Snake Lake

Today was a relative day of rest because we still had the longest hike to complete tomorrow. As a result, I did my best to sleep in, but in hostels full of people preparing for a huge hike it is nearly impossible. Although that being said, it was actually the construction next door that was the real deal breaker and stopped me sleeping past 8 a.m. Regardless, I took it easy and laid in bed for a couple hours. My legs were jelly today. Getting out of bed, took some serious effort and assistance from my arms. I could tell it was going to be a long and painful day. I eventually got out of bed and made my way to the communal area of the hostel, and was speaking to the hosts for a while. We didn't see Zara until about 12 as she had a room to herself and managed to score a hell of a sleep in.

After chatting with her and the hosts for a while, they suggested I complete the 3 Lakes tour because it was "easy." Once again, suggested is a gentle way of putting it. Nonetheless, I obliged because they are hiking feinds and encourage (force) you to do something every day. It did ensure I got good value for staying in Zabljak. Zara had already done this on her first day, so she just laid by the Black Lake. I left around 1 p.m. and started the trek. I had done the first of the 3 lakes (Black lake) on my first day, so I skipped that and went straight to Snake Lake. This gets its name from the snakes that use to use the lake to warm up in winter season, and not the enourmas leeches that infest the water. The process of killing these leeches is complicated and dangerous. It involves getting a hot needle and stabbing it directly in the brain and quickly removing it. Safe to say, I stayed clear. After a relatively short walk to the lake, it was pretty disappointing. You can't swim as previously mentioned and wasn't much to look at either. You could walk around it, but I'd prefer to make tracks and head to the next lake. This was called Jablan Jezero. This was a much more difficult walk and involved much more uphill sections. After yesterday's walk, it's safe to say I was not in a state to handle any hills. I considered turning around, but I knew Alex and Stefan would be incredibly disappointed and ashamed of me if I said it was too tough. I persisted and was handsomely rewarded. Coming across a beautiful lake at the very bottom of a huge mountain was something to behold. Clear water that you could swim in was all too appealing. Only aided by the fact that I had been getting harassed by flies and bugs the whole walk, I hoped a swim might shake them off. The greatest attribute of the walk was how few people were there, I was only 1 of 3 people who were at the lake, and given the busyness of European beaches and lakes so far it was a nice change. I sat for a while before figuring it was time to get back. Because I started late, I didn't get much time to chill, but I was keen to get back to the hostel anyway. I was curious to see how the rest of the group handled Bobotovs Peak.

It turns out the goulash that everyone ate last night did some damage. Despite myself eating it and feeling fine, the greatest challenge the rest of guys faced at the peak was not shitting themselves in clear view of everyone. It was difficult for Zara to piss on the trip so i could only imagine how shitting would have gone. Many didn't get to fully appreciate the view as they were rushed to find somewhere secluded to do their business. Despite being quite funny, I felt for the guys. The irony being, as the only one who wasn't sick, i was also the only one that did fuck all that day and probably could have been sick and not been too devastating. As most of the guys were backing up the peak with the longest hike on offer, we once again had a quite early night and headed for bed. This time staying clear of the goulash.Read more