Human mind has strong desire to see the unseen, know the unknown and explore the unexplored. Mountain hiking is one of the best way to fulfill these desires. It s been said that if we were meant to stay in one place, we would have roots instead of feet . From my little hiking experience I know it very well that mountain hiking isn't an easy task for occasional hikers like me. You will need strong mental strength to complete the hiking successfully. After enjoying mountain's extreme natural beauty and wilderness, I am sure you will be willing to pay that price every time :)
I have been living in Serbia for more than 9 years. Serbia is well known for its beautiful mountains. I have always wanted explore some of these mountains. But it is not always easy for an foreigner to do it all by himself. Finally I managed to join one group of local mountain hikers known as PD Krug with the help from my good friend Jelena. When she informed me that they are planning to explore BEŠNJAJA mountain which is 122 km far away from Belgrade the capital city of Serbia, I couldn't resist myself from joining them.
It was beginning of spring which is perfect for hiking. I joined the group early in the morning. Though I was the only stranger in that group, I managed to make few friends with the help of Jelena. I was told by the group leader that we will have to walk around 17km to complete this hiking and elevation is 760m. So according to him it s one of the easiest mountain to explore! Though in my mind I was thinking the opposite. It was big group of hikers with 50 people. So I couldn't get to know each of them. But all of them were friendly. Soon we started our journey into the wilderness.
After walking for an hour we stopped for a short break.
During the break my friend Jelena was looking for morels. I was surprised to see big number of people join her in the hunt. After looking for 10-15minutes, they managed to find some morels.
Smiling Jelena after a successful hunt!
After seeing these morels, my first impression was "Why do people get crazy for these ugly looking mushrooms ?" I was told that they are really delicious and super healthy. Anyway we started marching forward after a short break. We were delighted to be surrounded by green nature.
Soon we encountered the river Voljevica.
Though it s really tiny river, it s its own beauty.
The mountain road was really challenging trough out the journey.
Luckily we got some help from nature to cross the river :)
Last one hour of our hiking was hardest part for me. I was exhausted and eagerly waiting for the end.
I was happy to see some sign of village which indicated that our journey to over :)
After completing the hike, I had a mix feeling of happiness and struggle. Overall it was a great experience. I am looking forward to joining the hiking team again for another adventure soon.