Almost
encircling the city and visible from every corner of Sofia is Mount
Vitosha ... and last weekend I thought it about time I took myself on a bit of
an adventure and scaled its lofty peaks ...
... and so it was an early start with a tram ride + a bus ride + a longish walk to the suburb of Simeonovo at the base of Vitosha, where I literally jumped into an ever-moving gondola suspended from a flimsy cable, and with a grunt and a nerve-shattering jerk, I and my fellow passenger was whisked out into the bright Bulgarian sunlight ...
Mount Vitosha is a major skiing destination in the winter months and a popular hiking destination in the warmer-snow-free months. There are several ski-lifts operating during the snow season and at other times, just this one cable-car lift that takes us on a 40 minute ride over a distance of 6.5 kms and up 1800m to Aleka at the base of 2300m high Vitosha - here I jump out, rather relieved, onto firm soil ...
...
skimming over the suburb of Simeonovo on the outskirts of Sofia ...
... passing within a
couple of meters of houses
and almost knocking over two totally unconcerned locals ...
and almost knocking over two totally unconcerned locals ...
... it's a steep
climb all the way up through the forest ...
... leaving the city
way down below ...
Finally
we make it to the end of the line where there are a few shacks and a cafe
serving fast food to the hungry hikers. My fellow gonola passenger - a young
Sofian journalist - whom I have befriended during the crazy ride - invites
me to walk a while with him ... he is heading to the top where he likes to sit
and meditate for a few hours before hiking the 6plus kms back down the hill at
dusk - I'll leave that adventure to him alone ...
After about half an hour of pretty easy walking we are finally away from the small crowd of noisy families and out into more open land ...
... and the smog-shrouded city lies many kilometers in the
distance ...
... the peak is not too far away - but I take my leave of
my fellow hiker -
Victor - and head back to base-camp ...
... the temp up here is a very pleasant 20-odd degrees -
a welcome relief from the 30s in the city ...
... hard to imagine that just a few
short months ago this river of rocks was a crowded ski slope ...
... so nice to be up in the peaceful
mountains
away from the chaos and noise of the
city ...
... and very re-assuring to come across a first-aid kit ...
though all that was inside the box was an empty coke bottle
and a packet of band-aides ... !!! ...
... rivers of
granite rock ...
... and forests of
pine trees, fir trees, spruce and beech ...
...
after a couple of hours of wandering and filling my lungs with the pine-scented
fresh air, my knees were starting to tell me that it was maybe time to think
about heading back to the cable-car and the ride back home ...
... unfortunately I didn't have my travel mate with me for
the ride down
and in the gondola by myself was a rather scary experience
...
The
cable-lift was built in 1983 ( !!! ) by an Austrian company for the World
Student Winter Games and has been running ever since.
Here
at the middle station at 1500m the gonolas change cables in a very jerky and
noisy procedure to continue on down the slope on an different angle ... at this
stage my knuckles were very white from hanging onto my seat very firmly ...
And
finally we glide through suburbia to the end station ...
... and a short walk
to a cafe-with-a-view for lunch and a cold beer ...
Now that wasn't so
hard after all ... !!! ...
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