Three Snowmen and an Ice Queen

We woke up on our remote plain without a single other person in sight.

It was bitterly cold as I did my training and I had been worried that the snow would come early, stranding us out there. But a couple of spots of rain were the only things coming down from the dark clouds.

We set off across the plains in search of wild horses and less than half and hour later spotted some horse-shaped movement high up on one of the hilltops. We decided against driving up a goat track to get a closer look and five minutes later our caution paid dividends. We rounded a bend and found a small group of horses grazing just a few hundred meters away

We turned off the engine to watch them, cursing the fact that we had forgotten to bring our binoculars into the cab. But binoculars were not going to be required – as soon as the horses spotted us they lifted their heads in greeting and before we knew it, they were galloping towards us

I jumped out of the cab with my camera and stood a few metres away from the Mog. The horses slowed as they approached and a small group edged towards me

They seemed very gentle and curious, despite their size and number there was nothing aggressive about them

I put my hand out to one of them and he came closer, then closer still

When he was within reaching distant I touched his soft nose intending to gently stroke him but it seems these horses are friendly but not quite that friendly – he jumped away with his ears back and snorted. I too jumped a mile and made no further attempt to make contact with any of them

For half an hour or so, more and more horse came trotting towards us until we were completely surrounded.

They are obviously accustomed to humans being in their space and we could only assume that many bring them food, hence their interest in us. But when it became clear that we were not bearing fruit they didn’t seem to mind one bit. They carried on watching us in a very gentle way, grazing and playing together around us

It was one of those moments in life that was both surreal and peaceful in equal measure

We eventually dragged ourselves away from these beautiful creatures and carried on our exploration of the plains, enjoying putting the Mog through his off-road paces and finally getting him dirty

The next day we drove further north to the Great Una Falls, passing along some logging roads

If we thought BigMog’s snow chains were big it was nothing compared to these guys

And the constant danger of land mines was made clear along all the forest roads

Along the way we also saw yet more stark evidence of the 1990s war with derelict, bullet-ridden houses everywhere

Many of them had a new house built right next to them, presumably the owners decided it was better to start again than try to rebuild the past

But all too many stood on their own, untouched and unclaimed

It was raining hard as we drove and we were losing hope of making anything out of our day – the idea of walking to a waterfall in this weather was not appealing.

But as we pulled up in the pretty town of Martin Brod next to the closed national park information point, the clouds parted and the sun came out

We couldn’t believe our luck

We walked to the Great Falls and on the way explored the unique karst formations that have created this beautiful landscape

The falls themselves were lovely

We crossed a bridge to the Small Falls

And wandered along the picturesque river

Until finally coming to an abandoned railway tunnel

As we walked inside with our torches, we hoped we had read the information boards correctly and were not about to be faced with a train coming in the other direction!

Just as we arrived back at the truck the rain started again – we had timed our explorations perfectly, the rain gods were smiling on us today

We found a layby just off the quiet hillside road overlooking the valley. I hoped the rain would clear by morning as the views were stunning, we just needed some clear skies

It may have been a bit brighter next morning but it was bitterly cold again

I had to admit that training for an hour and a half every day in these temperatures was not doing me any good so decided to cut it down to an hour. A good decision that I have maintained ever since.

We drove back to Martin Brod and went for a bracing walk along the Una River to see another tunnel – this one dug by the Yugoslav Army

There are travertine falls all along the Una River, making it one of the most beautiful rivers in the world. The largest is Strbacki Buk and as that was only 60km away we made it our next stop.

Just out of town we saw a bridge that looked like it had had better days

Along with a beautiful old viaduct

We pulled up at Strbacki Buk to find there were only two other cars there, it was definitely not peak tourist season any more. It felt as though we had the whole place to ourselves.

A wooden walkway had been built with viewing platforms all along the river

We slowly ambled along making the most of every angle to see these beautiful cascades that seemed to go on forever

Back at the truck, we cooked omelettes for lunch before heading north again to the large town of Bihac. We had planned to stop here as it was the only urban area for miles around and we desperately needed a laundrette.

We followed the Una River along one of the most beautiful roads we had driven

And were very excited to see that the local wildlife could get interesting

At Bihac we parked up by a fuel station just outside the town and BigMog found a friend!

Our days were becoming very short now, it was too cold and dark to get going much before 10am and it was feeling like dusk by 3pm. We tried to be parked up for the evening well before 4pm so as not to be caught out on unfamiliar roads in the dark with temperatures starting to drop below zero.

