Lakes, Leeches, and Loose Bowels

Today was supposed to be a day of rest because we still had the longest hike of the trip coming tomorrow. As a result, I did my best to sleep in. In a hostel full of people preparing for huge hikes, however, sleeping late is nearly impossible. Although, to be fair, it was actually the construction site next door that was the real deal-breaker. There was no chance of sleeping past 8 a.m. Regardless, I took it easy and stayed in bed for a couple of hours. My legs were jelly from the day prior.

Getting out of bed took serious effort, and I needed to use my arms to help pull myself up. I could already tell it was going to be a long and painful day. I dragged myself out of bed and made my way to the communal area, where I chatted with the hostel hosts for a while. We didn't see Zara until around midday, as she had a room to herself and had managed to score a seriously impressive sleep-in. After chatting with her and the hosts a bit more, they suggested that I complete the Three Lakes Tour because it was "easy."

Once again, "suggested" is a very generous way of putting it. These guys were hiking fiends. They seemed to believe that sitting around doing nothing was completely unacceptable, and every day they found some new activity to encourage - or, more accurately, force - you into doing. Still, I obliged. At least it meant I was getting good value out of my stay in Žabljak. Zara had already completed the Three Lakes Tour on her first day, so she decided to relax by Black Lake while I headed off around 1 p.m.

I'd already visited the first of the three lakes, Black Lake, on my first day, so I skipped that and headed straight towards Snake Lake. Snake Lake gets its name from the snakes that apparently used to come there to warm themselves during winter. It is not named after the enormous leeches that infest the water. Apparently, removing these leeches is a complicated and dangerous process involving heating up a needle, stabbing the leech directly in the brain and quickly pulling it out. Safe to say, I stayed well away from the water. The walk to the lake was relatively short, but when I arrived, I was pretty disappointed. You couldn't swim, as previously mentioned, and there wasn't a huge amount to see.

You could walk around the lake, but I figured I'd rather keep moving and head towards the next one. This was Jablan Jezero. The walk there was considerably harder, involving a lot elevation gain. After the previous day's Bobotov Kuk climb, I was in absolutely no condition to be dealing with hills. At several points, I seriously considered turning around. But I knew Alex and Stefan would be incredibly disappointed - and probably a little ashamed of me - if I came back and told them it was too hard. So I persisted. And I was handsomely rewarded. Eventually, I came across a beautiful lake sitting at the bottom of an enormous mountain. The water was crystal clear and, unlike Snake Lake, completely swimmable. I'd also spent the entire walk being harassed by flies and bugs, so a swim sounded even better. The best part of the walk, however, was how few people were around. There were only three of us at the lake.

After the chaos and crowds I'd experienced at beaches and lakes throughout Europe, having somewhere this beautiful almost completely to myself was an incredible change. I sat by the lake for a while, enjoying the peace and the scenery, before eventually deciding it was time to head back. Because I'd started so late, I didn't have much time to relax, but I was keen to return to the hostel anyway. I was also curious to see how the rest of the group had handled their attempt at Bobotov Kuk. It turned out the goulash we'd eaten the previous night had done some serious damage.

Despite eating the same meal and feeling completely fine, the biggest challenge for the rest of the guys on the mountain wasn't actually reaching the summit. It was trying not to shit themselves in full view of everyone. Many of them didn't get to properly appreciate the incredible views because they were desperately searching for somewhere secluded to do their business. Given how difficult it had been for Zara to find somewhere to piss during our hike, I could only imagine how much worse the situation would have been when you needed to take a shit. As funny as it was, I genuinely felt for the guys.

The irony was that I was the only person who hadn't been affected by the goulash, despite eating it myself. I was also the only one who had a relatively chill day in comparison. I probably could have afforded to get sick realistically. The rest of the group was backing up Bobotov Kuk with the longest hike on offer the following day, so we once again had an early night.Read more