Tom`s travels: Sarajevski Ozren (25/01/2025)

On the nothern outskirts of the city of Sarajevo lie a group of hills and mountains making up the so-called Sarajevski Ozren. We decided to walk directly from the house, leaving a bit late in the morning but at least with the shining sun. As we passed the upper hamlets of the city we reached the northern edge where the frist rocky outcrop of these mountains is set. The Špicasta stijena is a small rocky outcrop reaching 900m in altitude on top of which are a series of masts and from which a great view of the city below can be seen. A memorial was also set up to remember the fallen soldiers of the Bosnian army that fought the Bosnian Serbs to take control of this part of the mountain as it was an excellent position for the enemy to bomb the city and snipe civilizans. From there, after exiting a small pine forest, we walked along a country road through the small village of Barice set on a high altitude and where we had a nice view of the snowcapped peaks in the distance. A little further up the road we eventually rached the Čavljak mountain hut, which, as its reachable by car had a full parking spot and a lot of people sitting on the outside seats enjoying lunch and sun. We stopped for a light lunch as we still had brought some food with us, while enjoying the view and sun as well. After eating we continued on our walk, heading on through the nice hilly landscape in some sections, particularly in the shade, with still some snow remaining. Moving on we passed through a nice small hamlet, Vukotine, a group of makeshift houses many of which with metal sheets as rooftops and walls and only some in wood. There were also some sheep grazing happily in the fields around. The view from there was also nice spacing across the surrounding hills and with the snow capped Jahorina mountain in the distance. Slightly downhill we passed another group of houses, Gornje Biosko, and a little further ahead we reached a point where we could finally spot the city of Sarajevo below. Further downhill we passed by a very large cemetery in the village of Faletici, one of many dotting the area around the city. Finally after some more walking we reached the outskirts of Sarajevo, where we had a nice view at sunset of the city center, eventually making it down through the Vratnik neighborhood with tight and steep streets and reahcin then the old town. A further walk brought us back to our house.