Enjoying Mountain-Life in the Pirin

Leaving Alexandrovo Campsite, we headed further west towards the Pirin Mountains.  After a short stretch of motorway we turned off on the pretty mountain road towards Bansko.

Winding mountain roads, on the way to Bansko

The road we took follows the Rhodope Narrow Gauge Railway line all the way to Bankso - 4 trains run a day and we were lucky enough to spot one of them!

Lots of honey sellers along the road

Bansko is Bulgaria's number one ski resort, at a height 925metres.   We stopped off here last year on the way up the mountains, and the new town is full of shops, all selling ski related goods and a lot of unfinished apartments/hotels.  The old town is lovely though with its mix of stone and wooden houses.  From Bansko we wiggled 9kms up the steep mountain road to Camping Banderitsa (N41.76619 E23.42575).  It sits on a large meadow on the left bank of the Bunderitsa River - at a height of 1800 metres.  As we climbed higher the temperature dropped from 24°C to 8°C in the space of 20 minutes.  When we stopped here last year in August there were a few tents and motorhomes, but this time there was only us and one tent on the Thursday and Friday night.  Given how cold the temperature drops at night we were surprised to see any tents at all.  There aren't any facilities here other than a small restaurant, with inside and outside eating, but it's free to stay even though they call it a campsite! The food is basic, but tasty and very cheap - 2 large bottled beers, 2 big pork steaks, cheesy chips and garlic bread for only 17LV (€8.50).  We sat inside as the temperature drops dramatically here at night (Down to 1°C both nights we were here) and we enjoyed a lovely warm up beside a big log fire.

Campsite on the left, with beautiful views of the Pirin Mountains and the Banderitsa Taverna on the right

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast and lots of coffee we set off to walk the highest mountain in the Pirin -Vihren Mountain that sits at 2914 metres.  We had found a walk on Wikiloc that was 10.6kms, so we thought we would go for it.  We hadn't done any hill/mountain walking since March of this year, when we spent a lot of time walking around Andalusia but we were feeling fit and thought surely it can't be that hard.  Boy were we wrong, it was VERY hard!!

That's where we  are heading, straight in front and up all the way- Mel just checking the route on his phone!

More than 70 glacial lakes exist in the Pirin.  Someone had spelled out 'Pirin; in stones in the cyrillic alphabet around this lake, that could be seen from quite a height.

One last push to the top.  The only trouble was it was very steep and at this altitude the air was thinning, so we had to stop every 50-100 steps

We made it! At the top of Vihren, 2914 metres

Bansko in the distance from the top of Vihren Mountain

Coming down, Ice was visible on the north side of Vihren.  It was so steep and icy in places, that there were iron chains to hang on to all the way down.  Obviously, with my fear of heights/sheer drops I had a few moments where I froze - literally!

Ice on the north-side of  Vihren

Don't look down!

We found a few of these roaming about the mountains,  which we think are a type of roe deer.

More than half of Pirin National Park is covered with forests.  One famous tree is the Baikushevata Macedonian Pine, approximately 1,350 years old.

Baikushevata Mura (Baikushev's Pine)

Getting back down, we were exhausted but we felt good for getting to the top of Pirin's highest mountain and back down again in one piece.  Plus we were so lucky with the weather for this time of year, it was about 23°C during the day so that was a bonus.  However, by 8pm it had dropped rapidly to 8°C and the gas heating was blasting out to keep us warm.
Getting up the next morning we could hardly move.  We ached in places we didn't know we could!  We left Piren early morning and headed towards Melnik, after a quick supermarket stop at Kaufland in Sandanski.  We visited here last year and it is a lovely village - the smallest town in Bulgaria, and is  surrounded by sandstone pyramids, known as hoodoos and reach a height of up to 100 metres.  They are formed over centuries by wind, rain and erosion of the limestone cliffs, and therefore over time are constantly changing.  Melnik is also famous for producing strong wines since 1346.  Winston Churchill loved these wines, in particular a certain broadleaf red grape variety called Shiroka Melnishka, which is only grown in this area.  We bought some of these wines last year and they were lovely, so we couldn't resist buying some more this year.

Monument of Yane Sandanski, a famous Bulgaria revolutionary and national hero in Bulgaria and Macedonia

Wild Camping among the Melnik Pyramids - you get such a good view of them from this point.

From Melnik we drove 6kms to Rozhen, to a wild camping spot, below the monastery (N41.53200 E023.42960).  Yane Sandanski is one of the most famous and most loved Bulgarian revolutionaries, and in the Republic of Macedonia where he fought for their liberation.  He was killed in April, 1915 and is buried just below where we were wild camping.  There is an old run-down church near his grave, with the inscription on his tombstone: "To live means to fight. Slave - for freedom and free - for perfection"

Old church and grave of Yane Sandanski, below Rozhen Monastery

Rozhen Monastery is the oldest Orthodox Monastery in the Pirin Mountains.  We visited it last year, so didn't bother again this time. Although it is not on the same scale as Rila Monastery, it is well worth a visit.  You can see pictures from my Blog last year - The Pirin Mountains  [Link]

After having a couple of very cold nights in the Pirin, it was lovely to be able to sit out last night until the sun went down, enjoying a barbeque.  We move on later today - destination Kerkini Lake, Greece, another beautiful place we visited last year!

Sally x