In the camp at Mostar I had put together a tour over the hills from Mostar to the Dervish in Blagaj and then via Kalinovik to Sarajevo.
The hills around Mostar are breathtaking. Barren landscape with endless vision. Whether in the high, snow-covered mountains or the valleys towards the coast. I visited a fortress that was probably razed after the Yugoslav war.
There are plenty of optionsfor a stay over night here. And since almost nobody lives here, not many people can be bothered by it.
The visit to Dervish's was entertaining as there isn't much without reaching into your pocket so I continued on after a €5 stroll along the Bruna
The M6.1 goes to Kalinovik and I enjoyed the scenery. It changed the more I got into higher mountains. Should I have looked at me more than just the distance?
Google Maps told me to turn right, but there was nothing except a dirt road. So I drove on, hoping for a crossing soon. Since nothing came, I took a closer look at the tour. True, the R433 was the direct connection to Kalinovik. It was drawn in same yellow like the M6.1. So back to the exit and up onto the dirt road. Maps told me it would be 45 km and would take almost 2 hours. How could that be?
Since I would pass places like Pluzine, Obrnja and Strane, it couldn't be that bad. I could not be more off the mark. I thought back to my off-road training in Piemont and that's where we drove "army roads from WW1. But I had a 4x4 Amarok under my butt and not a 3.5t Sprinter with rear-wheel drive and summer tires
In addition to the fact that it was 45 km drive, it also went steadily up and up. Green forests became barren woods and finally a snow-covered mountain landscape. I was getting nervous, but what was the alternative? I couldn't turn around because the path was too narrow for that. So I kept going as my blog is called "If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there" 🥳
When I drove past a shovel loader after about 25 km, the driver greeted me nicely. A few kilometers later a SUV came towards me. So I wasn't the only one.
What I only realized later was that the shovel loader had cleared the road. The cleared snow could be seen to the right and left of the narrow lane. So the R433 wasn't accessible for that long. And the villages were a few houses that were in the middle of nowhere.
Despite all of this it was unbelievably beautiful on the roof of the BiH world.
Today I know that the mountains around me were up to 1700m high and the pass was over 800m. A winter landscape melting away. The source of the Neretva rises not far away on the R434 near Cemerno
I looked for pitches but nothing was clear of snow other than the trail. And I didn't want to sink my Sprinter in the snow either.
In the past, something like that would have annoyed me, but now I was totally relaxed. It was just too beautiful here. The descent dragged on, the potholes alternated with mud and small rivulets on the road. The mud was giving me a serious headache
Towards Nedavic I had a stunning view of the Neretva valley. For a few minutes I considered staying over night here, but I would never be able to sleep here as steep as the slopes were and as close as I had to park to the cliff edge.
On the remaining kilometers I met several cows doing their evening walk on the R433. They don't bother anyone here
Kalinovik is nothing more than a sleepy place in the mountains. At the end of the town there are old barracks that have been abandoned. Instead of continuing to Sarajevo, I stayed here overnight
