Waterfall, Fortress, Village, Waterfall, Dervish and Lunch.

[onlyMark]

The weather was forecast to be good, more or less, so we decided to slip out of the capital for a couple of days.
You can see in the title there is just one lunch, for the two days. But we had a picnic for the first one.
As it was just one trip I’ll start at the beginning but then add on in order the places we visited. So you’ll have to wait for the next part to come up, but it will as soon as I’ve done it.

The area we drove to was the south of Mostar, which is to the south of Sarajevo and not too far from the Croatia border.
We stayed three nights at a self-catering chalet in Medugorje, the town being a pilgrimage site and thus had plenty of accommodation – though it was all 90% empty anyway. But we wanted to do our own food so we weren’t beholden to restaurant eating.
The first day we drove down sort of after work, had two days exploring and on the fourth day drove early back so I could get a covid test to fly to Germany with.

Our first stop was at – “Kravica Waterfall (Serbo-Croatian: Slap Kravica or Vodopad Kravica / Слап Кравица or Водопад Кравица)”
This is on the Trebižat River – in technical terms it’s called a Tufa Cascade in a large karst area of Herzogovina.
It’s about 25m high with a 120m circular lake at its base.
Very, very popular in the summer and has swimming, camping and a couple of restaurants.
We parked above it and walked down.
There is a long set of steps, which we came back up, but also a small road/track we walked down initially to get sights of the waterfall.

It started coming in to view –










Nice walk through the woods to get to it –






Closer –




And then there –
















We sat at the cafe and had a drink then moved further down river as there was a little track. We knew that 10km or so further down was another but smaller cascade, but we weren’t planning on walking all the way there and then back again, so we went a km or so and returned –














A good start to the morning, sun shining, warm and agreeably deserted.
The panorama shots do tend to stretch the page somewhat.

[fumobici]

How wonderfully picturesque! I think I've seen photos of this place before, quite distinctive. I'm not sure I could resist the guilty pleasure of performing a clandestine religious rite or two there.

[onlyMark]

Be my guest. I'll keep a look out.

[kerouac2]

Beautiful waterfall. This time I will not say that I would like to see it in a more advanced season, because it might be reduced to a trickle. (Speaking of which, I was looking at videos of Victoria Falls in Zambia, and there was practically no water left.)

You definitely need to find out which religious rites are specifically targeted by the interdiction. I don't think that Catholics would find it appropriate for most baptisms, but I don't know about some of the more extravagant Orthodox or Protestant sects. I also kind of doubt that there are enough Hindus in the area with disruptive purification rites that they might want to perform.

[onlyMark]

I'm wondering if the flow levels at Victoria Falls you've seen are from last year or the year before. In 2019 there was nothing coming over. This March there was three times the volume from last March for example but I do know there has been little if no rain since March and the levels are dropping quickly.

[bixaorellana]

This is as gorgeous as anything can be! You all must have worn yourselves out saying wow and would you look at that.

The "peaceful" pictures are every bit as wonderful as the dramatic waterfall ones. The last two photos in the OP just knock me out.

Did you all have any idea when you moved there that you would be surrounded by so many worthy day trip sites?

[onlyMark]

Not really, no. I looked at things to do and the such like but it was difficult to relate to as apart from Slovenia and part of the Croatian coast, I'd not really spent much time in the Balkans. I'd come across a list or a blog with some nice pictures but then forget later what the places were - until I started looking at these things in depth when we arrived in the winter and with nothing to do.

[mich64]

What a beautiful hike, it looks like it was rewarding from beginning to end.

[onlyMark]

First, let’s mention Stjepan Vukčić Kosača.
Born 1404 and died 1466 he lived through the reign of three kings of Bosnia and was of a noble family.
At one point he disputed the line of accession of one off the kings and set off a civil war. Probably the most influential fellow in the medieval Bosnian area.
He had over time contact with the Venetians and the invading Ottomans and to say his life, his alliances, marriages and wheeling and dealings were complex is an understatement.

“.......he took the opportunity to take a title of herzog, styling himself in 1448 Herzog of Hum and Duke of Primorje, Bosnian Grand Duke, Knyaz of Drina and the rest, and two years later changed it to Herzog of Saint Sava, Lord of Hum and Bosnian Grand Duke, Knyaz of Drina and the rest, and while reaching for assistance, he aligned himself first with the Ottoman Empire, then Aragon and again the Ottoman Empire.”
Herzog roughly translates as Duke or Grand Duke – but the point is, due to him Herzegovina has the name it has, which is where we are.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stjepan_Vuk%C4%8Di%C4%87_Kosa%C4%8Da

He built a couple of fortresses to live in, in the area, and we visited the ruins of one of them near a town called Ljubuški.
Built about 400m above sea level it had a commanding presence and, as needed by a stronghold, good views across the surroundings. A fortification was known on this site previously but he built it up to be quite formidable.
The Ottomans added even further to it in around 1766 but the whole thing was abandoned in 1835 when the site and the building became unnecessary.

“The fortress complex consists of two parts. The central square square, called "Herceguša", built in the late 14th or early 15th century and the perimeter wall in the shape of an irregular polygon with massive towers, built in the beginning of the Ottoman period after 1472.”

