The seven lakes of Rila

It was actually the third time that I was in Bulgaria for hiking. Although the first two times, I did not really had time to do extensive hikes, I could get an idea about the possibilities. This third time, I took the opportunity to discover regions that I knew very little of.
The first tour I made was to the 7 lakes of Rila, a tour that everybody knows in Bulgaria. Due to the fact that the 22nd of September was the national holiday (which I did not anticipate), there was a lot of people up there. This is also the reason why I decided to take the chair-lift instead of hiking up there. Afterwards, I realized that it was indeed a good idea: a huge rain and hailstorm took place later in the afternoon (one of the reason there are no more pictures after the 7 lakes hut).

Climbing to the Kidney starting from the chair-lift is straightforward. A good path (well marked and obvious on the ground) leads to ha high plateau behind which the lake is located. On the plateau is the place where the Universal White Broderhood is meeting and dancing every year. One only has to look at the stone circles on the ground to imagine how it can be.

After the Kidney, I climbed to the Eye and to the Tear, the two higher lakes of Rila. Even though it means some meters of additional altitude gain, it is worth to climb up there.
One annoying thing I experienced there was that a guy climbed up with a drone and was filming while I was contemplating the scenery...

To go down, I took the same path. There is however another path that climbs a bit more above the Tear and follows the crest to Pazdela. From there, another path goes down to the 7-lakes hut passing behind the Haramiyata. Taking the same way down also allows one to pass by the other lakes. This way, I could visit the Twins and the Trifoil.

After having left the hut, I took the path going down towards Godevartsi. However, I did not take the official waymarked path that goes down to the Lovna hut, but another going down on the other bank of the Djerman torrent. This way, I had a shelter from the rainstorm whild going down to the Lovna hut.

Further down, one has to climb a little to leave the Djerman basin in order to enter the Iskar basin. This way, one can reach the road to Samokov. This way, one also passes by the Vada hut, which is a former building for the king of Bulgaria. He used this house as a starting point for hunting. Not so long ago, there were still stables. They were transformed into a hut later.