The seven lakes trek near Sofia was the highlight of my Bulgaria trip. It is truly sensational and for me, it is the best attraction in this Balkan country.
The build up to this trip was interesting. Initially, I was planning to visit the famous Rila monastery only but I stumbled upon this beauty when I was browsing the internet in Greece while preparing for my trip to Bulgaria. The first thing I did when I checked into Hostel Mostel in Sofia was to sign up for this trip for €25 (public transport is not feasible for doing this as a day trip). Later in the day, I met some lovely friends and we decided to hire a car (Sixt rentals) for this trip, which would work out cheaper (€10 pp).
Tom (Liverpool), Sheridan (Melbourne), Max (Toronto), Matt (New York) and myself - the gang.
On the morning of the hike, when we went to pick up the car, we were told that an international driving licence is needed to take the car on rent. Since none of us had an international licence, we found out we were screwed, to say the least! We rushed back to the hostel and asked our ever-smiling host Tom if he could arrange an extra car for the hike (the mini van, in which I had booked a seat earlier and then cancelled, had left for Rila already).
Many times during my travels, I feel that lady luck shines on me to make things work and this was another one of those lucky moments - at the last moment, Tom arranged for a car and a driver to make this trip happen. Within 30 minutes, we were on our way. The drive took us through the expressway, which is dominated by mountains and farms on both sides. It takes around 90 minutes to reach Sapareva Banya, the start of the hike.
There are 2 options - either hike 2 hours to get to the first lake at 2,095 metres or take a ski lift (€9 both ways), which is what we did. The ride in the ski lift (15 minutes) was pretty awesome as we passed through trees and had brilliant views of the mountains.
The Seven Rila Lakes are situated in the highest mountain on the Balkans – Rila (2925 m), between 2,100 and 2,500 metres above sea level.
All seven lakes have their own name which reflects its typical shape or characteristics -
The Tear – the highest one
The Eye – the deepest one
The Kidney – perfect for a picnic
The Twin – the largest one
The Trefoil - shape of three-leafed clover
The Fish Lake – the shallowest one
The Lower Lake – the lowest one
From the drop off point (lake hut), the trail starts. This is one of those hiking trails, where you have stunning views all the way to the top.
The first stretch is a constant incline till you get to the top of the first mountain, which gives a good view of the first lake - called Dolneto Ezero (Lower Lake). Not very original - they should have named it better, considering the beauty it is.
The hike here is not very hard, you can take it easy and enjoy the beautiful views. We entertained ourselves by exchanging stories about our various trips, playing "name a country with each alphabet" game and just enjoying the awesome views in front of us. We also met others from our hostel on the way and they drifted in and out of our group on the way up.
Next on the list were the Fish Lake & Trefoil Lake. The color of the mountains added to the view and one could simply lose all sense of time amidst such glorious surroundings.
After an hour or so of walking, we reached The Kidney lake. This is where we stopped to rest and have refreshments - one of the best places in the world to have your lunch. I loved the colors and reflection so much - I did not want to move an inch.
But, the gang was right - we had other lakes to see and with a great deal of reluctance, I accompanied them to move towards the highest lake.
As you climb higher, one gets a very good view of the Twin lake (inner and outer twins are connected) and the Kidney (after its shape).
Brilliant views are a dime a dozen now and every few minutes, I felt like stopping and taking photographs. It is one of my biggest weaknesses when I want capture everything during a trek or a trip, for that matter.
The hike to the highest lake is comparatively harder as the incline is steeper and constant. I had a personal competition going on with the Liverpool guy - Man Utd against Liverpool! Along the way, we passed The Eye (or Okoto, due to its oval form), the second highest lake.
It takes around an hour to get to The Tear (named due to its clear waters). With many little breaks, you can get to the highest point where you will forget all the efforts! You have a 360 degree view of all the Seven Lakes in a perfect harmony with the Rila mountain landscape.
A lot of photo opportunities, which were difficult to resist!
It was cold on top of the mountain - the first time during my trip I had put my jacket to some use. When I was enjoying myself in the heat & sunshine of Greece last week, a jacket was the farthest thing from my mind and I had stored it at the bottom of my backpack. Thank goodness I had read about the hike and prepared myself for this eventuality - or else, it would have been beg, borrow or steal a jacket adventure! We spent almost an hour at the top, before we reluctantly started our descent. It takes around 2 hours to get to the Rila Lakes hut.
On our way down from the hut, an interesting thing happened. I was talking to Sheridan about a movie (Frozen - 2010) I had seen in which the characters get stuck in a ski lift, as the ski resort closes for the night. Lo & behold, the same thing happened to us within moments of our discussion about the movie - some coincidences are fun (or not)! I took photo of us while we were stuck, so that we can remember this moment in future.
Thankfully, the situation lasted a few seconds only and pretty soon, we reached the base. From there, we rushed back to Sofia & most of us were silent, as we reflected on the beauty of the place and what an enjoyable day we had in the mountains. This hike will remain one of my favorites and one which I will remember for a long time.
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