Dancing the Balkans stage 6 from Mratinje (MNE) to Tjentiste (BiH). We had already decided when planning the trip that we would not cross the border with Bosnia at Scepan Polie. Our destination for this part of the trip is the Bosnian National Park of Sutjeska. Passing through Scepan Polie would have forced us to lengthen the stage on asphalt road a lot, due to a collapsed and never rebuilt bridge between the towns of Kopilovi and Mjesaji. We have only one contact in this remote corner of Montenegro, but the prompt answers we receive in English make us hope for something good and so it was. (Privat Accomodation Mratinje, you can find it on Google). Petar proved to be friendly; he is a guide and works for some private association affiliated with the Durmitor park. He had written to me, during the preparatory stages of the trip, that the border in that stretch is not guarded, but there would be no problems in crossing; he was perplexed when we told him that we would be taking the dirt road in the mountains, but we are just tourists, we are not doing anything wrong.
So, after saying goodbye to Petar on a cool morning, with the fog still romantically rising from the valley, we slowly climb along a well-maintained dirt road, with splendid views. On our left we can see the Maglic massif (the highest peak in Bosnia), with its double peak, one in Bosnia and the other in Montenegro, almost as if to underline the separations suffered by these territories. We meet groups of woodcutters at work, who look at us in amazement as we pass. When we reach the border, we find it guarded only by concrete blocks that prevent the passage of cars. Continued......