Hello, Steemit friends!
You can check part I here.
So we were walking and walking and walking on The Long Ridge and we met people three times. The first time it was a couple from Israel, the second - several guys from the city near that part of the mountain - Blagoevgrad, they were all coming down, and the third - a guy from New York, he was also going up like us. I was quite surprised to meet someone from so far on that strange route because usually people go to the Seven Rila Lakes or Musala peak - our highest peak. That's why we asked him many questions and although he wasn't very chatty at first, he looked like a nice guy. My friend on the contrary is enough chatty so he was explaining to him that may be we could be brothers or cousins, because he heard in some video on youtube, that the Thracians (there are many evidences that Thracians and Bulgarians meant the same many centuries ago) passed by Iran and some of them stayed there š That's because our new friend - Poria, shared that his parents moved from Iran to USA before he was born. I wasn't very interested in these history and Thracians talks, but I was quite surprised by something else - he was walking with the same rhythm as we were. As you can see from my posts, I am in the mountains every week and my friend is doing the same, so we rarely meet someone faster than us and the guy is living in Manhattan. I mean he lives in a city I would call a concrete jungle and I was just curious how he maintains that great fitness level, because I think hiking is different than some other activities and it requires some practice.
We were passing him and he was passing us several times. Finally we were at the top at the same time probably around 5 pm.
Poria's plan was to go to the Seven Rila Lakes and to camp somewhere around them, but my friend explained to him that they were too far from the place we were and it would be too hard to reach them before it gets dark and offered him to come down with us in the circus of another 6 lakes below us. We would sleep near one of the lakes and the next day my friend would show him on the map better ways to see the Seven Rila Lakes from higher points without passing by the popular pathway full of tourists. Walking among the crowd would have spoiled his experience in our beautiful mountains. Our plan with my friend was to pass by these 6 lakes - Urdini lakes and to continue our long descending towards our final point.
Poria agreed with my friend and we started descending from the ridge to the first flat place in the circus. We were almost there when my friend realized that we descended from the wrong place, and the pathway for the circus of Urdini lakes was a little further. We were very tired, especially my friend, because he was carrying a 20kg+ backpack on his back the whole day. So we decided to stay there, a little disappointed by the mistake. Iāve always wanted to spend a night in that circus with the lakes but may be some other time. That also meant that the next day we won't see them, because we had descended two much and it would be too hard to come back and from the place we were we could only continue downwards. We both had visited them, so we didn't have enough motivation to go up again after that exhausting Long Ridge. And also that Poria will have to climb it alone the next day to go to the Seven Rila lakes.
We had a great time together, talking about everything - our countries, our habits, our past, present and future, food, hobbies, our trips and many other things. It was great for us to practice our English with him, as he was explaining words to us and finishing our sentences when it was necessary :D. He was truly a great company for us and told us many interesting stories.
We shared our food and it turned out, that although Poria was not vegan, he used to stick to that diet for some time but it was too difficult to continue to do so while he was on his long trip. It was actually supposed to be 2 years trip around many many different countries and to end up in Iran as far as I remember š²š²š².
Our food was entirely vegan, because of me, and he liked everything very much. He told me that he was eating the same things when he was home and that he was missing that type of food while he was traveling. We told him that he definitely must come in Samokov to make him an amazing dinner. I am pretty good at preparing vegan or vegetarian food and I like to cook for people that I like. Love is the most important ingredient :)
It was a really pleasant evening but soon it became so cold that we had to come in our tents. One of my favorite things about sleeping in the mountains is the opportunity to witness the most incredible sky around 1-2-3 am. The sky and the stars are amazing there because of the altitude and the lack of light pollution, but it was too cold to stay outside.
In the morning my friend explained to Poria two possible great routes and he continued upwards and we continued downwards. Poria promised to try to find a way to come to our town - Samokov, when he come down from the mountains to have dinner together.
After 4-5 hours we were at our final destination, a friend was waiting for us and he drove us to the little chapel to leave the icon. From its location we could see the mountains and part of our long route. And my friend was so happy to accomplish his mission - to cross the whole mountain with St. Ivan Rilski.
The view from St Ivan Rilski Chapel
When we were there Poria called us and he told us that he came down with the lift in a little town 50km away from Samokov - Sapareva Bania, but there were no buses to Samokov and no one wanted to drive him to the town. I was quite surprised, because I thought that he would stay longer in the mountains and slightly disappointed because it was too late and there wasn't enough time to prepare him dinner :D We returned from the chapel, although the place is so magical that leaving was hard, and went to pick him up and together we went to a traditional Bulgarian restaurant. It turned out that he managed to visit exactly the places that we recommended him and to be honest I was again surprised because I thought that he wouldnāt find the right way. Again we had a great time together, he stayed in my friendās place and on the next day I drove him to the local market to buy some fruits and vegetables, before he continued his trip - he was going to Sofia, then to Veliko Turnovo and then to Romania. The Bulgarian tomatoes are the most delicious in the world! Ok, I havenāt tried all the tomatoes in the world but some people say so š
We had such a great time together and I am truly grateful to the mountains that they met us with him, he had really light and calm energy, it is rear to meet a person like that. I was a little sad when I left him at the bus station but the three of us promised to each other that some day we will meet again somewhere around the world. In the Himalayas may be? :)
Poria send me his photos from the day and I asked him if I could share them on Steemit in my post about our trek and he said yes :) So here are his photos after we separated in the mountains.
One more of the Urdini Lakes
I will write more about that place - The Green Stone, soon because it is very special, interesting and mysterious , and also one of my favorites in Rila. It is the Pentagram of Beinsa Duno. What is the Pentagram? The way to true life. 5 main points - Truth, Love, Wisdom, Justice, Virtue. Behind it - the peaks around the valley of Malyovitsa
Oh, and btw he shared with my friend that he used to be in the army for 8 years š®. He told him that he had been in Iraq and Afghanistan but of course he didnāt want to talk about it. That was explaining many things- how fit, calm, unpretentious and organised he was.
and meThank you for stopping by!