Walking up the river. Jane of the Jungle, part 1 of many.

Silly me decided to join the PAK Summit and Swimming club Olymp on their Cvrcka adventure.

17 km up the mountain river.

Crvckanje we call it.

This is one of our guides.

He is the founder of the Summit,

and these guys are on the mission of concoring the highest peaks of all continents.

So far they have done Europe, South and North America and Africa.

We had four guides here.

I like how they take care of everything.

They help you climb the difficult parts.

And they literally carried a few persons on some parts.

Always reaching a helping hand.

And very strict, almost military tempo they have.

Within these 17 km we only made three 15 mins break, and one 40 mins *this one was for swimming and lunch time.

Even with all these breaks - we managed to walk this route an hour earlier than average.

Yeey...though my legs are bruised and every single muscle hurts.

Yey.

First 40 mins you walk over the villages near Kotor Varos city.

In case you have ever wondered - this is the typical surrounding of one village in Bosnia.

I brought three pair of shoes - each proved to be NOT SUITABLE for this walk.

Grass is over the waist.

And we bumped into poisonous snake - luckily for us, it was smart enough and just went away.

Creeepy.

After 40 mins of walking,

 the adventure begun.

  

  

This is a summer walk.

When it is over 35C outside

it is nice to walk by the mountain river and in the shade.

Mind that the water is 'ladna ko guja'

cold as a snake we say.

This is the first stop.

And this running water is actually a water well.

Change shoes, get some water and go.

Easy, one would think.

  

This river, Cvrcka, is very low over the summer.

So you can walk over it.

But be prepared to be cold.

And wet.

 

 I have never seen such different rock formations.

After a while,

Cvrcka became to me somewhat of a 3D video game.

Walking fast over the slippery rocks, climbing up and trying not to fall into the river.

During these 17 km I managed to fall on my ass twice, hurt my elbow and my ankle.

Jane of the Jungle.

After a while you reach this nice swimming pool with a natural slide.

 

 No,

I was not up for the swimming here.

I am like a cat when it comes to diving into a cold water.

No, I say.

These two decided not to go as well.

And they even brought fashionable swimming suits.

Did I tell you that mostly women were walking this route?

And I was among rare who was walking it for the first time.

 I decided not to get wet that day.

Maybe feet - not my ass.

That turned out to be mission impossible.

  

Yes,

I am the one with green backpack.

And yes, my ass is in the COLD mountain water.

And two guys there are laughing at me.

We know eachother many years - I forgive their ignorance :).

Wet and cold.

But helping hands on the way when you need them most.

...

Last year we had dreadful floods.

Half of the country was destroyed.

Even here, in the middle of nowhere - you can see the consequences.

Still.

The power of the landslide.

  

Crvcraknje is not and adventure for everyone.

It is a semi-demanding walk.

And it is very beautiful.

Take a look and judge yourself.

  

  

  

  

  

     

Walking up Cvrcka river, you pass by old watermills.

Some are over 100 years old.

  

The video game continues.

  

  

  

Congrats on a brand new bruise.

After couple of hours, we have reached the place with small water basins.

And we had a nice 40 mins break.

  

Time to explore.

   

  

And time to move on people.

  

The end of this path is near.

I had to change my clothes three times.
Can't stand the cold.
Am more of a sea breeze type.
...

Time for a short break before the final climbing.

I like this photo, you can see D.'s toe.

Potato toe we call it.

  This here is the final cliff.

You can not see it well,

forgot to take the photo after a shock I had realizing I have to climb a vertical 4m muddy cliff. Without a rope.

Too bad I have no photos of me climbing it.

It  looks like this.

I was following D., my friend, who is slow as a snail.

To my surprise, down by the cliff I saw two of my highschool friends waiting for me.

Those two that were daring me to enter the water all the way to my waist.

They thought I would need help climbing.

Now, how sweet is that.

I haven't seen them in years.

And this trip was fun for all three of us.

Making fun of eachother.

This is S., scaring me.

And finally - we are up.

From here, you can see our starting point, right under that left hill you see in the distance.

Time to go home.

But before home - a stop by the local restaurant for some food and well deserved drinks.

We all did well that day.
Am very proud of this.
:)

...