Balkanistanien

Early start. Great landscape! Most of us carry 3-4.5 litres of water and “the lightweight” just 1.5. But after yesterday’s refilling and cooking we have only little left. Craig separates from the group as the remaining 4 of us spontaneously decide to walk up the peak of Bobotov Kuk. Water is not enough for a whole day of climbing and continuing on bike. But we will have to continue after the descent because we are out of food. Grml. I see a trend for underestimation of crucial factors in our group and get a bit pissed. My arguments are not considered by the pushing party. On the hiking car park, I manage to organise 3 more litres for us ascending guys from other travellers. Now I’m in good mood to go. During the ascent then I notice that we did not take all our available water with us. What the fuck? Miscommunication and overhastiness at the start were probably the reason for that. The peak of my personal pissiness is reached when the faster two of us stop waiting for André and me and just haste onto the mountain top, with our remaining water and our snacks and MY BELOVED GERMAN FLEISCHPEITSCHEN which I brought all the way here for this moment. There is this – for me unexplainable – stress factor which makes the group continuously rush forward without any real reason. Little room to enjoy the journey's path.

I decide to descend with André – having reached just the lower saddle under the peak. Funnily, we stumble across the three German campers with whom I spent my first Bosnian night at river Una with the delicious trout. They still have a long way up in the mid day's heat, hehehe.

We pause at a small lake. In the distance a lot of smoke from burning forests is filling the air and the view is getting hazy. The wind brings smell of burning wood from the south. Back down at our bicycles the missing two fellows are already awaiting us with grinning faces. For me there is nothing to grin; they left us without water and ate all my Fleischpeitschen. These bloody Arschgeigen! :-P Anyway, I probably would have acted similarly in rushing up the mountain ... and devouring their Fleischpeitschen in their absence ... but would have left a word before.Okumaya devam et