So by the time we had dropped our laundry off the next morning and had a mooch around an uninspiring shopping centre there was little else we could do with our day other than find somewhere nice to eat. And on that score we really fell on our feet.

We found an amazing restaurant that served us sweet potato ravioli and chicken noodle stir fry. Both meals were the best we had eaten since our anniversary. In fact, it was so good we went back the next day and had it all again.

Our laundry wasn’t going to be ready until the next afternoon so we spent our second day in supermarkets and hardware stores stocking up on food and trying to find a bag and some straps to help us carry wood. We thought we had found a solution and excitedly bought two huge bags of logs ready to make fires over the next few days – but the straps we bought broke before we could even use them so the logs ended up taking up all the space in our garage for nearly three weeks and being a decided nuisance.

Finally our laundry was ready so we were able to escape the town and head to our most northerly destination – Ostrozac Castle.

It was getting steadily colder, even in the middle of the day the temperatures were barely getting over zero. And more to the point, the snow that had been predicted was due to arrive the following day.

The forecast said that we should expect temperatures down to minus 7 and up to 37cm of snow which would be almost up to our knees. We anticipated having to stay put for a few days, so enroute to the castle we tried five different fuel stations to fill up with water but were out of luck at every one.

It wasn’t time to panic though, we had enough water to see us through three or four days if we were careful, so we carried on to the castle and parked up in their small car park. There was no-one there at all and the ticket office was closed, but fortunately the gates were open so we went in

The main courtyard had been turned into a sculpture park and we amused ourselves looking around at the curious carvings

The fort around the courtyard dated back to the 15^th century

But the castle itself was almost modern

It had been built in 1900 and definitely felt like a family home rather than an old, drafty castle

It was completely derelict with rain pouring in through the roof

And parts of it seemed decidedly unsafe

But we loved it, I could see us buying it and returning it to its former glory

We were back in the truck by 4pm and warmed ourselves with a cup of tea and the diesel heater.

I awoke at 6:30am just as the sun was rising in the sky. The first rays of daylight made my heart leap

We had been excited by the prospect of deep snow for days and it had finally arrived. I leapt out of bed and opened up the windows – the view that faced me was beautiful

I quickly dressed and crunched through the pure white snow back to the castle gates – I had a longing to wander around the fortress in the virgin snow and photograph the castle coated in its white blanket.

But sadly I was not going to have that particular dream fulfilled. The gates were firmly locked and remained so all day

James cheered me up with a cooked breakfast

After which we decided to brave the weather and carry on our journey

How were even small, local roads so completely clear the morning after the first snow fall?

It was a very impressive feat on the part of the Bosnian authorities.

We were heading for the town of Basanska Krupa where there was another castle. We were keen to stay close to civilisation for a few days rather than risk getting stuck in the middle of nowhere with our water supplies running low.

We must have been a bit lower down here as the snow was already starting to melt and turn into slush

We walked up the steep pathway to the castle and had a little bit of trouble keeping upright on the ice

There wasn’t much left of this castle but we had great views over the town

And whilst up there, James made a snowman, complete with red hat

I was sad to leave him behind, he was so cute.

Safely back on firmer ground we stumbled across a wonderful little café that served a local Bosnian speciality called Pita which really just means ‘pie’. They are pastry filled with anything from meat to potato to cheese and spinach. There was a customer there who spoke perfect English and through him we managed to procure one meat and one potato pita and they were lovely.

Fully warmed through, we wandered around the town for a while and found an auto parts shop that sold diesel anti-freeze, something we were desperately in need of. We discovered later on that it was 6 months beyond its use-by date but we put it in our tanks anyway – and lucky we did as you will soon see…

The politics and geography of BiH are quite complicated. First of all, you have the two administrative areas of Bosnia (in cream) and of Herzegovina (in orange and red – there are different views on where the border actually is)

But overlaid on top of that you have the political areas of ‘The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’ (in cream) and the ‘Republic of Srpska’ (in red) otherwise known as the Serb Republic but not to be confused with the country next door which is the Republic of Serbia

The Republic of Srpska is where the majority of the BiH population who are ethnically Serbs live. Local people told us that, whilst the delineation of the two regions matters to politicians, it doesn’t much matter to anyone else.

The area of Herzegovina, on the other hand, doesn’t particularly matter politically but the local people are proud to be Herzegovinians – even though no-one is really sure where the boundary actually lies.

We had just arrived in the Republic of Srpska and our next destination was to be the capital of that region – Banja Luka.

