Catching his breath during a hike, Maimunka takes in the idyllic scenery of the Stara Planina (Old Mountains) near Shturgel, a village some 45 minutes from Sofia where some of his Bulgarian friends live. The Stara Planina—also called the Balkan range—cut east-west across the center of Bulgaria. Their highest peak is almost 2,400 meters, but most of the range is lower and heavily forested. Illegal logging is of increasing concern in the Stara Planina.

Just at the edge of Sofia lies Mount Vitosha, a huge mass of granite that soars to 2,300 meters. Covered with forests and pastures, rocky streams and hiking trails, ski pistes and mountain huts, Vitosha truly brings the alpine to the people of Sofia. Its base is 30 minutes by public transport from the city center, and a cable car ferries day trippers to the mountaintop in another 30 minutes.

After enjoying an evening walk in the woods up on Vitosha, the Monkey was able to get back down to Sofia in time for dinner and a night out on the town. Not bad, eh?

The Monkey sits on a wall in Shturgel, another quaint village in the Stara Planina mountain range. At left you can see the traditional timber-framed, mud-and-thatch walls of an old barn.

The Monkey inspects the Television Tower on one of Mount Vitosha's lower peaks. Though you can't really make it out due to the haze, some of Sofia is visible in the distance (above the Monkey's head).

The Monkey relaxes in the garden of his friends' cottage in Shturgel, in the Stara Planina Mountains.

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