'The Hike' - Chapter Two - Mostly Swearing And Asking Where The Hut Is
Chapter Two:
The view outside Trastenaya Hut...
Day 2:
For some, the struggle here may seem like a joke, provoked by an unprepared, winning drug addict who is absolutely asking for it. But for me, at that specific time of my life, it was the biggest challenge I had ever embarked on. I was planning to do around 50km a day, galloping from hut to hut like the horse that attacked me the day before, but my legs had other plans. I remember walking around in the middle of nowhere, laughing at myself the whole day, partly from jokes, the other half from pain. You reach a point where it's all just a joke. I was talking to myself often, mostly swearing and asking where the hut is. Along the way from Proboinitza to Lakatnik, I rediscovered singing. There I sang a lot, the Miley Cyrus version of Elton John's 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me' until I reached some houses in the village of Goubislav and realized that I was scaring the dogs, one of which attacked me, I believe because of my singing. During the path in this small village, whose name I had to Google, I found trees with fruits that I devoured. And even though I was scared to take off my backpack because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to pick it up again, I stopped and sat on a bench by the typical outdoor faucet and stayed there for a while. Another one of those moments where you feel great and the birds are singing, the skies are clear, and the lack of automobile sounds gives you a rush of life. After a while, I decided to take off, so I did. I met some people along the way, and everyone asked me why I was alone. Of course, there was a simple answer to all of their questions, but when was I ever simple? To all of them separately, I gave a speech about how I do not have a job, home, partner, or any kind of anchor anywhere. I told them that at this age, which was 28 at the time, I can do whatever I want and that I am free. The more I said it, the more I reminded myself. The people were kind of in shock for two reasons: the way I looked with this gigantic backpack and the second reason was that I would ever think that it is a good idea to go alone throughout the whole Balkans. I remember that most of the information I gathered from people and the internet always stated that you should do the trip with at least someone else. Never mind that, I was enough, in all senses.
Back then, I was also a smoker. Sometimes I stopped for a cigarette, sometimes I just climbed with it in my mouth. Now, having 17 months without a cigarette, I cannot believe the amount of poison I let enter me during my quest and how I was even able to function up there. I often wrote so I can memorize the feeling, and I was consistently entertaining myself with songs and jokes. For a while, I missed the old muddy roads. Walking with this bag on asphalted roads was another kind of pain that I was trying to avoid. Finally, I saw Lakatnik, and I immediately went to a shop and bought some cans of food that were super heavy. I am pretty sure I looked like a homeless guy, which at this point in time I was. Yeah, I had a mother and a father with separate homes in my hometown, but the idea of spending time with any of them never appeared. I found a restaurant, where the waitress looked at me with such pity, and behind that pity, I caught disgust that she took a lot of time to take my order. At last, the food arrived, and I ate. There was a guy, and he approached me, a conscious guy, and he offered me a job in Spain if I pass the truck courses. Super supportive, shared all his tricks. Bravo. While the waitress gave me the cold shoulder because of my appearance, he was impressed by it. I was impressed that he had a bigger backpack than mine. He's a big guy, but...
Eventually, I said goodbye to this fella, and I went on my way. Passing the Lakatnik train station brought back another memory. A long time ago, I was right on that station with a friend going to the Artmospheric open-air festival where we tried magic mushrooms for the first time. This festival was incredible, and the trip was so funny and visually stunning I will remember it till the end of time. The stars and the psychedelic trance blasting from the speakers, we dancing in the dark, falling in some holes one by one, laughing like crazy. One of those memories that you are glad they are part of you.
Little by little, I arrived in the Lakatnik village. There I talked with an interesting woman. She was working in the only shop in the village, explaining how everybody is leaving this incredible place to go find their luck somewhere else. I ate some sweets and proceeded with my quest to Trastenaya Hut, where I heard they made delicious raspberry wine. Those last kilometers are always the hardest.
The hut is very beautiful and tranquil. There were 3 beds in my room. Two with springs, and one resembled every bed in every rent hause we used to book during our childhood vacations on the Black Sea. I chose one of the spring beds; of course, I'm classic. After the hut manager begrudgingly let me take a shower, telling me a couple of times that I must be quick, I walked around, drank a couple of beers, and completely forgot about the magnificent homemade wine that was there. The setting was pretty beautiful, to be honest, and after a night in the woods, the hut seemed like a castle. A non-social mountaineer arrived, even more antisocial than me. He told me something, 'the tourist just passes through, the mountaineer connects with the mountain,' and I understood him, but there was some aggression in the way he said it that was unsettling. I mean, look where we were, what's with the attitude, dude? He was one of these guys who knows everything, a good thing that he left right away. As I waited for the force to pick me up, the hut manager mentioned that it's getting harder and harder from here. I do not know where my mind was, but I didn't think enough about the nearest future as I should have.
Trastenaya Hut...
Night 2:
All I could think about back then while I was pushing myself to this hut was a freaking bed, and I didn't have the chance to lay on it until early in the morning. I had the luck to meet the husband who before becoming the hut manager was the mayor of Lakatnik. He and his son both were a fantastic company through the night. We spoke while the night was at its fullest about everything, from politics to alien conspiracies. One of those meet and greet where you click with the person and you go through everything in life in a short span of time. I drank the famous rosemary wine, and it was delicious. After a bottle, the son, whose name I can't recall, made a bet with me that if I could tell the singer singing the next song, he will give me a free bottle of his homemade wine. Man, he played one of the most recognizable voices from our time - Tina Turner. It was a song I didn't know, but the voice, you can´t mistake it. The music was blasting, the discussions were flowing, and the night was going great. The hut manager asked me if I can go to sleep because he was seeing that I could stay up all night, and although in the morning I am leaving, they both have a lot of work to do. Around 2 in the morning, I was finally feeling the long-expected hug from the spring bed. I knew I would have a hangover tomorrow.
Iliya Badev
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