Come-Emine Road - Kom-Emine-weg

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Come-Emine-away
top mountain come top Mali Kom Lakatnik top mountain Vežen Sjipkapas Kotel Duskotna Kozičino emona Cape Emine

The Come-Emine-Away lies in Bulgaria.

The Come-Emine-away or KE-weg is a walking route that Bulgaria crossed from west to east. The route starts on the mountain come near the Serbian border, and ends at Cape Emine in the Black Sea. The route is approximately 600 kilometers long. The first half has an alpine character and regularly reaches altitudes of 2000 meters and more. The second half is more of a walk through hills and deciduous forests, although the average altitude is still about 1000 meters initially.

The route is several decades old and was originally set up to promote friendship between the Communist Brotherhoods; hence the old name Berghikingweg der Vriendschap Kom-Emine. At the time, the route was conceived as an extension of the already existing EB road, a route of Eisenach in the GDR to Budapest with a big detour via the Carpathians in the east of Poland and Slovakia. The active Bulgarian tourism office even published a book describing the two routes together. In the 90s of the 20th century, the need for a specifically communist friendship route disappeared and EB road and KE road became part of the network of European walking routes Hospitalized; predominantly in the E3 (the Hungarian part of the EB road found a place in the E4). Nevertheless, there is still a large gap between the last Hungarian kilometer of E3 and the first on Bulgarian territory. A route through Serbia can offer a solution for this.

Character

Marking the KE road

If you want to walk the Kom-Emine road, you should take into account that the Bulgarian language uses the Cyrillic alphabet, which has been developed from the ancient Greek alphabet. Gymnasts and physicists have an edge! In addition, there are various transliterations into the usual Dutch alphabet; these can be encountered interchangeably on maps and in the terrain. It is nevertheless possible to walk the route, because the company Kartografia in Sofia produces detailed maps 1:100,000, on which the route is clearly marked and described in Bulgarian, German and English, with an elevation profile and information about accommodation options (Stara Planina 1 to 7, maps 1:100,000 of the Kom-Emine road Edition Kartografia, Sofia (Bulgaria), 1991, no ISBN). Additional information in the Bulgarian language can be found on the website of the Bulgarian Tourist Office, www.planinite.info.

In addition to language problems, there are also logistical problems, but they can also be solved. Because the route hardly visits villages and towns, but always stays close to the ridge, one almost always has to descend and climb back for shopping. Although the experienced mountain hiker in good condition will certainly be able to find enough accommodation along the route, it is not so easy with the numerous huts and a single "forester's lodge" (German: Waldhaus, Bulgarian: gorski dom, a kind of forest ranger's office with guest house) inside to come. They are usually closed and abandoned. If you want to sleep there and have meals, you need to book in advance with the managing authorities, which is probably best via Odysseia-in, http://www.Hiking-Bulgaria.com/ , an eco-tourist organizer of mountain (hiking) tours. The huts are often very primitive and can be compared more with a bivouac in the Alps than with a hotel or mountain hut. On request, Odysseia-in can also arrange a walking guide.

Safety

A tick is smaller than the head of a match

The Kom-Emine-Weg is not a very safe walking route. The greatest danger lies in an almost invisible small animal: the tick. Ticks can (to varying degrees; in some regions almost 100% of ticks are infected) be carriers of two life-threatening parasites. Lyme disease, which is spread by tick bites, occurs throughout the E9 region. It is not possible to vaccinate against this disease, but one must check every evening for the presence of ticks. Once infected, a course of antibiotics is necessary. The other tick parasite occurs from Fulda to the Balkans and causes the disease FSME, a form of meningitis. This disease cannot be controlled with drugs; therefore one should be vaccinated with three injections before the trip.

In extreme weather conditions, such as snow, sleet and heavy storms, the forests in general, and the alpine parts of the route in particular, should be avoided. Experience with mountain hiking is required. Other dangers along the route are minor: wild boars and other large game are generally shy. Rabies (rabies) occurs among forest animals, but is rare. There are no indications of high crime along E3 (but in Sofia).

