Photo Credit: Myself
Hello, guys!
Hope everything is fine with you! I'm also doing well and ready to write my next blog entry for this wonderful network, called bitLanders. I enjoy spending the time to write, format and edit my posts as it gives me the feeling of doing something useful and creative. After all, it's much better than simply doing nothing, or watching pointless TV shows or laying in bed watching the ceiling, lol. ☻ Anyway, this time I'm again focused on travel, one of my favorite things for my spare time.
The destination I chose was a place I recently visited myself - not more than a week ago. It's called Lakatnik Rocks, but I'll give you the details a little bit further down. For now, just know that it's an area full of nature, forest paths, rocks, and caves - everything needed for a wild adventure. First, let's see what's this destination about:
Lakatnik Rocks are situated along the left slope of the Iskar Gorge in the western Balkan Mountains. They are located near the village of Milanovo, Sofia Province.
The Beginning
The idea of this trip was to celebrate my father's birthday by organizing a picnic in a mountain location. So, after carefully measuring the pros and cons of several different places, the final decision was Lakatnik Rocks. This place is located around 70 km from the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia, near a village "surprisingly" called Lakatnik. It the morning I had to catch a train from the railway station and travel to this village for a bit more than an hour. My parents were also traveling by train to there and by the time I arrived they were already waiting for me at the station.
When I got off the train and started walking to reach the path leading to the rocks, a funny thing was that the path (and more specifically the steps) to the sight started right behind the station. So, you leave the train and one step further, you are already walking through the mountain. That's how close it actually is. Before visiting this place, I truly believed there is nothing special to see there, and I was nicely surprised that this is not the case.
Photo Credit: Myself
After passing the railway station and the steps going down behind it, there is a bridge over a river - Iskar River which reveals the entire scenery of the location. The rocks, the paths, and the route are clearly visible from that bridge and there are also several other bridges along the river. Next is a short road walk on the other side of the river, in order to reach the beginning of the mountain hiking path. It was a bit rainy the previous day, so lots of snails and worms were there on the road as they usually show up when the weather is like that.
Video Credit: Nina B via YouTube.com
At the beginning of the path there is a small, but beautiful waterfall, which just can't be missed. We stopped there for some minutes to enjoy the view of it, especially at spring everything looks nicer due to the green colors. The rains fill the rivers and most waterfalls are in their best appearance, and the green of the grass and the trees is so relaxing and pleasant. I love spending time in nature - it always makes me happy and smiling, not to mention breathing is much easier than in the cities.
The Trail
Photo Credit: Myself
It's hard to decide which is the best word to use for the way we were going. A path or a trail as it was quite different through the mountain. At some places, it was wide and flat, at others - so tiny that we were losing it among the trees. There were steps and stones along the way, and there was climbing in some parts and going down in others. The length of the route is probably 2 hours of walking to the final destination and 2 hours for the way back. And that's normal walking with short breaks, otherwise, it could be quite faster.
Photo Credit: Myself
Almost every 20 meters we were able to see the views of the high rocks and the monument, which is situated at the top of the hill. On one of the sides of the path in the first part of the route were the mountain rocks, and thankfully there was a fence on the other side. As the hiking trail is going up it would be really scary if there were no safety facilities to prevent someone from falling. When it's wet, it's dangerous to walk faster because the rocks and the trail are slippery. The more you climb up, the better the view becomes. More and more things reveal in front of you as from a higher distance the village and the river seem smaller.
Photo Credit: Myself
Several meadows for a break are located next to the hiking route. They can be used for making pictures, a picnic, lighting up a fire or simply enjoying the view of the mountain. I couldn't find any benches though which was strange - usually along such paths, they put wooden benches at break spots. What I think might be the reason is that very close to this route is another one - the Vazova ecotrail, which is far more popular. Last year I visited that ecotrail and it was stuffed with tourists. Maybe that's why less investment and efforts are directed to the Lakatnik Rocks route.
Photo Credit: Myself
The Monument
Photo Credit: Myself
At the end of the route, there is a big monument, which is not something special but is more like a reminder for the events happened in 1944. It looks quite new - it's not a monument of a huge historical value, but it's nice people bothered to build it there on the top of the hill. And on the other side of the hill, there is a metal cross - a memorial for the people died in the mountain. To reach the cross, one has to dive into the trees and bushes as the path is hardly accessible. But it's interesting to visit them because both the monument and the cross could be seen from the bridge above the river.
Photo Credit: Myself
The Caves
Photo Credit: Myself
I left this for the last part because caves are quite different from the other sights. Taking one of the tiny paths in the mountain you can reach the Temnata dupka Cave (translated as the Dark hole). The entrance is spacious and suitable for lighting up a fire as there is a fireplace used by the toursits before. Going further inside, however, requires special equipment and preparation. Well, it does look different than most caves I've been to as the ceiling is very low and it is probably extremely difficult to pass under it.
Video Credit: Nina B via YouTube.com
The Lakatnik Rocks are part of Nature park Vrachanski Balkan, which is situated in the Balkan Mountains. This park is famous for its multiple caves, steep rocks, suitable for practicing alpinism, and beautiful nature. I think spring is the best season to visit because at that time the mountain is full of life - birds, insects, reptiles, etc. We encountered many lizards, and even one little snake, on our way back to the station. Well, the snake wasn't actually moving, I don't know if it was alive at all but I didn't feel like checking that either.
Overall, it was a great escape for me from my work and the total time I needed was not more than 5 hours going there and coming back. It always feels nice to visit a place you've never been to before. If you have time - try to spend more in the open air to charge up and breath some fresh air. Hope you liked my blog!
Photo Credit: Myself
Thanks for reading! See you in my next one!
- NinaB
