I lived in Serbia since I was nine years old. Like most Serbians, I don’t know much about my country. By saying that I mean that most of the population hasn’t seen a big part of Serbia. The desire to see more places in other countries, made us strangers in our motherland. We always have the excuse that Serbia is here, and that we will visit some places, mountains, cities, rivers in it on another occasion. I’m glad the opportunity came now to visit two mountains. Since I moved to Athens two years ago, I am coming to Serbia for holidays. A friend invited us to visit the mountains Dukat and Besna Kobila. I must admit that I had not heard of the mountain Dukat so far.
South-Eastern Serbia was till now an unexplored region for me. I was not prepared for this trip in the sense of reading and looking pictures on internet. I think the good time for visiting mountains of South East Serbia is in July/August. Serbia has no sea and everyone in that period is heading towards Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, Turkey and other destinations that have sea cost. Because there is no culture of going to the mountain during the summer, we knew that we would be alone and have the privilege of enjoying those two mountains’ beauty by ourselves. Fresh air is certainly an advantage during the hot summer nights. So you’re just on the win.
We started from Belgrade by car, 5 people. It was a pleasant 4,5 hours ride. We arrived at the Vlasina lake. It was already dark so we couldn’t see much.
We settled in our accommodation and slept very well. The enthusiasm of our friend who invited us to this trip was strong. He proposed to get up at 4 am. Of course, the plan was not accepted by the other members of our little group called “Duster”. At the decent time of 7.30 all the happy mountaineers jumped out of bed. After breakfast, a long ride by car started. I came here without knowing the route, and I did not know how much we would travel to the first destination. I was surprised how big Serbia is when you start going off-road. About four hours after the dirt road we arrived at the foot of the beautiful Dukat mountain. Dacia Duster is a great car for off-road. The mountain peak of 1881m above sea level called Crnooka should be an easy climb. If that was the truth. In fact, the female part of the society called “Duster” was weaker. It is possible that the drive on curved roads made girls tired more quickly. However, with the support of the men’s team, we all managed to climb to the top. It seems like this beauty called Dukat is not popular. On the way to the mountain and at the very top, we were the only ones. The view on Serbia’s beauty was spectacular. Each view and image of the camera made them more beautiful due to the large number of clouds called cumulus. Everything was perfect from landscapes, weather an the company I was with.
When we came across the hill I saw blueberries. Life was beautiful!
Next day the “Duster” group climbed Besna kobila mountain. There is a legend about the name of the mountain. In ancient times, the nomads arrived to this mountain with their herds of sheep, cows and horses. After they arrived, they began to build their own huts. In that village lived a beautiful girl called Feya. She was a powerful girl and a great horse rider. She almost never got off her mare. One day Feja’s mare was bitten by a mad dog. She did not know that, but she saw that mare’s nostrils were covered with blood and mouth was foaming. She hurried up to the village, where people could help her to save her mare, but the mare suddenly changed the direction and rushed towards the mountain. With a sudden twist, she threw down Feja and continued to go deeper into the mountain. Feja broke her leg on that occasion. People found her unconscious, took her to her father’s hut, treated her for a long time, but Feja remained immobile. According to this event – by preserving the memory of this extraordinary beauty and her tragic fate, people called a village nearby KRIVA FEJA, and the mountain BESNA KOBILA.
The highest peak of the mountain has an elevation of 1923 m. It lies 35 km to the east from the city of Vranje. We came by car at the 1440 m altitude of mountain refuge “Dragan Spasic” situated on Besna Kobila. We saw nice wooden tables outside, people eating also, smell was nice and we decided to have a lunch there. Before lunch we had rakija, off course. Full stomachs, we were ready to climb up.
On the way up were even more blueberries and raspberries. It was a slow walk because of that. Every few steps, I would stop for some more.
Today, on this mountain you can not see horses, nor people. The mountain is covered with blueberries and raspberries and is a paradise on earth. Walk around this region of Serbia. It’s worth it!
This is how I felt when I climbed to the top!
