Today we have on our agenda the highest peak of Bulgaria, Musala 2926 m above sea level
, which is located in the Pirin Mountains, to which we moved yesterday.
View from the top of Musala (2926 m.a.s.l.) to the lakes and the Musala hut
We leave our accommodation after half past seven, with the bus leaving at eight and we will have breakfast at the bakery. At eight we stand on the platform in the direction of Borovec. A shuttle arrives and the guy informs us that it doesn't leave until half past eight. What about the salary, that everywhere, including the Internet, it says at full. The journey to Borovets takes about twenty minutes. We are dropped off at the Samokov Hotel, which is a few metres from the cable car station. The price for the ride up the mountain was practically the same as the round trip, so today we choose a return ticket. The cable car may not remember Lenin anymore, but it wasn't one of the newest either. The most shocking thing was. When we got into the four-seater cabin and the dude started pushing us around. Apart from this experience, the cab door not opening was just a little diversion.
Samokov - Bus Station
Borovec - Bus near Hotel Samokov
Borovec - Lower station of the cable car
Borovec - Lower station of the cable car
The same crushing escapade occurred in the central station, when the cabs that were just arriving slowly started to crash into us from behind. The journey to the terminus took about twenty minutes.
Upper station of the cable car
The initial 4 kilometres to the Musala hut are a relaxing walk on the flat.
Lower Mussala Lake
From here the road starts to climb a bit, but it is incomparably more relaxing than the road to Vihren. At Alek's lake we take a short break, which Tom uses for swimming and the others for a snack.
Musala Cottage and Lower Musala Lake
Lake Ferdinand
Alek lakes
After a break, we continue up to Lake Ledenoto, where there is a hut of the same name. On the way we pass groups of German pensioners walking in the same direction as us.
Cottage Ledenoto
Lake Ledenoto
Here we rest for a while and start the final ascent to the summit. We will reach it around 12:30. The journey from the cable car to the top took us approximately three hours. We occupy the summit for about an hour and a half, thanks to all kinds of photography, snacks and rest.
Under the peak
Musala (2926 m.a.s.l.) - Peak
Dead
After that, we're going to descend. Behind us, the weather, which has been quite good until now, starts to change quite quickly.
The weather is getting worse
Before we run to Musala's hut, a storm starts. On the way to the cable car, it will still be raining and fog will fall. Once we are forced to hide under the slope because of the lightning.
As soon as the situation allowed it, we quickly walked to the cable car, hoping that it would run in this weather. Fortunately, it did. So we got right on and went down. After the cabin was crushed, its second ailment became apparent, namely the door not closing. Since the cab and the door were egg-shaped, it rained on us all the way down.
Mind the Gap !
Downstairs, all cold and soaked, we sink into the first open pub for tea before the bus leaves. Eventually it turned into lunch, so we let one bus leave and got ready for the next one. We stand at the bus stop with the timetable and look forward to the bus arriving, only still nothing is going. Then a van from the Samokov Hotel drives past us without stopping, and the thought starts running through our heads as to whether we're standing in the wrong place. We give up waiting when a taxi drives by and Tom catches it and arranges a ride to Samokov. It was a stroke of luck, because on the way the taxi driver gave us a unique offer, namely that he would take us to the cable car to the Seven Rila Lakes tomorrow for 50 Leva. We accepted this offer with virtually no hesitation, not only because the price was lower than the buses we would be taking, but more importantly I wasn't sure if there were any buses going there at all. The information on this trip is rather incomplete on the internet. We say goodbye to the taxi driver. At the accommodation we take a shower, some even fall into bed from fatigue. But the day is not over yet. We have to go shopping in Lidl and have dinner. We will have it in one of the few restaurants in the area, restaurant Velčeva Zavera. This was probably the best Mechana we visited in Bulgaria. Nice ambience, tasty food and huge portions. The only downside was the outdoor seating, which was cold today. I had something that resembled Kavarma alongside the classic schopack, only it was about half a kilo of meat with Balkan cheese and I ordered fries to go with it.
Heaven
I roll out of the restaurant quite heavy in the abdominal parts. On the way home we visited the ATM for some cash and then went to the room. We spent the rest of the evening playing card games. And me unsuccessfully tasting something called Aussie Boza. Which was such a disgusting drink that even Kumyz was against this delicacy.
Never more
Unfortunately, I couldn't get the loser of the round to take a few sips of this delicacy. We're going to bed around midnight. Tomorrow we have the aforementioned Rila Lakes to look forward to.
Useful links:
Cableway from Borovec
Bus departures from Samokov
Apartman Pri Pavkata
