Posted on June 18, 2024June 21, 2024 in Waterfalls

Dyavolsko Praskalo

As for the previous waterfall, Vidimsko Praskalo, Dyavolsko Praskalo is accessed from the town of Apriltsi, directly north of the highest point of the Balkan Mountain, Botev Peak (2376 m). This walk will not take you to the bottom of the waterfall itself, but to a cave called Vodnite Dupki (‘Waterholes’) and to Pleven Hut, the departure point for those wishing to scale Botev Peak. It does, however, offer views of the waterfall from a distance, like the ecopath to Vidimsko Praskalo, leading through some of the most beautiful scenery in this area, with its UNESCO-protected beech forests, which makes it well worth doing. But it has an elevation gain of 636 metres over a distance of ten kilometres, which involves some steep climbs. It should only be attempted in good weather conditions.

Passing through Apriltsi on the III-607 road, in between the districts of Zla Reka and Novo Selo, take the turning marked ‘kv. Vidima 5’. This turning is next to a bridge over the River Vidima, a river whose source is the waterfall and which features very much in this walk. The road you are on takes you through the centre of Vidima and in 8.5 kilometres arrives at a hydroelectric power station. A turning on the left, directly before the power station, is the start of the ecopath to Vidimsko Praskalo. Continue past the power station on your left. The road becomes quite narrow. In 4.1 kilometres, you reach a car park on your left, with the start of the walk on your right, marked ‘Pleven Hut’. The road continues for a bit, crosses the River Vidima and ends at a second car park, where there is an aerial lift used for transporting goods to the hut.

Having parked the car, you are now ready to start the walk. Take the path that is marked for ‘Pleven Hut’. The River Vidima is on your left. In 440 metres, a path diverges on the right. This is the summer route to Pleven Hut and is the route you will come back on. Continue for another 110 metres, and there is a wooden bridge over the Vidima. A winter route to Pleven Hut continues straight, but we want the route to Vodnite Dupki, or Waterholes, cave, which involves crossing the bridge and then walking uphill through beech forest. The climb becomes quite stiff. At one point, the path doubles back on itself, heading north. It then continues south and, as it does so, you catch glimpses of the waterfall, Dyavolsko Praskalo, through the trees.

1.7 kilometres after the bridge, you come to a T-junction. The path that goes straight ahead is marked for Pleven Hut and Botev Peak. You want to go left here, to Vodnite Dupki. The path descends in order to cross a stream (soon to become the River Vidima). It climbs again on the other side and, in 300 metres, you can see Pleven Hut across the valley. The path enters the Severen Dzhendem Reserve and descends steeply, going past a moraine field on the right. 500 metres after the sign for the Severen Dzhendem Reserve, it arrives at Vodnite Dupki. As in Krushuna, a stream flows from the cave, accompanied here by cold blasts of air.

The waterfall is a short distance south of the cave. However, because this is a reserve, you are only permitted to go as far as the cave. The path after the cave is noticeably worse, even non-existent, skirting the rocks before entering the valley where the waterfall is situated and the River Vidima has its beginnings. It is best to turn back here. When you reach the T-junction where you turned left earlier for the cave, now follow directions for Pleven Hut. Unmarked paths diverge left and right, but you should look for the yellow signs to the hut. The path again descends before crossing a stream, another tributary of the Vidima. It then climbs on the other side, continuing through beech forest. 1.3 kilometres after the T-junction, you will come to a series of memorial plaques on your left, celebrating the lives of mountaineers who have walked on this mountain. You are now very close to the hut. The path, which until now has been under the cover of the forest, emerges into an open grassy area. There is a shelter for farm animals ahead of you. The grassy slope climbs steeply on your left, in the direction of Botev Peak, and is probably good for skiing in winter. The hut is to your right, behind three other buildings. You’re supposed to go straight and then turn right, with the buildings on your right. You will then reach the entrance to the hut. When I got there, they were listening to very loud, martial Russian music.

What is amazing about the hut is the view from the balcony outside the restaurant. It faces Botev Peak. You can glimpse the wetness of the waterfall to the right of the peak. Vidimsko Praskalo is hidden to the left. This view is unforgettable. I drank copious amounts of tea and exclaimed from time to time. The man running the hut had spent time in Bromley. No wonder he preferred to move back here!

