Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Visiting Zijemlje [Part 1/3]: The Village on the Edge

There are many places in south Bosnia and Herzegovina that offer themselves up for a great day trip. Places like Blagaj, Kravice Waterfalls, Pocitelj, Stolac, and so on. Most of them are well known and tourists swarm them, especially in the summer. But when you really want to escape to crowds there are other places where it feels like it's the end of the world. Small villages, like Zijemlje, located an hour drive up the mountains from Mostar. I have visited this village before during the winter, and always wanted to come back when the trees are green and maybe even at sunset. Luckily for me, I accomplished both of those things this past Saturday.

This is a multi part photo series. Other parts include:
Part 1: The Village on the Edge
Part 2: Sunset in the Valley
Part 3: Tombstones in the Mountains


Mountain Roads...

It was around 4 o'clock in the afternoon when we descended into the valley of the village Zijemlje. In order to get there you have to drive up Rujiste mountain and take a turn for Zijemlje which is clearly marked. Once you get up on the mountain the main road vanishes and a gravel road takes its place. This is very adventurous travel, so be prepared. A mile outside the village, the mountain road turns back to being paved which makes driving a lot easier. Once you are in the valley you can see animals roaming around freely as well as the odd person here or there that lives in the village (actually we only did see people on our way back home, as I said this is a very desolated place).


Exploring Zijemlje

We parked our car at the side of the road and stepped outside to take a walk. Beni was with us, on his leash at first, until we eventually let him explore the surroundings by himself. We didn't do much here, since there isn't much to do, so we kept on walking, enjoying the fresh and cool air (it was 10 degrees difference between Mostar and the mountains).




Views from the Valley

The sweeping views here leave you stunned. Especially during this time of day as the sun started slowly to set (actual great sunset shots in parts 2 and 3!). You can see the village in the background, houses tucked away in the edge of the valley. Only a few people live here, and I suspect that even they only come by once in a while. Some houses are even empty and destroyed. But it's interesting to observe life here, since there is some. We saw some children playing soccer, walking in the fields as well as older people rushing by in their cars.




Nature in the Mountain Valley

Though the valley is pretty much barren, there is some vegetation here and there. Small strips of greenery are usually accompanied by fences or the narrow dirt road. Mostly the fields are used for agriculture, but the vast majority is simply free from any kind of usage. The only thing that is piercing the fields are electric wire posts going through the mountains, bringing power into Zijemlje, then leading it away into the distance.




We finished up our stay in this particular spot and went back to the car. In the next installment I will show you some sunset images, since the sun started to set pretty quickly, and the third part will have us venturing even further into the mountains for some unexpected surprises. So stay tuned.


End of Part One
To be continued...

34 comments:

  1. Immer toll wenn man Landschaften und Ort zu den verschiedenen Jahreszeiten sehen kann. Gibt dann soviel Neues zu entdecken.

    Ich bin auch hier immer dafür, und wenn dann auch mit frühem Aufstehen. Liebe es einfach wenn noch alles so "ruhig" erscheint.

    Danke fürs Mitnehmen.

    Liebe Grüsse

    N☼va

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    1. Bei mir ist es meistens Sonnenuntergang, aber ich würde mir wünschen mehr Zeit zur Fotografie zum Sonnenaufgang zu haben :) Danke für deinen Besuch.

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  2. Great shots - it's hard photographing a large expanse. Your dog is also very cute.

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    1. I agree it gets hard to find focus points. Thank you Carol!

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  3. What a lovely place to explore. Nice panoramas of this amazing mountain area.

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    1. Thank you. The views get even better in the upcoming parts as we moved up the mountauins.

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  4. Beautiful shots, Mersad. You have such a gift for photography.
    Thanks for linking up at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2016/09/orchids-other-worldly.html

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  5. Sehr schöne Bilder von Euch vier, ihr habt Glück mit eurer Umgebung, daß es dort so viele schöne Gegende gibt.
    Liebe Grüße

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  6. Mersad, the countryside is a wonderful place to explore, it's the one place were I find calming peace. Thanks for sharing your wonderful images, enjoy your day and I will see you soon.

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    1. Thanks Tom. Glad you enjoyed the images.

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  7. Love the shots of the fence. Hope you are well, Mersad.

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  8. You ARE an adventurous traveler! If that's the road where you're standing, it's not much more than a wagon track. Some great shots here. My favorites are the first and the 12th. Love the dramatic clouds in the 12th and the fence in both of them.

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    1. There are some parts that are paved road, but mostly it's a gravel road.

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  9. I can tell Beni was happy with your rustic road and all that walking. the views are magnificent. keep traveling and posting

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    1. Beni really had a great time there. Thanks Sandra for stopping by.

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  10. Cute pics of you and Beni!

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  11. Beautiful countryside! I really love the portrait of Beni too!

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  12. I always enjoy your photo journeys and must admit I'd never before thought of visiting your country. Now, however, I'm tempted to put it on my bucket list.

    Leslie
    abcw team

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  13. HI Mersad, I've never been there, I only the name since a couple of years, but all your blogposts and wonderful photo's make me wanting to travel there, I hope I will someday

    Have a nice ABC-day / – week
    ♫ M e l ☺ d y ♫ (ABC-team)
    http://melodymusic.nl/abc-wednesday-9-i/ -

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  14. it is alwasyslovely to get offthe beaten track although the landscape is pretty batten there. gorgeous shotsof Beni, your sister sitting down aswell as you.

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    1. Thanks Margaret. Glad you liked these. Beni had a great time I can assure you :)

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  15. The adventure was well worth it! I find the vastness of such places invigorating and your excellent photos did just that!
    PS Love the fence shots too!

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  16. Sorry I haven't visited in a long time. I lost all my blog subscriptions when I changed e-mails and have had to resign up for updates. - Just found you back through GF.

    Enjoyed your post today. Lots of great fences and some wonderful shots of them. You travel to such neat looking areas. Also good to see your sweet little dog again.

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    1. Happy to see that you have found your way back. More fences in part two :)

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  17. beautiful fence shots and wonderful terrain.

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  18. Beautiful views, beautiful girl, beautiful dog... you're doing okay!

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    1. That's my sister, but I'm still doing very okay :)

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  19. Hope you will join me for part two which just got uploaded.

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  20. it has a rustic beauty.

    ROG, ABCW

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  21. Beautiful photos Mersad and I always enjoy seeing cute little Beni..Michelle

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  22. De très belles photos , j'aime beaucoup ces étendues un peu sauvages, superbes paysages !

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  23. Loved to read your post. Awesome View. Great clicks.
    Greetings.

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  24. You have great sceneries there and your little doggy is very cute. Thank you for sharing at OBW.

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