The booklet 100 National Tourist Sites: Bulgaria – That is my Homeland is obviously targeted at Bulgarians – as testified by the its name and the fact that it is only issued in Bulgarian. It could, however, be used by any tourist with a taste for old-fashioned documentation. With a little help from the BalkanTravellers.com team, the language barrier could be overcome and one is left with the joy of not only visiting tourist sites, but also having something to show for it.

The wallet-size booklet has 28 pages, with small, rectangular grids printed on most of them – totaling 100. Inside each grid is the name of a landmark – sometimes it includes one spot, like for example the Alexandar Nevski Cathedral in Sofia, while other times two or more sites in the same town or area are listed, as in the case of the space for Kurdzhali, which contains the town’s Regional Historical Museum, the Saint John Prodromus Monastery and the ancient archeological site of Perperikon located nearby.

Each of the 100 landmarks has an individual seal. Upon visiting each site, the traveler’s booklet is stamped with a seal certifying that he has indeed been there. The booklet is a kind of a small-scale, low-tech, socialist-style version of the popular websites that let you ‘pin’-mark your travels on a word map.

As an initiative which started in 1966 with the aim of encouraging tourists to visit some of Bulgaria’s most significant sites, the list includes natural phenomena, archeological excavations, historical regions, architectural reserves, museums, monasteries, churches and mountain peaks.

Until the fall of the communism in 1989, the list contained some monuments that were connected to the regime. Since then, it has been revised several times, but seems to have retained some of its original feel – one of a communist initiative to get the masses familiar with the homeland’s monuments, certifying the process with stamps and awarding the most diligent ones. It exists in its current form since 2003, supported by various state, religious and non-governmental institutions.

And though very few of the selection’s sites are off-the-beaten track, while most of them are widely popular and well-known destinations, the booklet nevertheless provides a fun and tidy way to keep a record of one’s trips. Also, the addiction factor should not be underestimated – as soon as you get your first stamp, you will want to have them all.

And if this were not enough, there are also nominal material awards for collecting the stamps. Bronze, silver and gold pins are awarded to those who have collected 25, 50 or 100 stamps respectively. In addition, prizes are raffled off to all the pin-winners yearly, such as excursions around Bulgaria and abroad, bicycles, tents, and sleeping bags.

Even if you’re in Bulgaria for a short period in just one region, you will surely be able to get several stamps, as the sites are pretty evenly dispersed throughout the country. And – though incomplete and yielding no awards, the booklet makes a nice, retro-style memento of your visit that is more original than postcards and more fun than simply remembering where you’ve been.

At a mere 1.50 leva (around 0.75 euro), it is a complete bargain. Just don’t forget to bring it with you (along with our translated list of the 100 sites). Otherwise, you’ll have to resort to buying a new one on each trip or getting the stamps on post-it notes.