Tag 51 bis 53 Adventure on an old railway track and rest day in Sarajevo

Check out this collection on komoot - I think you'll like it. 'Outdoor adventure' https://www.komoot.de/collection/1622992/-draussenerfahren

10.9. to 12.9.

In the morning at the hotel, I received a tip not to take the road to Sarajevo, but an old railway track. It would be much flatter, the path would be gravel but acceptable, and there would be many tunnels without light. That was all true, but he didn't know that halfway through, the crucial bridge collapsed a few years ago due to timber transporters... So I embarked on an adventure of which I knew nothing.

First, I crossed a bridge to an old road, bypassing the further road along the Drina River with its many tunnels for 10 km, had to fix my first flat tire (the tire had a cut on the side. I hoped and still hope that the tire doesn't tear apart and I have also secured it with patches), and then made my way to the railway track in a valley.

The route was initially good to ride, with few potholes, a moderate incline, I also encountered a few cars, the tunnels were sometimes very long and very dark 😨 but all in all, it was still okay. At some point, I came across the first mine warning sign. Now I got uneasy. Additionally, the vegetation along the path was getting thicker. I found that very inappropriate, but I continued. The dark tunnels were creepy and I kept wondering if the warning sign applied to the entire area, if the path was safe, but I decided that the path must be safe because otherwise it would not be in that condition, even though it had become overgrown. And then I came across a pile of stones on the path, making it impossible for any car to pass. I parked my bike. I thought hard. Why is the path blocked? Mines? Is there a mine under the stones? Nonsense. Really? Behind the pile of stones, the path looked the same as before. I cautiously continued on foot. I watched the ground very carefully. And then I saw the bridge... The pile of stones was only meant to prevent anyone from driving over the destroyed bridge. Okay, but how do I get across now? A path leads down to the stream. But not all the way down. It stops two meters above and there is a steep slope directly down to the stream. I was completely stunned. I had already counted the last few kilometers to the next town where I wanted to spend the night. There were fewer than five left. I ate a cereal bar first, thought, considered if I could still cross the bridge - no way! I climbed down the slope to the stream. The stream was wide, the current clearly present. Debris from the bridge support, which must have been in the middle of the stream at some point, was everywhere. A thick branch was leaning against the base. Someone must regularly wade through here. I wondered if a mine in the riverbed had been unpredictably driven somewhere due to a landslide. But the many tracks and cans left by people who occasionally passed by convinced me to give it a try. I took off my shoes and clothes, took the thick branch, and cautiously stepped into the stream. The water wasn't particularly cold and was about knee-deep. The current wasn't very strong and I spotted stones in the water that seemed to mark a safe path to the other side. Once on the other side, I looked around and was still in disbelief about the situation. I could never get down this slope with my bike. I was annoyed with the person who gave me the tip this morning. Didn't he say that he had already driven here with his car himself?! No tank could make it through here without doing some pioneer work. Somehow, the idea grew in me to give it a try anyway, because I didn't want to ride all the way back through the many tunnels. So I pushed my bike to the edge of the slope, took off all my belongings, and first helped the bike down the slope. Without the luggage, the bike was very light and it went pretty well. I half pushed, half carried the bike through the stream. Once on the other side, I thought, well, that worked. Now let's hop, not waste too much time, it's already late and I don't want to arrive in the dark. After several stream crossings, I finally got everything across, dried my feet, packed my bike again, lost an Ortlieb clip thing (reduces the diameter for the clamp where the bag is attached to the luggage rack), miraculously found it among all the stones by the stream, and continued. The path on this side was much better again, and the way to the bridge was not blocked at all, so an inattentive driver who didn't know about the collapsed bridge would simply plunge down. After a short while, I arrived at the next town, crossed it, found a nice spot at the end of the second town that was unfortunately completely littered, piled the garbage in one place, making the place look much nicer, set up my tent, cooked, admired the moonrise, and went to bed. What a day...

The next day, I had a leisurely breakfast and wondered when the first bullet would come through and the cows would be driven along here. Because there were obviously traces of it. At 8 o'clock, I saw some cattle and a cowherd walking along the road. But then an old woman with a little girl also came, both carrying willow rods to herd the cows. They led a cow, which immediately turned around when it saw me and the strange dome-like thing at the end of the path. With effort, the two of them managed to move the cow back in my direction, but the cow simply jumped into a bush and crept through the undergrowth to bypass me as best as possible, came out near the road, and the two hurried to catch up with the cow. For me, it was a funny encounter, and according to what the woman said to the other cowherd on the road, she said something like, 'the old Emma was afraid of the guy over there with the tent and just jumped into the bush', while rolling her eyes with annoyance 🙄😑😒

The following day was rainy, I still had a steep uphill to go, then took a good break in a café in a town before Sarajevo, and then rode downhill through the narrow valley into Sarajevo. Here, I planned to stay for a second night and had already found an Airbnb near the city center with a view over the city (I had to browse the internet first to understand the layout of Sarajevo at all) where I went directly. The view was naturally worth it. It went up steeply. The call of the muezzin sounded foreign in my ear. The view over the city was overwhelming. My apartment was super spacious for me and my host Sanin, a very young guy, really nice and relaxed, welcomed me, showed me everything, and I settled in.

In the evening, I walked through the city, along the river, to an Indian restaurant. There was no one there, but I got very tasty food 😋 and had a long conversation with the owners about the country, the political situation, Germany, and the gas problems, refugee flows, but also about tourism, their work, attitude towards life, how much money one needs, and that no one writes postcards anymore. He regretted that, and I offered to write him a card. He thought that was very nice and had a very clear idea of where it should come from: 'You said Tunisia? Tunisia would be nice!' Done, I noted it in my calendar 😊

The next day, I visited two museums (one about the Sarajevo assassination and the time before, and one about the period until the end of the Middle Ages in Sarajevo and BiH), so I covered the entire history of the city. The rest of the day, I wandered through the old town, actually bought some touristy things (a pen made of bullet casings and a mini copper pot for making coffee, including Bosnian coffee), ate delicious food again in the evening, visited the same public toilet at least 4 times (I'm practically on a first-name basis with the cleaning lady 😂), bought postcards and stamps, watched old men play chess, relaxed with a cat on a street corner, visited the old fountain with hundreds of pigeons. The many bullet-riddled facades that shape the cityscape and remind of the horrors of the Siege of Sarajevo have impressed and depressed me sustainably. On a square, I found a Sarajevo Rose, of which there are several in the city: The damages in the stone pavement caused by a shrapnel grenade were filled with red resin and serve as a reminder of the death of one or more people at this spot. I did a lot of additional reading and was able to intensively process the connections in the Bosnian War, the current political situation, the time of the two World Wars, the time of the Ottoman Empire, and the many interrelationships, and overall, I thought a lot about war, conflicts, coexistence of people, and the conditions for peaceful living. This was very valuable for me.

In the evening, I went out to eat again, and the next day I continued towards Montenegro, but that would still take a few days.