We had a walk up to and around it in the welcome sunshine. There were also some nice scenic stone buildings on the path up –












Notice how the scenery has changed in this area –




Coming in to the fortress proper –




Typical zig zag route for a castle/fortress etc to get to the main entrance -








The old cistern –








Looking down on where we walked through –


























Good outlook over the surrounding countryside –








We plonked ourselves down on a convenient rock and took in the views whilst having a flask of coffee, cheese and onion sandwiches for me, salami for Mrs M, a packet of chilli flavoured crisps and a Granny Smith’s apple.
Then we moved on.

[tod2]

You must be fit as a fiddle Mark - that was some climb! Wonderful scenery and views.

[onlyMark]

Maybe Tod, but needs a tune up.

[kerouac2]

For such an interesting site, it doesn't look like the fort was completely overrun by tourists. It looks like the perfect location to make one of those swords & sorcery movies.

[onlyMark]

The morning we were there, there were none. We didn't see anyone nearby either. There is a cafe about a km away and it had two customers who I presume were locals sitting having a coffee outside on a sunny morning. Only in the last 'tourist' place we went to which will come later, were there any. And this was on a Bank Holiday.

[fumobici]

Remarkable set of fortifications ay picturesque too. What is the name of the snow-capped mountains near the end?

"The Ottomans added even further to it in around 1766 but the whole thing was abandoned in 1835 when the site and the building became unnecessary."

In the end they clearly could have skipped the whole 'building extensive hilltop fortifications' and gone straight to the 'became unnecessary' part and saved a lot of rock stacking labor. Oh well, live and learn.

[kerouac2]

The French did a lot of that, both in the mountains and in the sea, and it was the same waste of time and money since many were never used at all, at least not as forts. A few of them made pretty good prisons though.

[tod2]

May 6, 2021 13:10:05 GMT onlyMark said:

Maybe Tod, but needs a tune up.

I'm sure your pursuit days are not that far behind surely...?

[onlyMark]

May 6, 2021 14:06:52 GMT fumobici said:

What is the name of the snow-capped mountains near the end?

Individually I've no idea, other than to say is part of the southern edge of the Dinaric Alps.

[onlyMark]

May 6, 2021 16:17:57 GMT tod2 said:

I'm sure your pursuit days are not that far behind surely...?

I used to be in pursuit of women, but nowadays the pursuit of the perfect plate of fish and chips does me.

[cheerypeabrain]

Gosh. Jolly good photos Mark..that waterfall is stunning.

[onlyMark]

Unexpectedly beautiful. Probably just what your husband thought when he first laid eyes on you.

[onlyMark]

One of those strange days where it couldn’t decide if it wanted to be sunny or cloudy, or both at the same time.
Nevertheless, as it wasn’t raining, but forecast to do so, we set off to a village called Počitelj.
We knew it’d be a time of up and down steps as it’s built on a hill in the form of a natural amphitheatre, but I was somewhat upset to start having a twingy knee. The signs of older age and an abused body are catching up with me.
As with a lot of places in the country, this village has a varied history.

It’s believed a village has been here since about 1383, but the first recorded reference isn’t until 1444.
The first relevant period to its history is between 1463 and 1471 when the area was ruled by the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus It was during this time the village became strategically important due to its position in the valley of the River Neretva.
In 1471 it was occupied by the Ottoman Empire and various public buildings were erected, such as the mosques, an imaret (soup kitchen), maktab/madrasa (schools), hamam (Turkish bath), han (caravanserai) and a clock tower (a tower with a clock).
The Venetians invaded and destroyed a town called Gabela (from the Arabic word for ‘tax’) not far away along the same river around 1698 and Počitelj became strategically important again after a settled period.

Note regarding the town of Gabela - up to the end of the 12th century it was called Drijevo and rapidly became a port for slave trading sanctioned by law (complicated, but blame Dubrovnik).
“In the 14th century the Bosnian kings began to implement forceful measures against this "trade in human flesh on the Neretva" and under pressure from them in 1400 the Dubrovnik Senate banned the trade in human lives, and the transport of slaves in Ragusan ships in 1416 under the threat of six months imprisonment in the underground dungeons in Dubrovnik.” (Ragusa - "The Republic of Ragusa was an aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik.")
For more info on slavery in the area peruse the following but the first page or so is worth reading. It’s amazing what new things can be found. I had heard a little of this subject in the past in the Dalmatian area from my mother in law, but never followed it through –

www.persee.fr/doc/mefr_1123-9883_2000_num_112_2_9067

Back to the village in hand - after the establishment of Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, Počitelj lost its strategic importance, started deteriorating and the population declined over the coming years. As a result of this the village remained quite intact resulting in a lot of what can be seen today, but......
“The entire historic urban site of Počitelj and surrounding area suffered extensive collateral damage during the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was heavily damaged by Croatian forces during the 1993 Bosnian War. Following the bombing, Počitelj's sixteenth-century master works of Islamic art and architecture were destroyed and a large part of the town's population was displaced.”

