A 16km bus ride to the northwest of Velingrad, YUNDOLA is a small health resort 1390m above sea level, set amid rounded hills and copses of trees. It used to be a popular rest-home for trade unionists and Young Pioneers, but is chiefly remarkable for its inhabitants' longevity. The prevalence of centenarians in Bulgaria is ascribed to features of life in the highlands, where "Nature takes years off the weak and adds them to the strong" - as Leslie Gardiner was told. Human longevity is supposedly extended by pure air, climatic extremes, a lack of stress, and a spartan diet with little meat and plenty of yoghurt.

The village of DORKOVO , 14km northeast of Velingrad, is notable only for its annual folklore festival , on the first Sunday in August, which aims to represent the blend of three cultures - Christian, Pomak and Vlach - that characterizes the Chepino Valley. There's a strong Macedonian element, as most of the villagers are descended from Macedonians who came here as refugees after the Congress of Berlin. Before then Dorkovo was a Pomak village, but many of the inhabitants fled after 1877, fearing reprisals for their participation in the slaughter at Batak. Buses to Batak can take you as far as the turn-off for Kostandovo, halfway there - you'll have to walk or hitch the remaining 7km.