Day 4 in Sofia saw us check out of the hotel and head towards Rila. Our goal for today:
Rila Lakes
Rila Monastery
Skopje in Macedonia
Looked good on paper...but the reality a little different. It was a couple of hours to Rila and then a couple of hours to Skopje (and a border crossing).
Anyway set of and got to Rila Lakes area. Parked the car about 600 metres (up hill) from the chair lift car. Caught the chair lift up, which was average given what we were about to be blessed with. BR sobbed like a baby. At the top the landscape and view were amazing. There was a chalet there..think hikers can stay there as there are many hikes in the area that can go for days...bit like Tassie. A group of English people asked it I could take their photo with the mountain behind them. They were about our age I guess. As we got talking I asked them about the climb etc....it looked pretty Intense. A couple had done it and most got half way. They saw my knee and kindly suggested I had no chance. Hmmm. Anyway, armed with a few snacks and some water we decided to give it a go and see how far my knee would go. The first part was quite tricky, climbing over big rocks as we headed up. The path became better but was very steep. Had to stop a few times, but after short breaks we went further...and GOT TO THE TOP. Not only was I elated that I had done it...could have shouted it to the world...I was gobsmacked by the glorious view. There are a number of lakes, but we could see down to 3 of them. It was breathtaking. We strolled around the top for a while, found a perch and feasted on our water and pastry. You could see the weather coming in over the top of some of the peaks. After about 45 minutes or so we decided to head down before the weather caught us. I knew going down would be harder...and it was. Very gravelly and I could feel every downward step through me knee as we got closer to the bottom. The final climb down over the rocks was the hardest of all. But back at the bottom I looked up at where we had been and even if no one else is impressed, I certainly was (as was BR). Got the chairlift down and by now it was getting a little late and we had only done number one on the list. The monastery was over an hour away...we would not get there till 5.30. Did a quick Google and found it was open till 8pm. I convinced BR (and it was a it of convincing) this was doable...so we gave it a crack. (Note that BR was never convinced:he simply decided to stop disagreeing) Although the mountain road up to the monastery was not busy...there were roadworks so we could only drive about 30 kms for most of it. This took forever. (Note the roadworks were very extensive over many kilometres on a narrow mountain road with minimal traffic control. We may have reached a maximum of 30klm. but much of the time was closer to 10 Klm per hour). Finally got to there as the rain started. But, we had come this far...it was 5.45 and we WERE going in. Gosh it was beautiful. Because we were there late there we no tourist buses so we were one of only a couple of people visiting. It is a training monastery as well so inside were monks singing. With dusk approaching, fog from the mountains descending and the voice of the monk, it was truly magical and a very calm place. The colours and artwork of the buildings were so clear and vibrant. This had definitely been worth the effort to get here. (Note: depends on who you talk to ! )
Fortunately our hotel in Skopje, Macedonia, had a 24 hour check in as we were now going to be very late. Got to border control, not too bad and drove in the dark, through the mountains to Skopje. (Note: this was actually pretty bad. Over 100 Klm on a narrow winding mountain rd in the dark. many potholes, animals, farm implements and human beings on the road. A couple of days later a US military advisor told us to definitely not drive in the mountains in the dark. Which was pretty much my view. ) Couldn't find our hotel parking..BR had a little meltdown (note: major dummy spit. Fortunately nobody was hurt. But any bystander who had said anything or looked the wrong way was potentially in danger) so we parked and he went for a walk to find our hotel. Finally parked, checked in and exhausted...close to 10 pm by now. (Note: it was 10:30pm) What a day.
Note: forgot about the time difference again, so it as only 9.00 when we arrived...which explained all the crazy traffic.
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