Last Saturday my friends and I had a very exciting mountain trek in the Eastern Rhodopes with our bikes.
We decided to cycle along the track of 'The Wild Calling Madzharovo' - which is an event held for the second year by the Dimitar Madzharov Cycling Club.
The event was held a week before we went and the trails were still cleared and we could see markings in places.
The crossing was 62 km. mountainous terrain with an elevation of +1900 m.
For the night, we stayed in the Madjarovo complex, located in the center of the small mountain town, and that was our starting point.
We started on the asphalt road of the central street.
To get to the first village of the trek, we had to cycling around a scenic stretch along the Arda River.
There were tobacco plantations along the way, and early in the morning local women worked in the fields.
We reached the first village - Bryagovets.
Domestic animals roamed the streets, there was a large stone fountain, but it was dry, and a local man invited us into his yard to drink water.
His wife was so kind and she treated us to a homemade banitsa made with homemade crusts, homemade cheese and homemade eggs.
I hadn't tasted such a delicious banitsa for years!
On a dirt road, we continued to the south, passing around the Kulidzhikska river.
We continued with a rather long climb. There were also minor accidents along the way, but nothing serious.
The next destination was the village of Chernichino.
A deserted village where we saw almost no people.
There we found a stone fountain from which we drank water.
We continued to climb, and the views around us became more and more beautiful.
Here we allowed ourselves a break, enjoying nature.
We continued with descents and ascents and entered a beautiful pine forest.
We pass around to the river Mareshnitsa and a turn to the right will take us to the village of Dolnoseltsi.
There is a large stone fountain here and here we met the most hospitable man in the village - uncle Dimo.
Uncle Dimo is happy for us and invites us to rest in the yard of his house.
He entertained us with fresh cucumbers, just picked from his garden.
It turns out that his family is the only one currently living in the village.
We saw the donkey Gergana and a well in which a fig tree had grown.
A descent and an ascent follow again, and about 47 km. we reach the village of Senoklas.
This village seems a bit more lively. There are also children.
This is the town hall.
There is a school which, unfortunately, has been defunct for a long time.
Here the local people again allow us to pour fresh water.
We leave the village with pleasant emotions, but part of our group decides, due to the high temperatures and already strong fatigue, to cycle the last kilometers on asphalt road and avoid the steep and dangerous descent on black road, which is ahead of us.
So we continued with a long climb on the asphalt. We enjoyed beautiful views.
View of the village of Malko Popovo.
We ended up with a long descent to reach our end point.
The bike trip was tiring, challenging and in very hot weather. But we did it and the satisfaction and pleasure is great.
The track can be seen on the website of the Wild Calls, and anyone who wants to participate in the competition next year should keep an eye out for information.