To the start

The mountain hut "Kom" on the flank of Mount Kom

The Kom-Emine road officially starts at 2016 meters on the top of the mountain come, but whoever doesn't get dropped off there by helicopter, will have to start walking in the city Berkovica at 400 m altitude (the city can be reached by train; see www.Bahn.com). From Berkovica it is 1100 meters ascent to the mountain hut Kom (for this 8 km long climb it takes 3 hours and 30 minutes) and another almost 500 meters further up (4 km) until one can follow the route at the height of the saddle next to the lower peak Mali Kom reached. The top of Mount Kom is then reached with a ridge walk of 3 km to the west. It takes 2 hours to climb the top from the hut.

The route

The alpine part of the route can be planned from the top Van de berg Kom using the following list of cabins and other accommodation, followed by the time needed from the previous sleeping accommodation. An hour equals 4 km in flat terrain, or 300 m ascent or 500 m to descend.

Top come → hut Petrohan (2 hours) → hut Probojnica (5 hours) → hut Gara Lakatnik (3 hours 30) → hut Trustena (2 hours 30) → Čukeva (hut Bukovec, 4 hours) → hut Leskova (2 hours) → hut Murgaš (6 hrs 30) → tourist house Vitinja (5 hrs) → hut Zvezdec (4 hrs) → avdar hut (1 hr) → hut Murgana (4 hrs) → hut Kašana (1 hr) → hut Svištiplaz (3 hrs 30) → hut Planinski Izvori (4 hours) → summit of Vežen mountain (4 hours 30; hut Vežen at 1 hour) → hut Echo (3 hours) → hut Kozja Stena (5 hours) → hut Orlovo Gnezdo (5 hours) → hut Dermenka ( 0 hrs 30) → hut Dobrila (3 hrs) → hut Hristo Botev (7 hrs) → hut Botev (1 hr) → hut Marinka (0 hrs 30) → hut Tǎža (3 hrs) → hut Mazalat (5 hrs) → huts Kračana and Deveti Mart (3 hours) → huts and hotel Uzana (1 hour) → Sjipkapas (hotel, 3 hours).

View from the Sjipkapas

About half way, the Kom-Emine road passes the Sjipkapas, which played an important role in the liberation struggle of the Bulgarians against the Turks. The decisive battle took place here in 1877-1878. The Sjipka pass is also the dividing line between the alpine part of the route and the more hilly part. Due to the good bus connections, it is also a suitable place to interrupt the tour. You can count on the fact that it is a nationalistic highlight for Bulgarians and that – after the silence of the high mountains – you will encounter the crowds that come with mass and day tourism.

The second, lower part of the Kom-Emine road can be summarized as follows: Sjipkapas → huts Buzludža (2 hours) → huts Balgarka (3 hours) → hut Krǎstec (2 hours 30) → huts Gramadliva, Himik and Predela (3 hours) → hut Butora (3 hours 30) → hut Karaivanovo (2 hours 30) → hut Bukovec (2 hours) → hut Cumerna (2 hours) → hut Provod Vatnik (5 hours 30) → hut Vratnik (2 hours) → Kotel (city with hotels, 8 hours) → hut Vǎribški Prohod (8 hours) → Krumov Most (9 hours; motel 1 km away) → hut Luda Kamčija (8 hours) → hut Topčijsko (5 hours) → hut Kozičino (5 hours) → forest house Gorska Baraka (6 hours) → Emona (no accommodation, 2 hours) → Nos Emine (no lodging, 0h30).

Home

The steep cliff of Nos Emine: the KE road goes no further.

The official end of the route is at Nos Emine (Nos is the Bulgarian word for Cape), just past the village of Emona. Here, however, one cannot reach the inhabited world; after completing the route, one has to go back 2 km to Emona and then to the south (bus stop at Elenite Resort and Zora Resort at 8 km) or to the north (Irakli Resort at 6 km and another 7 km to the town of Obzor ) descend. It is uncertain whether one can spend the night in the Sint Nicolaas Monastery near Emona; It is also difficult that it is not on the map. As far as we know it is only a ruin.

web links

• information from Outdoorseiten in German
• global route description in German
• division of the route into daily stages in ciryllic script