Living in a capital city can be stressful at times. Everywhere you go, you’ll hear the sounds of busses, cars, and people. Even at night, you won’t be able to escape the noise as the neighbourhood stray dogs start to bark or your upstairs neighbour decides to throw a party.
Before moving to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, I lived in a rather small town in idyllic little Denmark, so I sometimes feel the need to escape the big city and hear nothing but the birds chirping and the occasional cricket. A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon the Yablanitsa Mountain Huts and decided that this was exactly what my soul needed.
The Yablanitsa Mountain Huts is actually a farm located on a mountain ridge north of the Balkan Mountains. The farm is run by Yavor and his father Pavel, who bought the land a few years ago to settle in the peaceful surroundings. Yavor used to work as an airplane technician, but grew tired of the work environment and noisy airplanes. When his father Pavel announced that he would be retiring in the mountains, Yavor jumped at the opportunity and joined him right away. At a certain point, they were looking for volunteers to help out around the farm in exchange for food and housing. Before they knew it, there was no more room for volunteers, but people were lining up to stay there for a few days at a time.
Yavor and Pavel decided to build four wooden huts on their land and started renting them to tourists. The huts are all hand-built with boulders and wood, and inside you’ll find nothing but a bed with two small bedside tables, a dining table with chairs, and a wood burning stove. Everything aside from the stove is made from the surrounding forest. No electricity is connected to the huts, so this is the perfect place to stop your social media use for a while and look up from your phone. If you just can’t make it through the weekend without keeping yourself up to date, there is a single outlet in the common hut.
Besides resting, recharging, and doing absolutely nothing in the most peaceful surroundings, I couldn’t resist going out and exploring what the nearby sites had to offer.
The Prohodna Cave, also known as “God’s eyes cave” due to the two huge eye-shaped holes in the ceiling, has been on my list for a long time. Ever since I read “A day trip to Prohodna Cave” by fellow moderator @sonnyNg , I’ve been itching to go. I was finally close by and decided that now was the time.
Pulling up to the cave, I thought I was at the wrong place, as there was no indication of an enormous cave anywhere. I decided to follow the small stream of tourists who seemed to know where to go. After some narrow turns and a few steps down a rocky set of stairs, the cave appeared in all its might. It was much bigger than I expected, and the two equally sized holes in the ceiling really gave me the feeling that this was more than just a natural occurrence.
I continued walking through the cave to the other side and found myself in a little forest, nestled between two mountain sides. Wooden signs pointed me in the direction of a small monastery, and the journey led me up the mountain, providing me with an incredible view of a river running between the trees. The view alone was worth the extra hike.
After exploring the cave, I decided to go to a nearby area, well-known for its hiking route—Riverside Landscape Park “Panega.” The park was only a 15-minute drive away, so I had plenty of time to enjoy it. From the starting point, the trail leads you alongside a river, deeper and deeper into the park. The narrow trail steadily follows the silent stream and makes you cross the river several times via small wooden bridges, giving you a feeling that someone carefully planned the route for you. This place was clearly popular among the locals as many families were gathering along the trail. In designated spots, covered picnic areas had been established with tables, benches, and large open grills, so people could sit down and cook their own lunch. I got the feeling that many families came here for that purpose alone.
As I kept on walking, there were fewer people and the trail got narrower. At a certain point there wasn’t room for two people to stand next to each other. The trail continued out onto a wooden pathway built against the mountain wall. From here, I was walking over the river, feeling even more secluded from the other hikers. I continued my journey forward, hoping that I would at some point loop the trail and end up at the start. After a while the wooden pathway stopped and the trail led me through the woods, further away from the starting point, according to my sense of direction. After asking a couple of hikers who happened to know the area, they confirmed that the trail would not lead me back to my starting point. I ended up turning around and had to face the same three hours of walking that I had just enjoyed so much. It was a bit like rewinding a tape, but luckily the views were still gorgeous the second time around.
As I ended my hike and returned to the hut for my last night, I was able to enjoy a sunset unlike any I’ve seen in a while. The Balkan Mountains created a stunning backdrop and the crickets provided the soundtrack. Other than that, there was not a sound to be heard, and I was finally feeling recharged. This won’t be the last time I travel to the middle of nowhere to unplug from my daily routines.
Have you ever felt the need to escape the big city? What’s your favorite getaway place? Share your story in the comments below.
Nevertheless, the scenery was beautiful. What impressed me the most was a small lake, more like a puddle, which was turquoise from the light ray that was falling on it. Here is a photo:
