Cats, good books, AI, and religious walking in the city of Sofia
I rarely feature blackberries here because they’re not common around Sofia. I usually have to settle with raspberries and blueberries. Blackberries were very common around the city where I grew up (Stara Zagora) and I spent lots of time picking them and getting scratches.
You can actually filter the blackberries from the seeds and make a jam without seeds, which is a delicacy.
Malyovitsa is a 2729 meters tall peak in Rila, one of the prettiest in the country. It’s relatively accessible from Sofia by car. The ski zone Malyovitsa is about 1h 30 min away from Sofia. The road is renovated, almost nothing is left from the legendary potholes after Govedartsi.
We used to visit frequently when we were younger. However, over the years, rather than going to the peak, we started going to Mecha Polyana for kebapcheta and bean soup, and eventually stopped even that.
With our renewed interest in hiking, the peak is a possible next annual goal, after we managed to reach Vihren. The starting point would be Hotel Malyovitsa at around 1700 meters. The peak is supposed to be 4h away, and +1029 meters, a bit longer than Vihren but also easier because the path is less steep and not technically challenging. The main problem would be finding moderately cold weather with no snow.
Despite being very close to the Rila Monastery, the monastery is out of reach. It’s 9+ hours of walking. If you’re going to the Rila Monastery and saw that this is right next, it is only close if you’re an eagle. Not even close by car – you would need to circle around the mountain, which can be about 2h of driving.
The hotel is renovated, and the nearby hotel Alpinist, formerly known as ЦПШ, is also undergoing renovation. They are building an indoor pool and turning it into a spa center with a museum. The food is fine.
I’m glad they kept the wood works from before, keeping a bit of the old Malyovitsa spirit. We had a good weekend there. Didn’t attempt to go to the top but had some blueberries.
It is this time of the year again. Blueberries are nearly invisible until this moment, when they suddenly become very visible.
For whatever reason, this flower is called Austrian Sunflower in Bulgaria. They were abundant above the Vihren hut last week.
We did a very pretty hike this weekend – from Vihren Hut to Muratovo and Ribno lakes.
There’s a path that connects both lakes, and I think it’s easier to find if you visit Muratovo lake first. The connection between the two lakes is not marked but the path is obvious. There’s really no other path you can take in the general direction of Ribno starting from Muratovo.
Vrom Vihren hut to Muratovo is about 1-1.5h and +260 meters. I found 45 min as an estimation online but that would require the hikers to be in a very good shape.
Lake Muratovo is small but exceptionally scenic.
The Ribno lake (Fish Lake) is much larger. Despite the name, tiny fish, likely trout, can be found in most lakes in the area, not only the Fish Lake.
The whole loop Vihren Hut – Muratovo Lake – Ribno Lake – Vihren Hut took us about 4h and only about 13K steps.
Veselin.blog 