The Seven Rila Lakes/ Седемте рилски езера

A really magical place in Bulgaria is without any doubt the circuit of the seven Rila Lakes, all seven located between 2100 and 2700m altitude.

The Rila mountain is the highest mountain in Bulgaria with its 2973m, each lake carries a name associated with its most characteristic feature. The highest one is called "Сълзата (Salzata)"/(En., "The Tear") due to its clear waters that allow visibility in depth. The next one in height carries the name "Окото (Okoto)"/ (En., "The Eye") after its almost perfectly oval form. Okoto is the deepest cirque lake in Bulgaria, with a depth of 37.5 m.

"Бъбрека (Babreka)"/ ("The Kidney") is the lake with the steepest shores of the entire group.
"Близнака (Bliznaka)"/ ("En., The Twin") is the largest one by area. "Трилистника (Trilistnika)"/ ("The Trefoil") has an irregular shape and low shores. The shallowest lake is "Рибното езеро (Ribnoto ezero)"/ (En., "The Fish Lake") and the lowest one is "Долното езеро (Dolnoto ezero)"/ (En., "The Lower Lake"), where the waters that flow out of the other lakes are gathered to form the Dzherman River.

I was pretty lucky to see the National Park of the Seven Rila lakes(one time) in 2007, when access to them was quiet limited due to the fact that one should just climb up. Since 2 years there is a chair lift bringing all tourists up to the first 2 lakes and made the area more touristic than in the past...I have signed several petitions, as several organisations were fighting the completely illegal construction of the lift in the past years. Unfortunately it did not help...Lets hope and pray that nature stay long untouched and unspoiled there, where one feels like a (tiny) piece of mother NATURE!