Cycling Highlight
Recommended by 3 cyclists
This Highlight is in a protected area
Please check local regulations for: Nacionalni park Sutjeska
Once in Bosnia we realize that the work of the loggers and the rains have ruined the road and for a couple of kilometers we continue with difficulty with stretches of pushing even downhill while the wheels fill up with mud. It is not a dramatic situation! In short, the problem is solved and we descend in one go for 17 km and 1000 m. through woods and clearings towards the center of the park of Sutjeska. The road, partly of loose gravel, makes us jump quite a bit; as we descend the temperatures become torrid.
We have two days of autonomy ahead of us, so near Tjentiste we stop at what is the only market in the area (the Kosuta Market), where a very expansive lady helps us with our purchases (if we want she also offers rooms to rent, and in the area there are some campsites)
In a few kilometers everything has changed. Here in Bosnia the consequences of the war, even if 30 years have passed, are still clearly visible. You can feel the precariousness of people who tie their lives to work in the fields, to some sporadic activity.
We arrive at the Hotel Mladost, which serves as a park center. It is located in an area that in the 60s must have been truly avant-garde: you can see the buildings of gyms, swimming pools, there is the departure of what must have been a ski lift (all in a state of abandonment). Villas reserved for different categories of guests are scattered here and there to demonstrate that during the socialist period the place must have been very popular. Now the hotel is being renovated, they give us a room on the first floor, while on the ground floor the workers work.
Bosnia is much less expensive than Montenegro, but in this case we pay a considerably high amount for the services we receive, even if everyone tries to be friendly. However, we had chosen to pass by here to collect the keys to the refuge that would host us the following night.
If you pass by this area, do not miss passing by the monument to the fallen Dolina Heroja
October 12, 2024
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