On my Interrail trip in 1997, I met a few girls from Sofia (Capital of Bulgaria) in Budapest. We spent a few days with each other and by the time we said goodbye, they we're telling us that they were expecting us next year in Bulgaria.

So, there we went. It's my habit to Interrail normally, but we started this year by flying a few 1000 km away, to Sofia. I was very suspicious about all this because you hear very strange stories from time to time from Bulgaria. More or less the same stuff you hear from Romania. But do not, I repeat, do not be mislead by all the stories you hear.

In the first days we saw Sofia, a very old semi-Orthodox/Byzantine style city. I thought it very interesting, but what was more beautiful was the mountain trip I did with my friends. If you like off the beaten track, you came to the right place.

Day One
We started in Sofia (Central Station) and took the train to Doepnitsa. From there we took a bus to Sapareva Banja, where we stepped out to start walking. The buses are very full and people all stare constantly at you. I had the idea that they were seeing a foreigner for the first time. The town was quite primitive. I could not use my English at all and it was luck we had some folks with us who spoke the language.

At this town we started walking. If you walk outside the town you practically can see the Rila Mountains starting. We walked towards them. During the trip you can just follow several signs. But at bookshops in Sofia you can obtain detailed maps.

The first part of the trip, it was possible to go by road for the first few hours. And a lot of people pass the road by car or truck. They will gladly take you with them. Do it because you need to save your strength for the other days.

After a while we stepped out of the car and went into the bush as indicated by the sign. After a while and some very style path we arrived at our first Hisha. That's a mountain hut where you can stay for the night. It's something like a youth hostel but somewhere deep in the mountains. The name of the hut was Skakavitsa. You pay a few Lewa (3000) and you can sleep there the night.

Note! As a foreigner you will pay more than a Bulgarian whom only needed to pay 1050. We had this all the days. You can drop your luggage and walk around in the evening. The neighbourhood was very, very beautiful. We walked a bit and climbed some mountains near a waterfall. We tried to trace the beginning of it but it ended on a very style hill. So we could not climb any higher.

After we all were tired, we returned to the hut where we had something to eat. You need to bring your own food because they will rarely sell anything in the hut. In the evening there was a big campfire and a few other guests were playing songs there. We all were very tired of walking so we went to sleep very early.

Day Two
We woke up and started to go on with the trip. This day it was only flat and not so long until we reached the second hisha named Rilski Ezera. This was very near the legendary 7 lakes and there were more tourists. Here was a possibility to eat a warm meal and eat some soup. Again, we needed to pay more (around 3500 Lewa). We arrived here very early in the afternoon. It's advisable that you start walking very early in the morning because of the warmth and very strong UV radiation. So bring some strong sunscreen or a hat to wear on our head, it's needed.

After we had eaten we went for a walk in the neighbourhood again. You will easily be able to walk a trip round all the 7 lakes. I surely can recommend this. At a height of nearly 2000 meters there is a plateau in the mountains where there are located 7 lakes. All these lakes have the names of organs, like a heart or a kidney. They believe that they see the form of a named organ in the lake. The sights are very stunning and really worth to go for but do not waste your complete film on it. The water is dirty and there is a lot of sour rain in it. The water is not moving so you might be better off not to swim in it. After we passed all the lakes we were ending more or less behind the Hisha again. So we went back to it and took some sleep for the night.

We woke up early and it was our last day climbing. The roughest of a days and very style from time to time. But it was worth it. After a few hours we were on top and had a sight that you will never forget. It was about 2700 meters and we were near the Musala peak (the highest mountain of Bulgaria). It was here where I met the first foreigner in the whole trip.

The last part was a bit downhill and after an hour we arrived at the Hisha, Ivan Basov. This one was very expensive (10,500 Lewa) and was quite dirty and old too. I was quite sick this day so I went to catch some sleep very early, but I had a lot of trouble with the dust and polluted room. After a few hours my friends woke me and we started the usual walk again.

Again it was very stunning. Not far from the Hisha the mountains began to rise up again even higher and we had to climb. We passed some old Tracian ruins during the walk. After a while we walked back to the Hisha and relaxed a bit. The place was really fun. Other hikers had brought accordions and played a loud tune and brought some real atmosphere there. But when we wanted to sleep the group went on with playing so loud that you could hear it all over the house.

Day Three
In the morning we went on with our walk. Our final destination was to go to the Rila Monastery. The climbing part was behind us but the toughest part was still to come. Going down is really intensive, you need to balance your weight constantly.

After a few hours walking we reached the monastery which was standing on 1100 meter height. I thought it was really impressive. It is built in the Byzantine style and quite big. I was very impressed by all the paintings and the way it looks inside. When we went into the church we soon find out it was an Orthodox Church.

After a while we were rested out and we started trying to get a bus back to Sofia. That was quite hard. 30 min before the bus is leaving you see people standing in line. Go stand there too or else the bus will be full and you need to wait for the next one, if there is a next one. It is possible to catch a straight bus to Sofia but we were there on Sunday and so were too late. So needed to go over Doepnitsa again. Where we took a train back to Sofia.

I have never done anything like this since, but I'm sure that I want to do this more often in the coming years. I'm from the Netherlands and as you know we don't have any high mountains there so it was really amazing for me. On my way I saw practically 3-4 tourists from other countries, the rest were all Bulgarians. So be sure you learn some Bulgarian words before you go.

You do not need to do this trip with an organisation or tour group because it's pretty easy to do on your own. Just follow the yellow painted lines on rocks and the floor and you will go from hut to hut. A detailed map can be useful, if you happen to walk the wrong way.

What to Bring
A few things you need to bring with you: