Mountain hike to one of the highest peaks in Macedonia.

1. BEGOVO
POLE
a weekend mountain hike
by bbdirector

2. BEGOVO POLE?
It's a once per year, mountaineering open
air party held on a field just below one of
the most striking mountain peaks in
Macedonia called Solunska Glava.
The field naturally fills with water and is
now a home to shepherds, wild horses,
different species of plants and insects
and once in a year to 300 mountain
lovers.

3. The party itself happens during Saturday
but you are staying for the whole
weekend up in the mountains in the
Karadzica mountain home - and during
that weekend you get to hang out, meet,
dine and wine with 300 like minded,
beautiful people, mountaineers and
lovers of nature music and beer, And
wine. And food. And no cell phone
coverage and a lot of fresh air.
BEGOVO POLE?

4. This pdf is a short photo story, divided in
two parts:
1. Reaching the Mountain home
Karadzica & welcome party
2. The trip to and from Begovo Pole &
the party in Karadzica.
content

5. FRIDAY
1. Afternoon arrival at Villa Prince and departure to
Mountain Home Karadzica - 5km hike
2. Late night welcome party
SATURDAY
1. 6 am departure to Begovo Pole - 4 hour easy hike
-13km one direction
2. Begovo Pole Party
3. Departure to Karadzica home
4. Barbeque and party
SUNDAY
Chill out, yoga and departure to minibus pick up point
at Villa Prince - 5 km hike.
AGENDA

6. hiked, biked and driven.
QUICK
STATISTICS
36 km
2000 m
elevation of Begovo Pole
300
people
amount of happiness
new friends
300

7. karadzica
part 1
reaching the mountain home

8. The trip starts on Friday where you have
to get to Villa Prince and from there, hike
for 2 hours to the mountaineering home
Karadzica where you will sleep, eat, drink
and poop for two nights. The home is on
an altitude of around 1600 m and
overlooks a deep, v shaped, gorged
valley.
You can get to Villa Prince by car, bike or
with a minibus provided by the organizers
of the event.
There is a road that goes straight to the
mountain home but is reserved for Jeeps
only.

9. route - Prince to Mountain home
Karadzica.
Aldinci village
Karadzica
Prince

10. If you choose the minibus, it takes you to
Prince hotel and from there you hike to
Karadzica mountain home through a
forest, along Kadina river and the village
of Aldinci.
As I said, there is a road to the mountain
home and is only suited for Jeeps. We
wanted to test that assumption.
With a Mercedes E class caravan. At
night. With a lot of rain and zero visibility.
But with a lot of excitement and
determination.

11. The crew

12. The driver and our close friend,
Alexander, lives in Sofia. He heard stories
of how Begovo Pole was last year and, as
the adventurer that he is, left his girlfriend
and joined us on a one of a kind
weekend.
Thanks to the border office and their
change in shifts that last FOREVER, we
departed towards Karadzica in total
darkness and rain.

13. He wanted to leave his car at Villa Prince,
night hike and meet the resident wolves
and bears. But the rain and my
impeccable negotiation skills that involve
saying phrases such as “abe top e patot”,
“ne se zamaraj” and “ushte 500 metra”*
convinced him that the road up to
Karadzica is rock solid and he has nothing
to worry about.
The road was indeed rock solid. Big solid
rocks in irregular shapes.
Unknowingly for him, I knew that. Luckily
for us the Mercedes is a tough beast and
plowed all the way up.
*all three phrases are best practices that are used when you have no
idea of the issue at hand; they work 100% of the time.

14. Before the rain

15. During the rain

16. During the rain
Finally arriving at Aldinci and getting
ready for the last kilometer up the
mountain to the home.

17. One slide later and we arrived at the
mountain home Karadzica.

18. 1 am and still in high spirits. Particularly
Alexandar.

19. Welcome party with a mandolin, flute,
drum and some rakija, beer, and cheese.

20. Unpacking part of the food

21. Position of the home and the valley.
And the view?

22. The morning starts with this view.

23. And continues with the view from the platform situated
above the valley.

24. The mountain home Karadzica in the
morning.

25. True mountaineers sleep in tents even
when they have a mountain home
nearby. We don't.

30. You can stay at the home and not go
anywhere, do nothing and just observe
ONE point in this picture and you would
still feel the beauty of this magnificent
place as much as you would if you went
to Begovo Pole. But you might miss a
totally different way to experience this
place. So, 7 am and we are off to Begovo
Pole.

