All of The Seven Rila Lakes

in ocd-resteem •  6 years ago  (edited)

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Traditional Bulgarian Clothes

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, for the last 2 months, I was around The Seven Rila Lakes (the most visited place in the mountains in Bulgaria) four times. All of them were amazing and different and I've already posted about 2 of them and have 2 more left for you. Also several months ago I wrote a postwith photos of four of the seven lakes, and I promised that I'll show you the rest of them, when the snow melts. And finally I went to that peak with the view of all of them.

The main reason to visit them so often is that I have a new friend mountaineer who knows all the less popular pathways so together we are able to escape the crowd and to enjoy the beautiful scenary around the lakes from different perspective. The other reason is that throughout the whole august it is really interesting there, because the followers of a Bulgarian spiritual leader - Peter Deunov or Beinsa Duno, gather at that area and perform different exercises. The most interesting of them is the paneurhythmy, a system of movements created by the teacher. It looks like a round dance, and the goal is connection with the universal power and creating good vibes. All the people are barefoot and dressed in white and with the lakes and the peaks around it really looks beautiful. They have "Summer Spiritual School" (that's how they call it) and they have a part of the mountain literally reserved for them, they get some permit from the Rila National Park for camping and they have their own program, rules and schedule.

The culmination of that whole month lasting "school" is 19th august - The New Year of the Sun, or the divine New Year according to the teacher, when people there are literally thousands. On that day the paneurhythmy looks really amazing because of the number of the people performing it so one of my next posts will be about that day, but today I will tell you about 11th august, 1 week before the New Year, when there was something like a Folklore Festival around the lakes.

We went there with the chair lift in the afternoon of 10th august - Friday, found crazy beautiful place for our tent(and by we, I mean my friend), right next to
Chanatsite lakes, and on the next day (after witnessing an amazing sunset and sunrise) it was time for hiking. We wanted to go to that peak above the lakes with the gorgeous view of all the lakes - Otovishki Peak.

It turned out later, as we saw from the peak, that the people from The White Brotherhood (that's how the followers of Beinsa Duno call themselves) perform the paneurhythmy on a meadow right next to our tent :D. As I am explaining you for The White Brotherfoods, don't imagine some crazy religious zombies, not at all. Althought they may look like that to a person from the modern world, the teachings of Beinsa Duno are really pure and also world famous, he was a phenomenon for our country and for the whole world and the most important points of his teaching are Love, Wisdom and Truth. I've read a lot from him and am trying to follow many of his advice, but I don't like very much the theatricality of that event. There is something fake in it, but I admit that it looks beautiful.

We chose a steep ridge that required something more like climbing than hiking but it was fun and soon we could see some lakes from above.

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The peaks around
the valley of Maliovitsa

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Me above the fourth lake - "Bliznaka" - The Twin

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The balloons are there because of the folklore festival. That was great for my photos :)

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Our goal was a long almost horizontal ridge above the circus of the lakes with breathtakingly beautiful view of them, one neighbor valley, the dramatic Maliovitsa part of Rila Mountains, also Pirin mountain, some villages in the low part of the mountain, Vitosha Mountain and probably other things that I can not recognize and it is one of my top 3 places in Rila. The next photos are from that ridge.

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The third, fourth
and fifth lakes

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The peaks around
the valley of Maliovitsa

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That boulevard looking like pathway is what I was talking about in many of my posts. That's why I wouldn't recommend you going there with the chair lift. It is just two crowded.

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Pirin Mountains

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Here you can see not only all the lakes but also the popular pathway - from the lift then passing by the fifth, sixth and the seventh lake. The rest of the mountains is almost empty.

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The view of the lakes from our final destination - Otovishki Peak - 2696m (8845 ft)

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Malyovitsa part of Rila

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The fifth lake from above

The seventh lake is called "Salzata", The tear, because the water is crystal clear and that's why it is transparent.

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The Seventh Lake - The highest one, 2,535m (8010 ft)

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On the day of the New Year of the Sun the paneurhythmy is performed near that lake, and on the other days of august like that day, as the people are fewer, it is on another smaller meadow near The Chanatsite Lakes.

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The dance. Here you can even notice our tent on the left side of the photo

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As we were returning there, we had to cross the boulevard for no more than 15 min, but the contrast was huge!

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My friend - Georgi, and the fifth lake

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These people are part of the folklore festival

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Yes, it is really that blue when it is sunny

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The forth lake, that may be you remember from here. The peak behind it is Haramiyata Peak

You probably know me already - I roam around the mountains and look for flowers and peaks to take a photo of them together.

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Girls dressed in traditional Bulgarian clothes for the festival

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And finally we were back "home" near The Chanatsite Lakes to see the beautiful reflections in the lakes before the sunset

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Small Chanak Lake, or the Lake of Purity

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We had to go to the Hut below us for some food and it was like that near it

On the next day, while we were preparing to leave the mountains, we were watching the people dancing right next to us.

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The Second Lake - The Fish Lake

And some more zoomed photos of the reflections from that Sunday morning.