When you have taken your fill, take the path that descends directly from the hut, with green markers and a wooden railing. It is signposted for the locality Mazaneto, which is where you parked the car. The path descends for 1.4 kilometres before rejoining the path you were on earlier, just below the bridge. Turn left here, and in a short while you will be back at the beginning.

The return trip from Pleven Hut to Botev Peak takes about 8-9 hours. It passes the top of Dyavolsko Praskalo, again offering views of the waterfall, but for this you would need to sleep on the mountain.

Botev Peak from the road through Vidima.

The start of the walk, marked ‘Pleven Hut’.

The bridge over the River Vidima. Follow the sign for Vodnite Dupki.

The T-junction – Vodnite Dupki is left, Pleven Hut straight ahead.

The path back to Mazaneto, where you parked the car.

The River Vidima as it passes through Debnevo.

Posted on June 14, 2024June 14, 2024 in Waterfalls

Vidimsko Praskalo

This is a walk into the heart of the Balkan. It takes you to within sight of one of the tallest waterfalls in Bulgaria (most of which are in this region, on the north and south sides of the Balkan Mountain), Vidimsko Praskalo. Praskalo is the Bulgarian word for ‘spray’, ‘sprinkler’, it’s just another word for ‘waterfall’. Vidimsko refers to the nearby village of Vidima. There used to be four villages in this area: Novo Selo in the centre, Zla Reka to the west, Ostrets to the east, and Vidima to the south. In 1976, they decided to club together and form a town, Apriltsi, which was named after the April Uprising of a hundred years earlier, in which the village of Novo Selo lost 142 of its citizens to Ottoman units, who massacred the locals, causing uproar in the West. Bulgaria would become free of Ottoman rule two years later.

A bird could fly from one praskalo to another in a matter of minutes – clustered around Botev Peak there are several, Raysko Praskalo being the highest. But we are mere mortals and must use our feet. There is an ecopath that takes you, five kilometres along a track, and the final kilometre along a path, to a viewing area, from where you can view the waterfall in the distance. Believe me, it is magical, even at a distance. The waterfall is located within a part of the Central Balkan National Park known as Severen Dzhendem, and you’re not just allowed to walk freely. This is one of the routes you are allowed to do.

Make your way to Apriltsi. The town is traversed by the III-607 road. Between Zla Reka and Novo Selo (where the centre is), there is a turning marked ‘kv. Vidima 5’. Take this turning, which heads due south, offering impressive views of the Balkan. Continue on this road for 8.5 kilometres, passing through the centre of Vidima and out the other side. Just before reaching a hydroelectric power station, there is a small turning on the left with lots of signs pointing to the waterfall and the ecopath. It’s impossible to miss. Park your car here.

Now you are on foot. The road immediately crosses the River Vidima and turns right, past the power station on your right. The power station is located between the Rivers Vidima and Praskalska (‘of the waterfall’). You are now next to the River Praskalska and are going to follow it all the way to your destination.

The track you are on, wide enough for a car, crosses the river a couple of times, it even crosses a couple of tributaries and goes past some buildings linked to the water supply, but you are never going to leave it until, after five kilometres, you reach the entrance to the Severen Dzhendem Reserve. Most of the time, the river will be on your right. Sometimes the track will toy with you and make as if to climb away from the river, but it soon returns. Just stay on it, ignoring the turnings to Mecho Chakalo and Turski Rat (obviously one of the people involved in 1876) on your left. In 3.7 kilometres, you will come to a fountain on the left, with a picnic hut on the right. Another kilometre, and you will reach the buildings linked to the water supply, where it is forbidden to go too close to the river (there is another fountain here, and a viewing platform over the river). Stay on the track.

This track that has offered so much finally ends after five kilometres, and you enter the Severen Dzhendem Reserve, where there are beech forests protected by UNESCO. It now becomes a path. You have one more kilometre to go (twenty minutes). You will cross four wooden bridges. Then you will come to a fifth, higher wooden bridge, and suddenly notice the peaks of the mountain up ahead. It’s a startling view. Cross this bridge, and you will come to a small area with wooden benches, where you can sit, rest and admire the waterfall in the distance. It’s incredibly picturesque.

It is not permitted to continue towards the waterfall and, without a guide, it would be difficult to achieve. But it is enough. It’s not always necessary to reach the end, and it’s also good to allow wild animals a little peace and quiet from us. It took me two hours to reach the viewing area from the power station, and 1½ hours to come back. But I have to say I stayed quite a long time, viewing the waterfall (like a destiny) in the distance, and was reluctant to leave.

