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Category: Bulgreek Trip

14.08.09 – Sofia – Musala Hut
By Garik and Lena

  • We were the first in the room to wake up, tried not to make much noise. Lena went to take a quick shower, and only when she got back I came up from my bed. Breakfast was served from 08:00 till 10:00. We were among the first ones to arrive to the kitchen. We knew they serve pasta and glass of beer in the evening, but unfortunately we couldn’t stay here for another night. So we ate, not much, mainly tomatoes, cheese, sausages, bread with jam, coffee and tea.
  • We left our backpacks at the hostel and went out for arrangements. We took a tram (2 Lev) to the central railway station, we bought the tickets from the driver and had to punch them somewhere in the tram, but we couldn’t find where. Finally some local dude showed us where to do it; it’s a small metal box that already stuffed with tickets! There was no place where to insert the tickets! Somehow we managed to punch out tickets, but it was really difficult task for us!
  • We wanted to buy train tickets to Athens from Blagoevgrad. So we approached the regular cash where mustached old woman sat and sold tickets. They don’t speak English, neither Russian, but they understood us and pointed us the opposite direction, saying something with ‘Internazional’… Ok, so we need the international cash, but the direction they pointed us, was the entrance to the central station. So we got back where we came from, looking for international offices. We found some tourist office, so thought it was it. They spoke English well, but still it wasn’t the place. They told us to go straight in the hall, so we did. There was another office with “Rila” emblem. This is an international cash office, and we bought two tickets class B for 170 Lev. After that we realized that we had to pay with Euro, because we thought we have enough Leva, but we didn’t. So we exchanged 50 Euro with good exchange rate of 1:1.80 and got another 90 Leva. Later we realized again that 90 Leva are not that much! By the way, in Israel the exchange rate in the airport is 1:1.62!
  • Now, we had to find a gas cartridge and a map of Rila Mountains. We decided to walk back to the center of Sofia; we had time and wanted to see a bit of the city. On our way back we passed a women bazaar, like in old times, women sell everything to everyone! Many gypsies were there so we didn’t want to take our camera out and take photos… In the center we found a camping store, called Stenata. We bought there the gas cartridge and a map and got back to the hostel.
  • In the hostel, we asked Lili (or Lilia) the stuff member, to get us a cab to the south bus station (Yug) where we can take a bus to Samokov. The only way to get to Borovets is through Samokov. We said goodbye, left them a small ‘Thank you’ postcard and left. The cab cost us 5.40 Lev. We had to wait 15 minutes till the minibus to Samokov was full (12 Lev for two of us), only then the driver shut the door and drove. It was a 1 hour ride, passing amazing pictures landscapes! Sometime, we fell a sleep, but twisted road didn’t allow us sleep too much, so the sleep was on and off. In Samokov we had to wait another hour for the next bus. We missed the previous just by few moments. Till Borovets it’s a 15 minutes drive (4 Lev for two of us).
  • When we arrived, we walked right to the gondola (10 Lev p/p). We bought tickets to the Yastrebets hut, where the trek is starting, (approximately 2200 meters high) but there is no such a thing as one way ticket! So we had to buy full price tickets! From Yastrebets hut to Musala hut, it’s an hour and a half walk. When we arrived to Musala hut we had to pay 15 Leva p/p for a night! We got a lousy small room with two beds and no place for bags! No heat! Rats beneath the floor! Beds with broken bedposts! Man this place is awful! The toilets outside are a hole with a shovel!
  • After we settled in our room, we walked around the lake, took pictures of old communist buildings. Since we paid 30 Lev for tonight, we started have doubts about how much money is left and how much money we still need. The conclusion was that we don’t have enough money for the whole trek!!! In huts, you can’t pay with Euro or Dollar, only Bulgarian Lev! So we decided not to buy food in huts, but to cook our food with the gas cartridge we bought. But then, it turned out that our cookware is not working and all gas is running out! So we had to make fire! At this point, Lena wasn’t that hungry, she didn’t fell well, but I was hungry! I wanted noodles! It took us some time to start a fire, hold it and cook on noodles!
  • Our mood was bad and we went to sleep with a hard feeling about this entire trip. As it seems now, there will be change in our plans!…
Hostel Mostel

Hostel Mostel

Rila National Park

Rila National Park

Musala Hut

Musala Hut

Who is the engineer of this thing?!

Who is the engineer of this thing?!

Musala summit is hidden by the clouds

Musala summit is hidden by the clouds

Don't forget to use the shovel!

Don't forget to use the shovel!

Me made FIRE!

Me made FIRE!




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