31. BEGOVO
POLE
part 2
hike

32. The route - 13 km one way. Easy to
medium difficulty climb/hike

33. Alexander's favourite road that weekend.

34. The view along the way

37. Begovo Pole

41. A donkey

44. Some random neolithic observatories...

45. The sound of nature

46. Chilling before the final push up the
mountain

50. The home

51. Begovo Pole at last.
Word to describe this place?
Pepel.

52. Did you know how Begovo and Solunska
Glava got their names?
Solunska Glava

53. BEGOVO
POLE
the legend of
and Solunska Glava

54. meaning.
Begovo pole - the field of the Bey. It's a
term used since this region was under
the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
Nobody knows who the bey is but the
legend says that due to this bey, the
peak Solunska Glava got it's name.
How?

55. LEGEND.
One of the servants of the bey was a
young boy. This boy was very close
with the bey (hopefully not too close).
The boy was a hard worker and the
Bey respected that. He needed to
work hard for his mother. The boy’s
mother lived in Solun (City of
Thessaloniki) but was very poor and
sick which made her unable to work
and feed herself. To help his mother,
the boy started stealing gold and food
from the bey and sending it to his
mother.

56. LEGEND.
The legend says that the boy sent the
gold and food packed in small bags,
through a secret tunnel that started
from the peak of Solunska Glava, went
through the mountain and ended in
Solun. This tunnel (a vent) was wide
enough just to fit in a small bag and
nothing more. When the boy would
drop the food and gold, because
Solunska glava was so high, the bag
easily reached Solun. Solun is btw 200
km away from the peak.

57. LEGEND.
But the bey found out and one day
took the boy to the peak, slew his head
and dropped the head through the
tunnel so that his mother will receive it
at the other end - this way he would
punish both of them. His mother was in
for a shock and immediately died out
of sorrow.
Therefore the name = Solunska Glava -
The Head from Solun.

58. LEGEND 2.0
The other legend says that because
this peak is situated in the middle of
Macedonia, on a clear night you can
see the lights of the city of Solun.
Must have been a very clear night :).
But to be fair, you can actually see the
whole of Macedonia on a clear day
from this peak. This is why most
armies in the past rushed to capture it
due to its strategic importance. Now
it's time for some more photos.

59. The structure where the party
was.

60. Prepping the main stage

63. The residents of Beys field were
content and minded their own
business.

64. Everything you could wish for was
there. Music provided by the band
Kalevala (traditional music from all
around the world played on bass,
guitar, vocal and percussions).
Burgers and cold beer provided by the
organizers.
Fresh air, fresh spring water, plenty of
sunshine provided by the Bey and his
field. We did not find any gold though.
Some enthusiasts climbed Solunska.
We didn't - we flew a kite :)

65. A couple of kids having fun.

66. “My daughter wants to fly the kite”
“Sure, if you want her to fly away :)”

67. So many happy faces that I had to
double them just because.

69. Just like Begovo Pole, some pictures
cannot be described with words. They
have to be tasted. And smelled. And
looked at while they roast and drizzle
with fat.

70. Back at the home and
getting ready for the final
party

71. 3 am, the most hardcore
mountaineers enjoying the only
party in a radius of 30 km. We
feel privileged.

72. The aftermath of a whole day of
hiking, sunshine and enjoyment. Some
people were so excited that they slept
wherever the wanted!

73. CLOSING
WORDS
That would be all. For this year. Thanks
to people like the organizers of this
event, we can experience a unique
happening with unique people on a
unique place. Too bad it's once per
year but hey, less is more and it should
better stay that way.
Otherwise we might bored of all the
hiking, beautiful landscapes and fresh
air. Right?

74. Or maybe we won’t?

75. Thank you!

76. USEFUL LINKS
https://www.facebook.com/events/6
22732517885773/ - Event group
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pl
aninarski-Dom-Karadzica/15541283120
4143 - The mountain home FB page
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1
40403806081/ Kalevala band
www.bbdirector.com - me