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It started with the idea of going to a concert of El Jareau and George Benson in Sofia. My father had heard about it and we decided to fly to Bulgaria to go see the concert and to have a three day hike through the Rila mountains. We bought a ticket for a thursday, the 19th of july. We got ourselves a map and some good hiking shoes, which are really important if you hike more then 2000 metres high..
Then finally the day came. After a few turbulences we landed safely on the ground of bulgaria. It was around twelve and we didnt have to rush. A friend of my father was waiting on us and we took a taxi to his place where we could stay for the night and leave our bags.
After we had finally put our bags down we decided to explore the ctiy a little.Our concert was at eight in the cultural palace and so we had some time to observe the bulgarian people (especially their beautiful women) and to visit the center of town. We cooled down with a cold beer (it was around 36 degrees..) and enjoyed the first day in Sofia. Shortly after eight George Benson and El Jareau entered the stage and rocked the crowd. The were fantastic and it was a great atmosphere in the cultural palace. The people were dancing and the two seemed to be enjoying their concert in the captial of bulgaria. What a great evening..
The next day started early. At around nine we took a taxi to the bus station from where we took a bus to a small town close to the Rila mountains Lucklily enough my father speaks some bulgarian, otherwise it would have been really difficult to communicate . We found and shared a small minibus taxi up the mountain with two other bulgarians, who were also going to hike in the mountains. The deal was that the driver would just take us as far as possible. Then after an hours drive, at around one o´clock he dropped as at a hut about 1400 metres high.That is where we started our hike.
Our destination was the Seven Lake circus for the first day. We wanted to reach the first or second lake. The two bulgarians were walking the same way so we walked together. It was a very hot day and the heavy bags on our backs were making the hike a real hard one. It started with a steep hill untill we finally got into forest and then into open land. The nature was absolutely amazing. Every few minutes we had to take a small break. the moments come when you wonder why you have actually been wanting to do sucjh a trip. But when you reach the top of mountain or a plateau you are overwhelmed from the breathtaking view in front of you and you know why.
After about four hours walk we finally reached the first lake of the circus. We were exhausted but happy and thought about putting up our tent around there. The bulgarians wanted to go further. They told us there´d be a sleeping hut just up the next steep hill where they wanted to sleep. We decided to stay but after an hour or two the sun dissapeared in the valley and somehow we had rested enoiugh so that we were motivated to climb the next hill. And so we did and werent dissapointed by this decission. The view was absolutely breathtaking and the lake even looked better from up here. On the top we could already see the hut and the second lake. What a beatiful peace of earth.
We got us a bed in a dorm and enjoyed the play between the sun and the shades. As the sun was setting the mountains changed their colours and offered unforgetable sight..Then next morning we were fit to walk. We packed our stuff and left the hut at around nin. We wanted to get as far as possible to our final, destination the Rila monastery. There were a few routes and we decided to take the shortest but steepest. With the hight increasing the viwe got even more spectacular and when we finally had a point where we could see almost all seven lakes all hard steps had been forgotten.
After about five hours we reached the highest point of our route: 2692 metres. Theres a magic thing about hikingYou have this feeling that just wants to make you go further.: Its kind of addicting and once youve reached a point youre already looking forward to continuing hiking..
Even though the sun was at its highest now we could hardly feel the heat. The temperature drops all few hundreds metres for a few degrees, so the higher you get the colder it gets too. Later that day both of us were burnt ..
We kept on walking and finally we saw the Rila monastery.
to be followed soon...
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