Banja Luka is a small, peaceful and quite beautiful city. It was also not supposed to have much snow over the next few days which made me feel both relieved and a little disappointed.

We weren’t likely to make it all the way to the city that day so I had found a park-up place enroute that looked quiet – but it also looked quite remote so was a risk.

There was little snow here though so we didn’t worry too much

As we drove onwards we turned off the tar road and onto a dirt road through the forest. Then snow started falling around us and a thick fog descended. We looked at each other a little disconcerted – we had every faith in BigMog but with no visibility, darkness threatening and a potential snow storm were we making a mistake heading out into the unknown?

We pressed on, determined to stay confident and enjoy our beautiful surroundings

After almost an hour through the trees the dirt road became tar again and we found ourselves driving through small, pretty towns

Eventually we found our park-up spot and it was perfect – off the beaten track but not too much!

The next morning, everywhere was covered in a light sheet of snow and two very friendly dogs were bouncing around me as I trained

We carried on our journey and felt as though we were driving through a Christmas card, it was just beautiful

We made it to Banja Luka at around midday and found ourselves behind a gritter lorry trying desperately to keep the roads clear

So much for less snow here!

We settled ourselves into a large car park in the middle of the city

BigMog had no problem getting through the snow drifts to park in a far corner but trying to walk back to the pavement was perilous. Deep ruts where hidden by the snow, sheets of ice blocked our way and we were skidding around everywhere

The whole town was much the same. Snow was coming down heavily now, making us cold and wet, and trying to negotiate our way along the pavements was very tricky – we clearly hadn’t found our snow-feet yet

We started at the Museum of Contemporary Art, a beautiful building from the outside

But the power was out so we couldn’t go inside.

Our next stop was the Christ the Saviour Serbian Orthodox Cathedral which was beautiful both outside

And inside

Nearby we found an abandoned chess set

And an impressive administrative building

Next stop was the Saint Bonaventure’s Cathedral

It was apparently built to resemble a tent to honour the people who lost their homes in the major earthquake of 1969.

This too was sadly closed but we enjoyed playing about in the snowy gardens

We were getting a bit too cold by this time so skated back towards the Mog, searching a couple of supermarkets unsuccessfully for hot chocolate on the way.

The snow had stopped falling the next day and walking around the streets was much easier in the dry with most pavements having been cleared

We wandered across the town to the Kastel Fortress

There wasn’t much to see

But James climbed onto the walls for a good view

Whilst I amused myself making another snow man

The nearby Ferhadija Mosque was pretty

I poked my head inside but there were people praying so I tip-toed away to leave them in peace.

We pressed on to the Gradska Trznica food market and bought pomegranates, chestnuts and a variety of other nuts before heading to the Museum of the Republic of Srpska.

This building had seen better days with water dripping in great puddles from the ceiling inside. The staff had put buckets under most of the leaks but, as I soon found, not all!

It also had a curious perspective on the events of the 20th Century. But there were some interesting exhibits outside in the grounds

We ambled around for a bit longer

Before heading back to the truck to warm up.

The next morning it was time to move on but we had a problem – it was Monday morning and we discovered that the whole population of the city parked here on a work day! We were getting hemmed in and needed to go whilst we still could

James jumped into the driver’s seat to get the engine warmed up, but BigMog had other ideas. When he turned the key there was a click and nothing more. The immobiliser was the suspected culprit. We tried everything – different keys, inserting the emergency fob. Nothing.

As we tried, more and more cars where parking around us. I had to stand behind the Mog to stop people from parking in the final space and blocking us in completely

After about 45 minutes, I pulled the battery isolator key out, counted to twenty and put it back in. James tried the key once more – boom! BigMog sprang into life.

We cheered and James hurriedly put the steps away whilst I continued to usher cars out of the space behind us. He jumped back into the drivers seat and let the handbrake off whilst I positioned myself ready to guide him out.

But BigMog still wouldn’t play ball, he said he didn’t like the cold and was upset we had left him for three days parked up in minus 7 degree temperatures. One of his rear brakes was frozen solid and he wouldn’t move.

James tapped him backwards and forwards again and again. Another half an hour went by and we were still stationary.

Eventually there was a clunk as the brake released and we were free. We carefully manoeuvred around the mass of tightly packed cars, squeezing out of the entrance between two vehicles that came within millimeters of the truck on either side but we had done it. It had taken us just over two hours but we were finally on our way.

The Trappist Monastery on the other side of town that promised us cheese was closed

So we headed straight out of the city and back into the countryside towards the Stone Bridge – a huge rock formation.

