Traverse to the Rila Monastery

Although the first priority of our trip to Bulgaria was to reach its highest summit, we had an equally splendid walk traversing the mountains from north to south to the magnificent Rila Monastery. For this expedition a guide and driver were required. From the Maljovitsa Complex, another ski resort, we were soon at the Maljovitsa Chalet where a large party of Germans were preparing to climb Maljovitsa mountain. Its northern cliffs look impressive and unassailable from here. The way becomes rather rough amongst boulders and then climbs steeply to a lake below the cliffs of the peak. It winds up onto the ridge well east of the summit to give a first glimpse of the monastery in the valley far below. The ridge is pleasantly narrow for a bit and then broadens and swings north to terminate abruptly at the summit with a dizzy view back down to our starting point.

The western slopes are unexpectedly grassy. We followed the ridge over another small top. The departure point for the monastery would not have been at all obvious without our guide Tony. The path down is very narrow but persistent with occasional blue waymarks. It winds in zigzags down a very steep grassy hillside. Eventually this sharpens into a fairly narrow ridge, grassy at first and then tree covered and a bit rocky in places. At last we glimpsed the monastery again through the trees, now very close. Soon we were inside the courtyard to complete a marvellous walk, made particularly significant by this spectacular climax.

[pictures of this walk]

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