My healthy Bulgarian vacation
Who would have thought that a vacation in Bulgaria would be better than going to a spa? Vigorous hiking and fantastic vegetarian meals combined to make this a vacation for health.
Last December, I learned about "Walking Softly" (www.walkingsoftly.com) from a fellow hiker. He said his hiking trip to Bulgaria arranged by this company was the best vacation he had ever had. I had never given Bulgaria two seconds worth of thought as a vacation destination. Bulgaria...a former communist state, in my mind equated to ugly utilitarian block style buildings, overcooked food, and unsmiling, unhappy people. Boy, was I wrong. Bulgaria is a lovely country with lots of pastureland and some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. The Bulgarians we met were some of the most fun-loving people in the world…and they LOVE Bulgaria.
Sofia (pronounced “sof-ee-ah,” not “sof EE ah,” the girl's name), the capital city, is beginning to blossom again after several decades of communist rule. Since "the change" as the Bulgarians call the fall of communism, Sofians have been restoring their graceful historic buildings. The Alexander Nevsky church (a cathedral really) has a fantastic gilded roof that glints in the sunlight. The day we visited, a small cadre of male choralists filled a chapel with beautiful music. The historic St. Nicholas church is picture perfect with gilded onion-shaped domes and a lovely green roof. There are book seller stalls galore and a wonderful open-air produce market, aptly named, "the lady's market."
There were only four tourists on our trip. My husband, a retired educator (Rich) and a biochemical engineer and expert mountain climber (Ted), and myself. Although the company sent us descriptions of the hike and a list of gear to buy, including hiking poles and gaiters, I wasn't fully prepared for the strenuous nature of the hikes until about a half hour into the first hike in Musala. Straight up (at least from my perspective), crossing snow fields with vistas of snow packed peaks and iced-over lakes, the second hike took all day. We started in bright sunshine, but rapidly saw the sky cloud over. Then the thunder started. Our Bulgarian guides, Asen and Yasen, got nervous. Where there’s thunder, there is lightening. They had us pack away our hiking poles so that they wouldn’t attract a lightening strike … and then they had us hightail to the nearest hiking hut, about a mile away. “Stop taking photos”, they told me, “no time for that now.” About ½ mile from the hut, the hail started. Small hail balls at first…then they started coming down harder and bigger. Some of the hail measured one inch in diameter! At one point, the hail was raining down and bouncing off the ground like a million ping pong balls. We made it to the hut, but not before my head got hammered by hail.
The last hike of the trip for us has the hardest. We had to leave our Bulgarian vacation a few days early because we got word that my husband’s 97 year old father was very ill in Israel. We decided to take the last hike (12 miles, 8 hours) and then grab a taxi to Sofia for the 2 hour flight to Tel Aviv. Neither of us slept the night before the big hike. Too much on our minds. I also had diarrhea (not a good thing to have on a hiking trip) and a big blister on my right foot (also not a good thing to have on a hiking trip)!
The hike started with a 2,000 foot climb to a saddle between two mountain peaks. We climbed and climbed. My attitude stunk. I kept thinking I should just admit it was too hard for me and pack it in before it was too late to turn around. We hit the half-way point of the climb and I was just about to say, “I’m going back,” when my husband said, “let me carry your pack—I can carry your pack under my pack.” Relieved of this weight on my back, I started to climb again. We had to cross three or four snow fields—carefully putting our feet in the footprints left by the guides. Two hours later, we hit the top of the saddle and before us lay a beautiful meadow gradually descending as far as the eye could see. We had another 5 hours of hiking in front of us, but it was all downhill from there.
We made it to the end of the hike about 5:30 pm and we all celebrated with ice cold Bulgarian beer (not a part of the health food, but, what the heck). We made it! I made it! Bad attitude, sore feet, and all. Hooray! Hooray!
In the next few blogs, I’ll tell you about the wonderful Bulgarian salads and vegetarian meals. And, I will tell you about our great adventure getting to Israel after an 8 hour hike. Lot’s to write about, lot’s to think about. I hope you enjoy sharing my grand Bulgarian vacation. Pat