Category: Walking

Lakes Muratovo and Ribno

~ Veselin ~ 6 Comments

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.

From Kartala to Macedonia Hut (2)

~ Veselin ~ 4 Comments

We went to Macedonia Hut in June – and it felt like a great hike. Kartala has a good asphalt road and a large free parking, which makes it a very convenient starting point. Most of the hike is in the forest, which was great, given the heat wave over the last week.

This second time, we took all the possible shortcuts and slowed the pace as much as we could. As a result of both, we managed to reach the hut in slightly over 3h. The path with the shortcuts is slightly above 8km, +720~~ meters. Without the shortcuts, it’s over 9km.

It has these brand and new slightly optimistic signs. The actual distance as measured by our smart devices varied by +300 to +600 meters. I think some of the expected signs are not yet installed because we couldn’t find them.

The hut keeper cooked us food and the day was fine. We rolled back down tired and well fed.

Get your ducks in a row

~ Veselin ~ 3 Comments

Apparently, the phrase originates from bowling, not from mother ducks ordering themselves or arranging little ducks. But I like it. I’ve been trying to capture photo of a duck with ducklings for many months and the only thing that I think I discovered is that the ducklings do not show up in areas where humans can see them.

Restaurant Malina

~ Veselin ~ 10 Comments

If you want to experience dining while surrounded by amateur downhill cyclists, Malina Bar&Grill Borovets is your place. I liked the spirit and the neon glow of it.

I also think that cyclists and hikers should not share trails. All these bicycles look harmless when they’re thrown like that on the ground but we saw some of them go downhill with speeds approaching the speed of light (okay, maybe a bit less), and we are lucky to have survived the encounter.