End Of An Adventure — 18th of December

A few hours later, the weather is much more calm and we decide to take on the trip despite the dark clouds: if we don't, we will run out of food this evening. So after drying up and packing our stuff, we load the raft and leave. We won't go far: as soon as we start moving, the wind starts again, and blows laterally, pushing us towards a secondary riverbed. We can see the water current speeding up brutally and blazing through the next 50 meters, before running under a huge stump. We row as fast as we can to dodge it, but the wind is against us, and the stump rushes towards us. 50 meters… 30 meters… 10 meters…

CRASH !

We just crashed into the stump.

Down the Drina

We eventually get to put the raft in the river. It is much heavier than we expected, and we fear we might have underestimated the required buyoancy. We are already imagining the worst possible scenario, the raft sinking as a stone as soon as we release it. Fortunately, no such thing happens, and we get on without any trouble. People wave at us from the shore. Someone yells: “I can't believe you did it”.

After three weeks in Bajina Bašta, we are on the road — that is, on the river — again.

Do-it-yourself in Bajina Bašta

November 13th, 2011, end of afternoon. Florian and I, having spent a cool night with a sympathetic family somewhere in the north-western countryside of Užice, just realize we took a wrong turn a few kilometers before. We missed the turn that would have led us to the small village called Rogaćica. After a quick talk, we decide to go on and walk to the next town instead, namely Bajina Bašta.

We reach the center of Bajina Bašta about two hours later, after an exhausting walk on the main road. We have a quick tea, then go looking for a place with cheap food. This is the time we made the encounter that would lead us to staying in Bajina Bašta for 3 weeks. Igor, about 30, and his son show us a good place for cheap food, and somewhere we can set up our tent at. Having thanked them, we agree on meeting the next day. Then, we go sleeping, for our first night in the town.

Višegrad and Sarajevo

Having left Benoît and Alex in Ustiprača, I reach Višegrad alone. It is a nice, small town, though mostly dead once I have seen and crossed the famous Bridge over Drina. I still have to stay there for a couple of days though, as I am waiting for another traveller, with whom I will travel for a while. I use this time to enjoy the slow pace of the town, and talk with the 3, maybe 4 people who speak English. Mostly young people. They are cool, and even help me find a place to sleep at: a former hotel, now slowly rotting on the top of a hill.

I happen to wander around in the market someday, and encounter a woman who asks me what religion I believe in…

Sarajevo – Thursday, October 27th

Sarajevo. This city has somewhat of a legend status to me. One of the main civilisation crossing points, a place that has seen exchange and hatred through centuries. It is also a city I have heard about again and again in throughout my childhood, dreadful news on the tv. Said to be the pearl of the country, it sustained a multiple-year siege, a tremendous 4-million-shell hell backed up by snipers aiming at a simple goal: wiping the city.

Nowadays, the city still bears the scars of the violence in people's mind. They are also present everywhere but in the very center of the town, a dramatic view for the traveller entering the city from its south-western border.

July Geek Time

For Google Earth and other map freaks, I have made a detailed track of my path in July, accurate down to 5 meters. It features Haute-Savoie, lake Leman and the crossing of the Alps through 3 majors passes.

Download the track here: path-july.kml.
Or view it directly on google maps.

Blue is walking, red is car and yellow is train.
Blue track is very accurate, including hiking trails and the times I got lost in the woods. Red and yellow are just outlines. Computed distances use a spherical earth model approximation.

Bad dream

Translation available!

Here, mountains are not green or gray. Here, mountains display a patchwork of browns and ocre, with that occasional green sparkle when a few trees set out on a war against the burnt herbs growing between the rocks. This is not a friendly landscape anymore. Here, the land is wild and proud to be.

I climb a last hill. As I walk through the last few meters, a huge valleys seems to unroll in front of me.

Thursday, 29th

Days may come and go, but they all look different, and this makes me forget about updating the website. Not to mention my calera is out of battery and I won't be able to buy new ones before a few days. What about using the bullet list format again? I think last post stopped when I reached Zadar.

• The old city of Zadar is a great place. It is a bit too much touristic for me, but manages to keep it organised enough not to sink in the crowd. The heart of the city is made of narrow streets and a couple of large avenues, inside a big city wall that goes around the island. One of the wide sides is left without wall though, allowing for nice walks in the shadows of the trees of a small park. Also, no hotels in the heart of the town only shops and mostly houses. I think this is what allows it to keep its soul despite the tourists.

Once again, sorry to non-French speakers, I have a hard time translating those "Thoughts" posts, for which every word matters.

J’ai lu un jour une phrase que j’ai crû comprendre alors, mais que je vois aujourd’hui d’un oeil neuf. Une personne avait écrit cette chose simple, presque évidente :

Créez votre réalité.

Je l’ai lue, puis je l’ai oubliée, et ce n’est que récemment qu’elle est revenue me frapper en plein visage. Créer sa réalité, ça veut dire quoi ? Anecdote.

Tuesday, 29th: Island of Trieste

After I completed my quest at Aurisinia, I met a few inhabitants, who managed to find me a calm place where I could have a nice night: the gardend of the priest's house, where he does not actually live. I then went to the post for a last check. Turned out even them are unable to locate the numbers in the city. Isn't that a real mess? Whatever, let's get to Trieste!

Long road, but nice. Actually, walking to Aurisina led me quite high in the mountains, to an altitude of about 400m. Those 400m now sudddenly unfold in front of me as a big cliff diving to a wonderful view over Trieste. So wonderful and from so far, it took me two hours to get there. Trieste really is a nice city.