Tuši

Tuši's blog

Thursday, May 25, 2017

13888

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Motorcycling from Kozara National Park to lake Prokoško jezero


On our way to 3rd Mountain biking trip to BiH we still had some time, so in the morning we explored the Kozara national park.

The area was proclaimed a protected national forest in 1967 by Josip Broz Tito. Kozara Mountain became a famous site after heroic battles for freedom in WWII, where in 1942 Kozara Offensive took place.

We took a short walk to nearby hills Mrakovica, with a Monument to the Revolution (Spomenik Revoluciji), Glavuša and a deserted watch tower.

Around noon we packed our stuff and soon we were back in the saddle of the Blue Horse. Our road led us through the largest city of Republika SrpskaBanja Luka, Kotor Varoš and Kneževo over the Vlašić mountain to Travnik. From there we continued to Busovača and over Vladića vrh down to Fojnica. After the dinner we visited the Franciscan Monastery, founded in 1668.

From there we continued towards our destination, Prokoško Lake. Cca 10 kilometres before our destination the bike started to feel differently, so I stopped (10 km after and before the civilization). Rear tyre was flat. It's not the end of the world, so I located the leak. Some foresters were also going back to the valley, and since they had an air compressor, they were a good help. My repair kit had really soft plugs, so they tore apart before they were fitted into the hole of the tyre. Only the last one was OK. We filled the tyre with air and unfortunately there was another leak. With broken plugs I fixed also this hole, but the air was still slowly leaking. There wasn't much to do, so we said thanks to the foresters and decided to quickly move on, while the tyre was still full. After another 5 kilometers we met the truck and stopped him. He was also equipped with air compressor, so we filled the tyre again and managed to arrive to our destination. What a luck.

At Prokoško Lake family Bureković hosted us. They showed us our new homes and welcomed us with "Rakija" and together we waited for the rest of our mountain biking crew along with some home made cheese and pita. Everything tasted superb.

Previous day of this trip: 13887
Previous mountain biking trips to BiH in 2016 (Day 1) and 2015 (Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3).

Monument to the Revolution is dedicated to the fierce battle and 2.500 Yugoslav partisan fighters and 68.500 mostly Serb civilians killed or deported in Ustaše concentration camps during German-Ustaše-Hungarian Kozara Offensive from June to July 1942.

 
American M8 Greyhound armored vehicle, produced by the Ford Motor Company and a German 7.5cm PAK anti-tank gun were used in WW2.

This museum on Mrakovica is dedicated to the partisans who fell in the bloody battle of Kozara.

Tito slept in his Villa on Mrakovica once in the beginning of September 1972.

Watch tower with traps near Glavuša

View from the lookout tower

 
Water is free and good, beer cheap (2 KM = cca 1€)


We left our bungalow "Rajski mir" - "Paradise peace" around noon

Lookout point on the edge of Kozara

The Orthodox Church of Holy Archangels Gabriel in Čelinac next to Vrbanja river

Many times we switched from asphalt to gravel roads

Catholic Church in Sokoline. The village was abandoned during the Bosnian war and the church damaged.

Remains of the Bosnian war were seen everywhere on Vlašić mountain, since it was strategically important.

Vlašić mountain 

Canyon of river Ugar.

German troops made another attack in this area in January 1944. This monument remembers the fallen defenders for freedom.

 
Charcoal is produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood in the absence of oxygen.

Fojnica

Franciscan monastery of the Holy Spirit includes a library of ca. 12,500 volumes, including 13 incunabula and 156 works written in Bosnian Cyrillic

Plenty of water everywhere

Instead of having a beer in 15 minutes we had a flat tyre for more than an hour

Riding in Bosnia and Herzegovina

GeoCaches found:
- Kozara - Spomenik revolucije, Multi, GC6PGXZ
- ROUTE FIREFOX "DANGER MINES", GC1AEJN
- Jan. 1944, GC1AF4T

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