Wide Vehicle — Wednesday, 14th of December

So we reached at Mali Zvornik on that 9th of December. This is a strange place: its narrow valley encompasses two cities, split by the Drina. On the left side, the Bosnian town Zvornik is about 20k inhabitants, and on the right side of the river, stand Mali Zvornik and its 6000 inhabitants. Nothing crosses the waters but the hydroelectric plant and the checkpoint bridge. We decide to cross it and visit Zvornik for two days. Nothing really worth mentionning though, but the nice fortress that lies at the top of the mountains, offering a wonderful view over the valley:

Vue de la forteresse, ZvornikAs seen from the fortress: Zvornik on the left of the river, Mali Zvornik on the right.
Vue de la forteresse, ZvornikSame place, other direction.

Back to Serbia with brand new stamps in my passport, so as to restart the 3-month timer. We are still looking for some way to get the raft down the hydroelectric plant. Hope is dying slowly and we decide to burn our last cartridge — though not least — before we leave on foot: we remeber that in the police office we had our bags searched at, they told us to let them know if we needed anything. Well, we do and as crazy as it may sound, it is worth a try.

Actually it works quite well, people really want to help and we think our problem is solved as we ride towards Velika Reka, the place we left the raft at, in the police truck. Bad luck though: the truck turns out to be too narrow to load the raft, and the guys tell us to bring the raft to the hydroelectric plant and they will help us in some other way. Back on the Drina, for 22 kilometers of rawing on the lake.

Pause entre deux coups de rame, ŠakacRandom dog that liked us. Didn't keep it, as it didn't like water…
Cap'tain Sœurette, DrinaCap'tain Sœurette on the bridge!
Sur le lac, Mali ZvornikSeen on the lake.
Je rame, tu rames…, lac de Zvornik

Four long, very long days of rawing, rawing, and rawing again until we felt our arms were ready to fall apart, in the gray weather and the cold winds of Winter. Fortunately, we met some people on evenings, people like Miladin, with whom we spent a very nice evening despite the language barrier, and from whose we left with home-made jam and delicious other things cooked by his wife. Finally, exhausted, we dock near the plant's service area, on the 13th and in the evening. Mission part one: success!

A big mess

The next day, we buy some food and get back to the police office. Then… but let pictures do the talking:

Examen de la situation, Mali ZvornikEvaluating situation.
Les grands moyens, Mali ZvornikSituation needs big means.
Envoyez !, Mali ZvornikUp!
Le convoi, Mali ZvornikForming up.
Radeau tout terrain, Mali ZvornikOur raft goes everywhere.
Mise à l'eau, Mali ZvornikSeaborne again.
Radeau prêt à appareiller, Mali ZvornikSuccess!
Chargement, Mali ZvornikBoarding gate #1.
Appareillage, Mali ZvornikOn the river again! Thanks to everyone!

That's it for yet another epic morning in this adventure. Do not miss next episode, featuring a shipwreck and two adventurers cast away on a desert island.