says that she has already picked her burial spot. Mike said: “We can have stayed in England, but we will have had to penny-pinch. Most package tourists do not make it further than Sunny Beach, Bulgaria’s huge resort by the Black Sea. North-west from the village, near “Kaleto” and “Chibukchia”, where are traces of an old fortress and a road known as “Kaldarumat”, accidentally in 1959 is found a collection of coins. Probably a thousand or so Britons are now buying in Bulgaria each year, but most are investors and holiday-home owners rather than people planning to retire. Rather than buy a ready-built house, they asked a Bulgarian who befriended them to put one up to their plans. South from Gyoztepe there has been a village which function was to guard the passages. That and the cost of medication amounted to £3.50. The archaeological material, numismatic finds and epigraphic monuments, tell us mostly about Thracian antiquity. The choice of Kosharitsa as a retirement haven has a good explanation. The couple now have Bulgarian friends who help them out in emergencies: “We paid our electricity bill twice by mistake and didn’t have enough of the language to sort it out ourselves,” Yvonne says. The deal, including central heating and a good finish — neither normally supplied as standard by Bulgarian builders — cost £60,000. The people are friendly and go out of their way to help. The Thracians are the most ancient inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula. The village of KosharitsaAdditional information by Bulgarian Properties Ltd.Kosharitsa village is situated on the southern slopes of the east Balkan range, 120 m above sea-level. The wall is 300 steps long in northsouthern direction. Their days are spent doing DIY — Stephen was a builder in Britain — and walking in the beautiful countryside, where a huge variety of birds can be spotted and even, occasionally, wild boar. There is talk of forming an expats’ club, but we probably won’t bother. They invite you in for drinks and arrive with trays of grapes, tomatoes and red wine after the harvest. To the north there is a forest which served as protection for the people from the village during the Turkish yoke. To the south, there has been a small fortress with size 90 and 60 steps. To those who predict that most Bulgarian retirees will return to Britain sadder and wiser once old age sets in, Margaret replies that they have already encountered one emergency and survived. We are both learning Bulgarian, which must be one of the hardest languages. We can say ‘hello’ and ask simple questions. We were lucky with our builder, al though you do hear horror stories of people building half a house, taking the money and running.” Like their friends, the Kents, the Mellors are learning Bulgarian and intend to stay for the long term. When Mike went down with food poisoning, a consultation with a doctor was arranged quickly and easily. Yvonne added: “If we had been thinking of an investment, we chose the right time to buy because the house is now probably worth three times as much, but we think of it as our home and plan to stay here rather than take the profits. Yvonne and Stephen Kent, 52 and 50, pitched up in Bulgaria in 2003, having dismissed France, Italy and Spain as retirement choices. Yvonne and Stephen’s monthly water bill is only £1.50 and electricity costs between £10 and £15 a month.