Bulgaria Rila Seven Rila Lakes Mossy Alpine Cirque Hike

#slowtraveling The Seven Rila Lakes sit at 2,100–2,500 m in a glacial cirque reachable only by the Rila Monastery chairlift (from Panichishte, 22 BGN round trip, card ok) or a 2-hr hike from Rila Monastery (15 BGN entry to the monastery complex, card ok). I took the lift at 9:00, then walked the 7-lake loop counterclockwise: Lower Lake → Fish Lake → Trefoil → Twin → Kidney → Eye → Tear. Total 5 hrs with stops. The moss here isn’t lowland green—it’s a rust-brown alpine sphagnum hugging the snowmelt channels between lakes. June is prime: snow walls still bank the Tear lake, moss glows against grey gneiss. I wore trail shoes, slipped on the Eye Lake boardwalk (wet planks, no rail). Poles mandatory. Mistake: I carried 1 L water—needed 2.5. The one refuge (hut at Kidney Lake) sells tea at 6 BGN, cash only. A monk at Rila Monastery blessed my bottle and said “the lakes are tears of the mountain, drink them with thanks.” Kindness beat. No permit, but stay on marked rock cairns—cirque vegetation recovers in decades, not years. If a cirque holds seven lakes and one soul, which reflection is the real one?