Safe Return Doubtful

I entered Bosnia from Croatia across the same border I had exited from 5 years ago by bike. Once over the border, which involves the stamping of the passport, as it is exiting Schengen, the town of Bihać is just a few kilometres away. I remembered it well.

I parked up here and went to the BH Telecom store to pick up a SIM card for my router. The young guy on the desk was extremely helpful, as it isn’t quite as simple as changing the card; it needs to be activated, have the apn settings changed, and download the app so as the amount used can be monitored and topped up if necessary. Like the rest of the Western Balkan countries, Bosnia issues a short term Tourist sim, no doubt more expensive than a local contract, but still cheap compared to the EU and UK.

From there I followed the Una river into the National Park. I had cycled in the opposite direction 5 years ago. Then, my stopover was at Kulen Vakuf, this time I went on a bit, deeper into the Park, to the village of Martin Brod. Here there is a wonderful grassy picnic area where camping is offered also, for the price of the daily entry to the Park, 10 Bosnian Marks, about £4.

Martin Brod has a population of just 300 and is on the confluence of the Una and Unac rivers. There is an orthodox monastery in the village, currently under renovation, consecrated in 1443. There were one more than 80 water mills around the village, they did all go, but now some have been given a new life, as tourism has had a real boost, certainly since I was last here. Its sister National Park just across the border, Plitvice, charges 40 euros a day to enter, here just 5 euros, and there are far less people here, so it’s easy to see why.

Beers for sale, cooling in the river..

The two waterfalls around Martin Brod, inventively called Big and Small, are the real draw. The rivers have that exceptional water quality shared by Plitvice. The village’s name comes from the local legend that a girl called Marta was in love with a soldier, but when crossing the river to meet him, slipped and drowned, her body then torn apart on the jagged rocks below. It is said that various bits of her, different each time, armless, headless, legless, haunt the paths and the visitors who dare to visit as darkness falls.

Today was a particularly warm day, 29C in the heat of the afternoon, from the low of 2C last night. The sun dips below the mountain at 5 pm, and the cooling of the afternoon is rapid indeed. The place is fairly busy also, with about 10 other vans from all over Europe both nights I’ve been here.