Lukomir Highlands, Bosnia

In my desire to explore the mountains of Bosnia, I booked myself a hiking tour in the Lukomir Highlands. 

Lukomir is Bosnia's highest and most isolated mountain village at a height of 1,469 meters above sea level on the Bjelasnica mountain range. Our guide said that the village wasn't impacted by the Bosnia war because of its remote location. 

I walked to the Bascarsija taxi stand at 9 am and met up with the group. I was expecting just 1 van but found that we were a full house that day, thus the need to do a convoy.

The drive was really stunning and the vistas were just absolutely beautiful. Blue skies were with us and the breeze was enough to keep it cool despite the intense heat of the day. Sarajevo was once the location of the Winter Olympics back in 1984. We passed by the resort where they have it transformed to a big ski fields during the winter season. During summer, it offers a wide range of hiking trails to locals and tourists, thus what they'd say a hiker's paradise. 

stop point

On our way we got flagged down by the police. At first it was a check point but then realized that they had to make us wait for half an hour while they surveyed the area. Apparently there were still scares of bombs up in the mountains. Who would have thought that'd still be the case in this day and age? However, fair enough, I had the same scare years ago when I went to Cambodia. Considering the Bosnian war was just a few years ago, the probability can still be big. So we waited. That was when I got introduced to a few people in the group. Charlotte and Jones were from Ireland, who eventually, I had the chance to hang out with whilst in Sarajevo. There was a girl from New Zealand, originally from Germany. Another lady was from Italy, but could speak so many languages. Then there was a couple from the Netherlands and another couple from France. 

When we got to the village, roofs of corrugated iron designed the top of the houses. Rolls of hay can be seen

from a distance. The road itself wasn't cemented and stayed as rough as it can be. Silence filled the village and I could only work out a few villagers there. We started the hike from the end point of the village and found our way through the path. 

I didn't find the hike itself challenging, though there were edge-scary moments though. There was a point when we had to quickly grab hold of the French guys collar when he almost slipped off one of the slopes. Other than that, it was awesome. As always, I love edges and just standing off them, adoring the landscape before me. What's with me and edges anyway? 

We found a place to stop for our lunch break. That was when I finally felt and realized how much a single tree can give such comfort to farmers and shepherds during a sunny day. There we got out our food as the guide passed around tea and coffee. He was a little bit weak that day, having a stomach ache. 

I had a chat with Charlotte and Jones, telling them at first that I was reluctant with chatting with them, scared that they'd be the typical Irish girls who I met back on Slovenia who weren't at all sensible to talk to. Eventually I found out that they were school teachers and that they've been off the beaten track in China. Finding that out made me want to know more about that adventure. I seldom hear Westerners who would get off the usual tourist track just to experience the unfamiliar scenes of an Asian country. Kudos to them. It was really funny when everyone found it weird that I got out my pocket knife and carved a walking stick out of a branch that I got along the way. I don't know, I just have a knack for such wildly behaviour sometimes, though I know it can sometimes come across as primitive. I didn't care at all. I was on the mountains...who cares about being prim and proper. I was just being myself.

After some time we continued back on to the path. I didn't really want to go back just yet, but we had to go back to the village and have our lunch there. We slowly worked our way up and I opted to walk behind. The guy from the Netherlands chatted to me about New Zealand and his other travels. He said he might be going to Norway after Bosnia, and go up the tracks there, hiking around the cliffs and exploring the great outdoors.  

When we got back to town we found our way to the nearest house and sat just behind where one of the elderly gentleman was seated, working on a wooden spoon, carving it with a broken piece of glass. In his silence, it seemed like he was meditating on it. I sometimes get amazed by that kind of mode and action. 

During lunch I chatted some more with the girls and shared our travel experiences.  Before that I helped our guide slice some of the sausages. Apparently he's been friends with the family in the village. During summer, the locals would be up there in the highlands. However, during winter, due to the fierce weather and temperature, they'd all need to go down and find shelter and warmth, else they wouldn't survive. After lunch, they also showed and offered us some items which were handmade, more of socks which they claimed were gloves. Go figure. 

The last part of the trip was to have the free time to wander around the village. I chose to be in my peaceful and contemplative mode and walk away from the group, doing my photography in my own solace. After some time I heard Jones and Charlotte yelling out my name. They walked beside me, teasing me if I was planning to walk all the way back to Sarajevo. I said, yeah, you wanna race? :) We agreed we'd meet up for dinner that night. Great times! :)