We parked up at the bottom of the village close to a very nice cafe (the only one there) which afterwards, we relaxed and had a cold drink/coffee.
That’s what we were going to head for first –




Some brief further info -




Then we started the walk up –


























That’s the fortress across the other side of the amphitheatre shaped village which we’ll head for later –




Still ascending to get to there first –












Ok, got there –












I went further inside but only to the first level. The steps you can see were designed to not allow easy access to invaders. That meant they were quite tight (for me anyway) and uneven steps. I was quite happy to not bother going any higher –


















I climbed back down and we exited that part to make our way across the top of the village to the fortress. Of course, there’s no one straight path but it goes up and down –








Getting closer -






















Looking back to where we’ve come from -








And.... we’re there.
Bugger. Closed. Bugger –




Sorry, can’t do anything about it, but we had a good idea – go back to the cafe near the clock tower.
So we made our meandering and scenic way back down –


















We had a bit of a rest and moved on.

[tod2]

So much greenery left to its own devices fits in wonderfully with the stone everywhere. They sure had building material easily to hand. The whole area seems one big mountain of rocks. But I'm wondering what kind - forgive me asking if you have mentioned it. The look like sandstone to me.

[kerouac2]

It probably won't take much of an earthquake for a lot of it to come tumbling down. The first thing I think whenever I see villages like that is "what about moving day?" Then again, these people might only buy one new piece of furniture every ten years and don't have too many equipped kitchens delivered for installation or big packages from Ikea. (The kitchen would be useful if the village is out of the Uber Eats delivery zone.)

I imagine that the fortress was closed for health reasons due to those big clouds of corona virus floating above the villages.

[onlyMark]

Tod, it's still a karst area so I'm more thinking limestone.

K2, right at the top of the village round the back, about the same level as the bottom of the tower but lower than the fortress, is now a road. It was a track and still isn't much more than that with a bit of tarmac on it.
Though I do always wonder in these kinds of places how they move house - then think probably nobody ever does now anyway. Once it's empty, the owner dead, it's more than likely just left to rot and ruin.

[kerouac2]

When I exhausted myself climbing to the top of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, I was sitting at the top resting and nearly recuperated when I saw a young couple struggling to the top and who seemed to be even less fit than I. They looked at me in their agony, hoping for comforting words and I said "Didn't you see that there is an escalator on the back side?" At least they were still in good enough shape to laugh.

I really hope that escalators are installed in some of these places one day. I was amazed when I first saw huge outdoor escalators in Hong Kong to climb the steep hills of the city. Seeing the extensive network in Medellin, Colombia was even more amazing (I guess because "outdoor escalators for ordinary people" does not seem normal in most countries.) I was also amazed to see some in a steep suburb of Paris (a city which does not have many steep suburbs), just because I always imagine everybody to have cars and not need to actually climb to those elevations.

[tod2]

May 7, 2021 15:25:00 GMT kerouac2 said:

I was amazed when I first saw huge outdoor escalators in Hong Kong to climb the steep hills of the city.

Kerouac I am so glad you were also amazed. That is one of the most "way out" things I have ever seen in my travels. I was absolutely blown away. Many things in Hong Kong left me wanting to run for the hills and shocked beyond belief, but that escalator was phenomenal.

[fumobici]

Escalators and elevators are a definite thing done in old walled hilltop towns in Italy. Just in the immediate area of Anghiari, they are used in Anghiari, Perugia, Citta' di Castello, Todi, and Arezzo just off the top of my head.

This village is quite amazing judging from the gorgeous photos of it. I often wonder how to correctly pronounce the names of places like this where I don't know the conventions of the language. "Pro-chi-tel" is all I could find written for Počitelj. Anyway, what a treasure, more formidable and artistic rock stacking in an obviously beautiful setting. I like the slate roofs, it's apparently a pretty sound roofing technique if the materials needed are plentiful and close to hand.

[bjd]

It's wonderful what green trees, grass and some flowers do to soften the appearance of all that gray rock and make it look nice.

[onlyMark]

Pronunciations for me in that area of the world are a big problem. I've got Sarajevo down pat as there's not a lot that can change when you understand what the letter j sounds like - it did help that Mrs M has a j in her name so I did have an idea - but even with that letter there is a subtle difference when saying another town, Blagaj.
The falls - Kravica - has the c that is pronounced as 'ch' as in church - never mind all the other letters that have squiggly bits and the words that have lots of consonants and few vowels.
As I wasn't brought up with the language or know it at all, the only hope I have is to memorise rather than work out the individual names.
I even had a confusion with the name of the street I live on with a taxi driver, which has no squiggly bits and it quite phonetic, yet I was stressing a
letter wrongly and being met with confusion. The word has an 'a' in it, I was saying the 'a' as in "a house, a shoe" etc when it should have been sounding like the 'a' in 'apple' - never mind the 'i' which it seems I was softening too much.

[onlyMark]

I'd bookmarked but forgot to add a little drone video of the village to tie it all together. A bit over two minutes long -




And for fumo, I had a quick look how you pronounce the village name - your info was "Pro-chi-tel" - I had no real idea but it is pronounced "Potichela" from what I heard on another video made by a local.