Plana. In Search of Alinski Monastery

Today we hiked Plana mountain again. The day was very bright, sunny and warm for January. This is the second time we start our hike from the village of Plana, in September we climbed Plana's top - Mt. Manastirishte. This time our destination lay in the opposite direction - to the south - the Alinski Monastery. We chose to start from the St. Kyprian Chapel, which stands alone and picturesque under a big lonely tree at the very end of the village.

These outer structures with a cross and bells are something I've only seen in Plana. Backdrop - the snowy peaks of Vitosha and

Mt. Manastirishte. The wind was strong and cold on the hill with the chapel

but we were headed in the opposite direction - to the south. The change in the climate of the southern hills of the mountain was fantastic - no wind, only sun and views.

The track took us to a ridge of Plana, where we could see quite clearly three mountain tops simultaneously - Rila's Musala to the south, Vitosha's Cherni Vruh to the west and Plana's Manastirishte to the north.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of the snowy ridges,

especially Rila- I'm so much in love with this mountain. Looking at this glorious chain of peaks makes my heart sing. So - most of the pictures today inevitably feature Rila in the distance.

The track was lonely, actually this is the loneliest trip we've made so far - we didn't meet a single person on the way. Probably because, unlike Vitosha, Plana is not at all marked - there were no signs or markings on the way, we didn't have a description of the route, just an outline on Google maps.

We must have taken the wrong turn, because somewhere here, near these large granite blocks, after an hour and a half walk, the track suddenly vanished. We walked a bit around, but didn't want to risk wondering through the woods without a track, so we decided to end the search for the track, have our picnic on the rocks and head back.

The view I had while drinking my tea.

Total silence and solitude, just a few small birds chirping in the pine-trees (Can you see the bird hanging upside down on the twig?)

Hubby posing as a shepherd. All he needs are some sheep :)))

Although we couldn't find the monastery, we had a glorious 3 hours walk in the snowy mountain. We'll be back here, probably in May and this time I hope we'll find the elusive monastery (some GPS tracking might be of help on Plana).