The River Vidima as it passes through Apriltsi. It goes on to join the Rositsa in Sevlievo, which itself joins the Yantra (the river that goes through Veliko Tarnovo) before becoming part of the Danube.

The road due south that passes through Vidima and leads to the Balkan.

The turning on the left for the ecopath to Vidimsko Praskalo. The road on the right continues to Pleven Hut.

The hydroelectric power station on the right.

The track following the course of the River Praskalska.

The buildings linked to the water supply.

The entrance to the Severen Dzhendem Reserve, where the track ends and becomes a path.

The fifth wooden bridge with views of the ridge.

Posted on May 9, 2022May 27, 2024 in Waterfalls

Hristo Danovo

If you’re travelling to this waterfall from Sofia, you’ll need an early start. It’s a ten-hour day – a two-hour drive in both directions, a two-hour walk in both directions and two hours to spend at the waterfall. Is it worth it? Well, you will get a real taste of the Balkan and will visit what for me is the most beautiful waterfall in Bulgaria. So, yes.

You need to take the E871 east of Sofia, in the direction of Burgas. This is one of my favourite roads. It starts very straight, then it climbs and winds over a couple of forested hills, passing a monument to Bulgaria’s freedom fighter Vasil Levski, after which it seems to pass through a landscape straight out of The Hobbit, as if elevated fifty feet in the air. The road hugs the southern slopes of the Balkan, the ‘Old Mountain’ as it’s known in Bulgarian. It’s like an arrow flying east.

Leave Sofia on the road for Varna/Burgas, but then follow the signs for Burgas. Having passed through the outlying village of Dolni Bogrov (where there always seems to be a market at the weekend, and lots of cars parked at both sides of the road), you turn right, and the E871 stretches out in front of you. The drive from Sofia to the village of Hristo Danovo is 130 km. About halfway, you pass the turning for another waterfall, Chavdar, to the south, then you go through the more industrial towns of Zlatitsa-Pirdop (it’s difficult to distinguish them) and after Rozino, just as you are about to enter Karnare (from where there is a road that memorably crosses the Balkan north to Troyan), there is a turning on the left marked Hristo Danovo, 4 km. Take this turning until you reach the central square of Hristo Danovo, where there are signs for the waterfall (known as ‘Suvcharsko Praskalo’) and the Balkan Central National Park which it is part of. Park the car.

Above the village is an old tarmac road that will take you all the way to the waterfall. Some people drive their cars some of the way, but it’s really not necessary (and also the road is not very good). Enough with the driving. You leave the square along a short road to the right of all the signs and immediately turn right and climb a paved road. This road becomes a track. Keep on climbing out of the village. After ten minutes, the track divides, you head right, next to a field with a view over the village, and in another five minutes you reach the tarmac road. Avoid the temptation to continue along the dirt track opposite, and turn left along the tarmac road.

Savour the views of the Balkan Mountain. On your left is a deep gorge formed by the Damladere River (the same that forms the waterfall). After forty-five minutes, you will see a smaller waterfall. In another twenty minutes, you will reach an orange barrier, followed by a table and benches, which is an ideal spot to stop and take a rest. Exactly an hour and a half after leaving the village, the road veers to the left over a concrete bridge that crosses the Damladere – this is where you part ways. Immediately after the bridge, a narrow track heads upstream through the forest. You continue along the left bank of the river for five minutes, and then you are forced to climb (not to follow the course of the river, which is protected). Fifteen minutes after leaving the bridge, you will reach the waterfall. Prepare yourself for a wonderful sight. The waterfall is a straight line falling 54 metres, like a windpipe between two lungs. The water glistens in the sun, throwing off drops that bombard your face. Let them.

I have been to more than thirty waterfalls in Bulgaria, including the more famous Raysko Praskalo a little further east, also in the Central Balkan National Park. Hristo Danovo is my favourite. You have a sense of the power and purity of nature. You also learn a little bit about the Balkan Mountain. One of the amazing things about Bulgaria is how distinct its mountain ranges are from each other – the Balkan, Vitosha, Rila, Pirin, Rhodope… Not one of them is alike. I am actually a fan of Vitosha, because this is the mountain I visit most often from Sofia (it overlooks Sofia from the south), but they are all remarkable. My wife says Bulgaria is in the perfect location – far enough north for the mountains not to be dry, far enough south for them not to be cold. Of course, she’s right!