"The fresh mountain breeze brings the sinfony of scents around us. This sinfony is made from fresh green grass, soothing notes of wild lavendel, mint, thyme and moist pine cones. The view on the other hand is - at the same time - a soothing lullaby for the restless soul and the most powerfull burst of enjoyment and excitement to the beating living heart."
Those words were my exact thoughts on the top of the Vito peak, while I was surrounded by the ancient mountains. Towards the summer, the surrounding springtime lakes tend to dry out loosing their wild souls and turning into the blossoming greenlands. However, some smaller streams source from these majestetic mountains as tributaries to its bordering jade-coloured rivers; Neretva, Ljuta and Rakitnica, which srteams along one of the deepest canyons in Europe - the 32 km long Rakitnica canyon. Surrounding mountains, the Visocica range with its ridges (Kaoca, Crveni Kuk and Toholj) and their notable peaks (Džamija (1974 m.), Vito (1960 m.),
Veliko Ljeljen (1963 m.), Crveni Kuk (1733 m.) and Veliko Toholj (1837
m.) are attractive destinatios for hikers, tour seakers, ski fanatics, nature and history lovers. Visocica has two necropoli located at high altitude amidst the mountains, which have no trace of contemporary or historical habitation. One of the necropolis at Poljice features two stećaks - bosnian medieval thomb stones with inscriptions in Bosančica (which can be translated as Bosnian script.) and the other located in high deserted valley called Jezera, features several ornamented stećaks. Notably, stećaks are currently also under the UNESCOs list of world heritage sites!
If you want to experience something extra special like we did, you can
rely on these great, charmy and happy chaps, true gentlemen, who will
offer you great tours in great destinations you will not forget. That is
how I would describe your guides-to-be Kenan, Adi and Hikmet from Highlander Adventures. They are
well educated young men who know what they are doing, thus making every tour
unique and tailored for your needs and according to your personal
interests. Theme based tours (war, architecture,...), city tours, hiking
tours (where ever your heart desires) - you name it, they got it. They
are great to hang out with, relaxed and well organized (+ can speak many
languages!). With Highlander Adventures, history will meet up with
nature and culture, while laugh and relaxed athmosphere will accompany
your journey. Don't miss out the beauty of the cities, villages,
mountains and wild rivers. We loved it and we bet, you will too!
Me
and my sister Sabina had been planning a hiking trip in the Balkans also
previously (our mini-hike in Kozara National Park does not count since
we are from there). However, it was always a bit too hard to organize
something alone without good company and gears (if we fly, we cannot
pack all the necessities for everything) so we have had to postpone our
plans. Luckily this summer, we knew we will meet up with our cousin Zana
(she also writes a blog, check out World of a Travelholic),
who lives in Denmark and knew that with her we could share some special
moments since she was as outgoing as we are - I mean we love her! It
was too bad that our other cousin Elma (lives in Finland), an outgoing
soul as well, was not able to join us on our hike because of the ongoing
construction work on their house, since she really loves the pace of
life outdoors. There was also our friend, who had never been in
Sarajevo, to whom we showed the city round for a week gladly but who we
knew could not get through the very demanding hike. Therefore, we had to
say goodbye and then catch up with our other friends, who were more
than eager to see us too (Psst. Sabina I will never forget that moment with our ice creams on the station.)
So finally, the morning of our hike started with us going to one of the stores of Maison Coco bakery, my
favourite bakery in Sarajevo for some delicious breakfast. After that
we packed our bags, filled our water bottles with normal water as well
as with naturally mineralized spring water Sarajevski Kiseljak
(something everyone should drink when it is hot or when they are
excercising!). Zana, Kenan, Adi and one of Zanas friends from Pakistan
picked us up from our home and oh boy, the adventure really started that
moment! First 30 minutes of climbing up were the most intense, but
after our bodies adjusted it was much easier to climb and descend for
the next 9 hours that were ahead of us.
We
were all happy and topics for talking bursted almost as if they were
handed out from the endles mountain springs. We were sweatty as kittens
who have fallen into their too big water bowls and most of all - serene.
Hugged by all that sunshine and surrounded by the nature itself in its
best and most beautiful costume this day was even better than an
amusement park as a child (and that is something!). We had few lunch
breaks, where Zana took out a bag full of pitas in front of us!
Chocolate drink, still warm pitas, bananas nuts and raisins, peaches and
dark chocolate - that is what our mountain lunch was all about, not to
forget to mention the incredible views and a possibility to take your
shoes off to feel the grass between your toes... In the end, we ended up
blowing up some mushrooms, dancing some macarena, sitting on spiky plants and getting our
butts sore, climbing up to four different peaks, seeing a herd of freely
roaming horses, squeezing our bodies along the really steep paths,
laughing a lot and running around, listening to the traditional music
echoing from the mountain village Lukomir on the opposite side of the
canyon, talking to a lonely frog and admiring colourful butterflies
flying around us. This day ended with us gathering around the nargila
back in the city, all together. I mean, what could you possibly not like
about all this?
If you are interested, there is also a
bit demanding hiking trail along the ridge from the beautiful Rakitnica
canyon, which drops 800m below, all the way to famous village of Lukomir.
You can also reach the village by an easy (but still amazingly
beautiful) hike from Umoljani (car/taxi in also possible but not
recommended, since you absolutely need to spend more time hugged by this
nature!) Lukomir is the only remaining traditional semi-nomadic
mountain village in the region. At almost 1,500m, the village with its
unique lifestyle, fresh mountain air, homes made of stones with
cherry-wood roof tiles, is the highest and most isolated mountain
village in the country. You can enjoy the beautiful views and order
bosnian specialities, such as bosnian coffee, herbal tea and many
delicious pitas (all explained in my previous posts), locally produced
drinks, dried meat and cheese. Here you can even buy yourself a nice
pair of woollen socks with traditional bosnian pattern "the tortoise" to
warm your feet and to remind you of this incredible moment you have
experienced, while sitting in your own cozy chair at home during the
next winter.
My last question to you is: Why wouldn't this be your next winter?
- Herminica