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I also tried the heavy backpack, it was torturing, I am still wondering how my friend is able to walk with it.

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That was a great weekend as always in the mountains!
All the photos were taken by my, except the ones with me on them :)
Thank you for stopping by!

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I saw your post this morning on my mobile but I had to check it out on my pc to see these amazing photos on my big screen. i knew Bulgaria is a very nice country full of great places to visit, but now, thanks to you, I've been able to see a piece of it.
Excellent photos and description! This is absolutely a place that must be seen. The Fish Lake, the Chanak Lake, the Haramiyata Peak are all beautiful. Well done! I'm going to check out those other posts you were referring too as well.

Thank you so much for your kind words, @erikah! I’m glad you liked it!

My pleasure :)

Браво, култово! :D
много багаж носиш... ;) снимките са нереални отново...в смисъл много добри! :)

Само за снимката и за хълмчето зад мен :) Иначе изобщо не мога да ходя с раница.
Благодаря ти :)

Greetings Daniela, how are you? ... It is so difficult to choose a favorite photo in your publications hahaha all are beautiful! .. I See all the lakes in a single photo I can see how much you walk. WOW .. a lot of way. I congratulate you! It's a road that's worth it!

Have a beautiful day! 😉

Thank you very much for your kind words, @blessed-girl! Is the school vacation over now? :)
The area around the lakes, and actually the whole mountain are amazing! I’m in love with it :) And I’m glad you liked it!

The school holidays have not yet finished, they must end after September 15 ... They have not yet confirmed on television. My daughter does not want the vacations to finish hahaha

howdy from Texas danielapetk! wow I'm actually stunned..almost into silence from the astounding beauty and uniqueness of those mountains and lakes. Almost every one of the photos could be on the cover of a magazine!
tremendous job.. do you have plans to do more hiking and do more posts about the hikes?

Hello to Texas from Bulgaria, @janton! Thank you so much for your kind words! It is truly a magical place! I live close to these mountains now, so I am hiking and posting about it pretty often :)

howdy again danielapetk! well that is amazing, I've never seen anything like it, it is literally inspirational there! lol. I'm glad that you post about it often.
God bless you!

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Поздравления за споделянето от @travelfeed и поздрави за чудесната и информативна статия и кадри, Даниела! Желая ти още успехи!

Благодаря много, @lightcaptured!

Again beautiful pictures and an amazing post on describing what you did. :)

Thank you very much, @enosh! Glad you liked it!

Wow, all the images are really great. It would have been an exciting trip. I can see the calmness in the mountain and seems to be a very nice place to be in.

It is really an amazing place :) I love the mountains.
Thank you very much for your comment! Have a beautiful day :)

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You have amazing views of the lakes on your photos! Indeed, it looks so good to keep going back there and be one with nature. It looks so serene and refreshing.

About paneurhythmy, is there any special reason as to why they have to perform near the lakes and not in a plaza or something near the villages?

Hey, @macoolette, thank you very much for your comment!
That teacher - Beinsa Duno, used to make his followers go there and to other places around the mountains. He said that that place is special with really strong energy and that going there often will change you. And they used to choose a date in advance and go no matter how bad the weather was. They gathered there for days and the teacher used to talk to his students around these lakes. That’s why they do it now too. I read some memoirs of his students talking about that and they said that the wind, the cold, the rain teached them not to be afraid at all of the weather, but only to enjoy it.I guess it was quite different back then.

Actually even my friend - Georgi, used to go there for a whole month every summer when he was a child(almost 30 years ago) because the keepers of the hut were his relatives and he told me that even then it was totally different without the 500 people that go there every day during the summer weekends.

I guess it is really refreshing and relaxing to go there, add to that the amazing views, so people want to go there every now and then. 😊

Hi @danielapetk, thank you for sharing htis wonderful experience and the event that The White Brotherhood celebrated, that looks really like a mystic gathering of ancient like Druids. Of course this is different and that is good so. I like the idea of beeing ourside for few days, can you imagine how difficult to take a young teenager out of electricity becuase of their permanent phones, tablet and games. I am curious to see such guys for days out of civilization.

Seeing so many people and on one of your picture I see that there are some stuff on ground, I personally always make worries that people do not collect their trash and sometimes leave the traces in human in such beautiful area. I hope your guys tidy up after :)

The picture of nature really unique adn sharing them I hope we people will strive to keep is like we see them to our further generations.

Cheers, from Art-supporting blog @art-venture
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Thank you very much, @art-venture! Such a nice comment! :) I really hope that that area will survive for the future generations will all the thousands of the tourists! In that part where the people of The white brotherhood gather one cannot find even the tiniest trash after them, but around the touristic pathway where most people go, it is visible that the nature suffers a lot.

I went there a while ago with a lady from Brazil and she told me that she really wanted to go back with her teenage son but that she could never make him live without internet even for a day for now and that she would probably wait several years :D The truth is that once you are there, you don’t think at all about the electronic devices but to be honest, I still wouldn’t go (for now) without 1 or two power banks :D.

