Day 10 Bulgaria Shiroka Laka

We were planning to leave for Smolyan by 8am. As there was opportunity to chat with granny, we didn't leave until 8:30 am. Whilst chatting with granny, I was scraping frost off our car.
We were planning to drive to Canyon of Waterfall to do a hike and then coffee at Coffee Capitol and then another hike at Red Cliff. It turned out to be a false start as when we were driving out we saw lots of snow and were worried it would be too cold with our attire. So we headed back to the Hotel Kalina for some thermals and more insulated pants. Since it was so cold, we decided to go to Coffee Capitol for breakfast to allow the weather to warm up a little.
Coffee Capital at Smolyan was an upbeat cafe run by a man who had lived in the UK for awhile and now returned to his homeland. He spoke fluent English and even allowed Ruby additional Bulgarian bacon to get ham and cheese croissant , with no extra charge. We had our first green salad at this cafe. Most salads we've had so far have only had cucumber and tomato.
After breakfast we headed for Canyon of Waterfall. It was a 7.3km hike that took us from 1000m above sea level to 1450m, with a climb for the first 3.4km. It was the most picturesque hike following from one waterfall to the next. 3 waterfalls in total. When we were nearing the top, we had to hike through pockets of snow carefully so as not to slip and fall down the mountain. Some of the ledges we walked on were merely 25cm wide. We sometimes had to crawl under our climb over fallen trees. Finally when we reached the top, we had panoramic views of the Rhodope range and the town of Smolyan in the distance. I found it much harder to go down the mountain than the climb up. Ruby on the other hand charged through the descent at a speed.
I was pretty sore in the legs by the end of the beautiful hike. Because the hike took us more than 4hrs to complete, and we had a late start, we did not start the Red Cliff one but headed back to Shiroka Laka.
We were hunting for cake and coffee but ended up having an early but slow dinner at Pectopaht Restaurant across from Hotel Kalina. Ruby had rakya Troyanska plum 7 years.
We started with Rhodopean cheese platter, followed by chicken fillets with rice in a mushroom sauce and finished with a biscuit rosehip marmalade cake and rakya (Bulgarian brandy). The waiter was amused we shared the whole meal including the rakya. So when I ordered 1 expresso coffee, he looked at Ruby who quickly said that the coffee was all mine.
Now we are showered and soporific.

Ruby had experienced a strange phenomenon here in Bulgaria, where her lost ring was found in her camera case in Melnik and she managed to find her hat that she had lost on the hike today. She reckons it's because she had visited the church of St Nicholas the Wonder Worker.
Walked 10.4 arduous km.Okumaya devam et