I remember the day I stood on the peak of the Botev mountain in Bulgaria like it was yesterday. I wasn’t alone; along the way to the peak, another hiker and I decided to move forward together. He was a native Bulgarian speaker and managed to get us inside the meteorological centre on the Botev Peak. The centre has one room with four beds, for cases of emergency, and the meteorologist who was working that day allowed us to stay for the night and showed us around. He spoke about the extreme weather conditions the peak endures as a result of two different climates coming from both sides of the mountain that join on the peak. The meteorologist spoke about times when thunder hits the centre and lightning flashes from the wall sockets and about times that the meteorologist can’t leave the building because heavy packs of snow block the entry doors.
My fellow hiker and I stood up early in the morning to witness the daybreak. Our room filled up with gold light and as we looked out of the windows, we saw clouds beneath the peak and the sun that slowly rised above the clouds. Once we packed our stuff and went out, a group of horses faced us. I felt like I was on another planet: watching a bed of clouds all around me and the earth beneath my feet disappear under the clouds, seeing the sun at eye level and being surround by this family of horses.
