2 friends and I booked flights to Bulgaria to go hiking around Rila national park. We arrived in Sofia, the capital on the 31st of July, and immediately made our way to Borovits, a nearby skiing town. Borovits was a strange experience. It was hard to distinguish what was Bulgarian culture and what was clearly a touristy gimmick. British flags were attached to the front door of almost all restaurants, and English breakfasts were on almost every menu. Clearly, Brits must enjoy using Bulgaria as a cheap ski haven.
In the morning we began our hike and made our way to Mt Musala - the highest point in Bulgaria. The hike was long, uphill, and exhausting: everything I've been longing for. When we arrived at our hut near the summit we met about 40 Czech people who were also staying there. They were super friendly, spoke excellent English, and drank crazy amounts of alcohol. I met a 70-year-old man who couldn't withstand bringing up the evils of communism at almost every opportunity. He told me about the difficulties of living in the Czech Republic 60's and 70's. The country was extremely poor and all the students were forced to learn Russian.
The 2nd day of hiking was the hardest. A quick glance of the map had fooled us into thinking that Mt Musala to Ribini Erzo hut would be a simple hike along the ridgeline of the mountains. This was an underestimate. It was a long and challenging hike. Martin got altitude sickness, Victor got some severe blisters on his feet, and we all walked into a pack of ultra-aggressive dogs defending a group of cattle that had waddled their way onto our walking track. At one point I picked up a large rock to prepare for the worst. Don't worry though, we lived and no animals were hurt.
The 3rd day was by far the easiest. We hiked to Rila monastery - an extremely famous destination. I had no idea how big of a deal the monastery was until I arrived there. The religious paintings were amazing, they had nuns and priests doing religious ceremonies, and there were hundreds of pilgrims staying there.
On the last day we hiked from Rila monastery to the famous 7 lakes. Confusingly, there were many more than 7, but that didn't take away from the moment. Victor unpacked his drone and got some jaw-dropping footage.
On our last full day, we traveled back to Sofia. We found an amazing Bulgarian restaurant. For 17 euros each we got to try some of the best meat I've ever tried with a full bottle of wine. It turns our the Bulgarian diet is almost exclusively meat-based; there were hardly any vegetables, just mouth-watering lamb, chicken, pork and beef with a heavy side of Avjar (a delicious tomato and capsicum paste).
The trip was great fun and a much-needed refresher. I'll be back soon, eastern Europe :)