Have a great day!

Hello your photos are so beautiful it makes me want to teleport them and see it through my own eyes i live the photo if the 2 girls dressed up with the stunning montain at the back it looks awsome.

Thank you very much for your comment, @drawmeaship! I am glad that you liked it! Teleportation would be great!

Yes i can't wait for teleportation:)

Oh wow, it's a truly picturesque location and the photos are stunning!

Visiting a place like this when a festival is on seems like a very special moment, good for you!

Thank you very much, @vliet! It is really great!

Beautiful mountains and pictures from GREAT hike 👍🏻👍🏻

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Thank you very much, @harkar, it really was great!

Thank you for sharing the beautiful photos with us. This is really a very magical place. Especially the Fish Lake looks like in a dream . I could very good imagine to go on a fishing tour there.

Are you barefeet hiking? Or do you only want to cool down your feet in the last picture? :-)

Hey, @avizor, thank you very much! All the lakes are full of fish, but fishing is forbidden there, although many people do it at some more unusual hours. still there are more than 200 other lakes and it is allowed around most of them. Even if it is not there is no one to see you.

I hike almost throughout the whole time barefoot. I started practicing it years ago and now I prefer it that way :)
Thank you for your comment!
Have a great day!

Uh nice ! Very big respect for hiking barefooted! I bet it need a lot of practice :-)

Have also a awesome weekend 😀

Wow! What a gorgeous hike!

Thank you for your comment, it is really a beautiful place :) have a great day/night :)

@danielapetk, I love your trips to the mountains and always admire your photos. Very beautiful lakes. This blue color is hard to compare with anything else. It's very beautiful. I wish you many more interesting climbs. Thank you!

Thank you very much, @madlenfox! Thank you for following my blog from the very beginning! Always a pleasure to read a comment from you!
Glad you liked it

What camera or filters were you using to take the photos. The colors and views that you managed to capture are spectacular. The scenery is beautiful anyway but whatever way you captured them makes the photos really stand out.

Thank you so much for your kind words! It is an ordinary small pocket size Nikon, so I guess it is nature’s fault for the beauty of the photos :)

Damn beautiful nature. I hate when it does that.

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As always very nice pictures and really detailed description about your hiking trips.

Thank you very much, Florian!

You are amazing, the pictures together with your description. It seems like I hiked together with you. Thank you very much for bringing me there virtually. The photo with you. It look so peaceful and close to nature. and the lake are so amazing and blue. Hope one day i really can visit there.

Now I need to visit your previous post :)

Thank you very much 🙏!! I’m glad you liked it!

It is difficult to believe that such beauty even exists!
That pure blue color is astonishing. Your photos are wonderful and I am so glad you shared them here! Congratulations on the @curie vote!

Thank you very much, Melinda!

My pleasure!

Hi danielapetk,

This post has been upvoted by the Curie community curation project and associated vote trail as exceptional content (human curated and reviewed). Have a great day :)

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Thank you very much, @curie!

That body of water looks magical. I'm a bit disturb by the number of tourists and are those garbage at the corner I see? The place looks fitting for folktales of magic and no surprise if there was actually magic brewing there.

No, it is not garbage, I think that that’s the clothes of the people, that were going to perform traditional Bulgarian dances for the festival. They are carrying traditional Bulgarian clothes for it, and they were about to change their normal clothes with them :) It would be awful if that was garbage 🤨 still nature there is suffering, you can see in the photos how big the pathway is, in the less popular places it is almost unnoticeable and although people don’t throw garbage, they leave traces.

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Being around such a beautiful place must have felt magical and serene, I see why those people chose that place is a spot for their festivals and the school as well. They will get to to take in the fresh breath of nature and the calmness of it all. It will be great to see them practice that dance...

I love the view of the mountains, they are fascinating. And the lakes too, they are all distinct and beautiful. I do love the refection you got from it too. The fish lake, does it really have fish it it? It seems like there are little fishes in there, I would love to see them swim around...

I like the dress the girls wore, they are beautiful and colorful. Not something you will see on a normal day. Well, that's why its a festival... lol

You did a great job with photographing that place, your photos did well revealing the beautiful details of the place.

Absolutely stunning! I love mountains and mountain lakes. These are just beautiful.

I had no idea Bulgaria has such an astounding place. And it is just amazing to see all those people get up there to celebrate while still leaving most of it empty. Those lakes are all so pretty. I am a swimmer, but I guess they would all be too cold for that.

Thank you so much for showing this incredible place and all the great photos and information. I look forward to your upcoming posts.

Those shots are absolutely gorgeous

That was a lot of pics, I didn't think it was ever going to fully load, but it was worth the wait. I did like the pick with the balloons, it would have been awesome to catch a few dozen of them in the air around some of those higher peaks. I love mountains and the beautiful scenery, but I think that my actual favorite in this set is the hut with the lake in front of it. There is a lot of interesting detail in that shot and the cotton candy sky just sets it off. Do you know what was in the water causing the interesting patterns?