The walk started over a slippery suspension bridge

And the whole place was covered in deep snow with ice everywhere

It was a lovely, if cold, walk

And the Stone Bridge itself was impressive

Getting back down the hill on the ice was interesting – but James ‘the goat’ managed to keep us both upright.

We parked up that evening in a small car park by the Krupa na Vrbasu monastery

The snow had almost gone here which was a welcome relief, not least because I could finally get back to my morning training. There was a very friendly little cat hanging around who took a liking to us – so much so that she sat on me whilst I was trying to do my stretches and I had to call James out to feed her sausages so I could finish

We had a look around the monastery and church

And then walked down to a very pretty waterfall

With some old mill houses along the banks

Out next stop was the town of Jajce. On the way we stopped off at Pliva Lake

And walked down to see more old water mills which are a big part of the history of this area

They were really very lovely

Once in the town we parked up near the Jajce waterfall which is right in the centre. We looked down at it from the road, it was very impressive

Jajce is a historic town with a fortress and catacombs but we were disappointed to find everything closed. All the signs said they were open every day so it seemed odd

A little deflated we drove to the local football pitch and parked up for the night.

We had originally planned to move on the next morning but didn’t feel we had really done much of Jajce. The weather today was much brighter so with my bestest smile I convinced James to drive back into town and try again.

And we were so pleased that we did. The heavy rain over the last two days had made such a huge difference to the waterfall it was incredible

We found the ticket office, paid our entrance fee and followed the path right to the foot of the falls

The water crashing down all around us was deafening

And we got soaked to the skin

It was great fun. As we walked past the lady in the ticket booth I spread my arms out to show just how wet I was and she laughed.

She also told us that the day before had been a public holiday throughout BiH and that the fortress and catacombs would be open today.

Thrilled, we headed back up the hill to go and explore the historic centre

The fortress was in ruins and it didn’t take long to walk around

And the catacombs were dark and dank but fascinating

Onwards to the town of Travnik where we stopped at a very nice Italian restaurant for lunch and then went on to our second fortress of the day

This one was much bigger, in fact it was huge

We wandered around the walls

And into all the buildings

There were exhibitions dotted around but little was in English so we didn’t learn very much.

From the ramparts we looked out over the town and could just make out four of the mosques that it is famous for

On our way back to the truck, dusk was falling which made the Ornamental Mosque look beautiful

It was dark by now so we headed to a layby just off the main road out of town. It was a bit noisy with traffic and we were overlooked by a fuel station, but it was fine for the night

It started snowing again next morning which reminded me that snow has a shelf life – it’s great fun for the first few days but after that it starts to get in the way of life. We had wanted to drive up the mountain and follow the trails but the weather was going to make that difficult.

In the end we decided to chance it and see what happened. We drove from our layby at 500m altitude up to 1500m. At first the road was dusted with snow but clearly well used

As we went higher, the snow got deeper

Until the whole place was white as far as the eye could see

BigMog was doing well, he didn’t skip a beat, and it was clear where the road was so we pressed on. Tarmac turned into dirt which we though would make things less slippery

But not long afterwards we realised we had no idea where the road was at all

And with big drops down one side we decided to call it a day

James managed a fifteen point turn in the snow drifts

And eventually we were on our way back down – disappointed but exhilarated that we had got as far as we had

Our itinerary had us heading into the north east, our first stop being Dorog fortress. It was to be a long drive which would finally give our batteries a proper charge – with such little sun they had been at only 20-30% for days and it had become a worry.

But the drive was no fun. We were going through very urban, industrial areas and everyone on our park-up apps said the whole valley was full of industry. We were losing heart rapidly so when we pulled over for lunch we had a rethink.

We were heading to yet another fortress, then we were going to the third biggest city in the country and places to sleep were looking thin on the ground. We finished lunch, turned BigMog round and headed back south. We’re here to enjoy ourselves, it’s not supposed to miserable!

I found a park-up place about an hour south that said it was the car park to the Giant Stone Spheres. We were intrigued. We pulled up and wandered over the little bridge to take a look

Interesting, but what were they all about? Man-made or natural? Who knows!

The car park was no good for staying overnight, it was hardly bigger than BigMog himself and in the middle of a lot of houses. We felt completely in the way. So we drove another hour along the river, turned off onto a dirt track and followed it until we found somewhere to pull over.

It was perfect, not a soul around and the only sound was the gentle fluttering of the snow as it landed on the leaves – peace and quiet again at last