A good day's walk in sunny conditions until 4:00 pm when a river and an incorrect route meant a long detour.
I always carefully pack out my rubbish after camping although at last night's camping spot no-one would have noticed it given the amount of fly tipping of builder's waste, plastic rubbish deposited by the Danube and detritus left by fishermen and other visitors. Things became tidier later as I walked along the Danube embankment, slowly being overtaken by a barge, passed a pumphouse clearing the lower lying ground beside the river of water.
I was delighted to find the restaurant on Brza Palanka riverfront open, and had an omelette, bread and coffee for breakfast. They also advertised rooms. It's a pity I did not know before as I might have pushed on yesterday to reach them.
From Brza Palanka I walked up a long valley to the Blederija waterfall with its tufa deposits before heading uphill onto the plateau. There were direction signs on this part of the route, part of a "Tourism Triathlon, hike, bike and canoe". Unfortunately not enough signs at crucial junctions to tell you where to hike. Nevertheless I progressed along my route planned with Google Earth and Wikiloc.com trails following the path indicated in the small scale maps in "Rambling through Serbia".
The plateau was cut into by steep sided valleys of which I planned to cross two. At the top of the first valley I lost the path, or more likely none was there, but managed to slither to the bottom of the slope through the trees. I could see the track up the other side but with the water level so high in the brook that ran down the valley, a little wadding was required giving me wet boots for the rest of the day.
I reached the second valley about 4:00 pm. Getting down was no problem this time but the river was in full flow. I might have crossed at the planned point with some care but it was apparent that instead of a path up the steep and rocky valley side opposite I had traced a stream on Google Earth - or as far as I could see a small waterfall. In consequence I had to retrace my steps and follow the track along the valley floor to the village of Urovica. Not a route consistent with the "Rambling through Serbia" booklet but my only certain way of getting to Vratna.
Fortified by a Coke and chocolate in the long village of Urovica I reached Vratna Monastery a little after 7:00 pm as it was getting dark. As it was after the Monastery's closing time I pitched my tent out of sight in the woods and rested after a walk today much longer than intended.
An enormous 47.1 kilometres walked today including attempting find a path avoiding Urovica, plus 870 metres of ascent. A gpx file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com and wandermap.net. The route can also be found on my.ViewRanger.com as johnpon0028.
I always carefully pack out my rubbish after camping although at last night's camping spot no-one would have noticed it given the amount of fly tipping of builder's waste, plastic rubbish deposited by the Danube and detritus left by fishermen and other visitors. Things became tidier later as I walked along the Danube embankment, slowly being overtaken by a barge, passed a pumphouse clearing the lower lying ground beside the river of water.
I was delighted to find the restaurant on Brza Palanka riverfront open, and had an omelette, bread and coffee for breakfast. They also advertised rooms. It's a pity I did not know before as I might have pushed on yesterday to reach them.
From Brza Palanka I walked up a long valley to the Blederija waterfall with its tufa deposits before heading uphill onto the plateau. There were direction signs on this part of the route, part of a "Tourism Triathlon, hike, bike and canoe". Unfortunately not enough signs at crucial junctions to tell you where to hike. Nevertheless I progressed along my route planned with Google Earth and Wikiloc.com trails following the path indicated in the small scale maps in "Rambling through Serbia".
The plateau was cut into by steep sided valleys of which I planned to cross two. At the top of the first valley I lost the path, or more likely none was there, but managed to slither to the bottom of the slope through the trees. I could see the track up the other side but with the water level so high in the brook that ran down the valley, a little wadding was required giving me wet boots for the rest of the day.
I reached the second valley about 4:00 pm. Getting down was no problem this time but the river was in full flow. I might have crossed at the planned point with some care but it was apparent that instead of a path up the steep and rocky valley side opposite I had traced a stream on Google Earth - or as far as I could see a small waterfall. In consequence I had to retrace my steps and follow the track along the valley floor to the village of Urovica. Not a route consistent with the "Rambling through Serbia" booklet but my only certain way of getting to Vratna.
Fortified by a Coke and chocolate in the long village of Urovica I reached Vratna Monastery a little after 7:00 pm as it was getting dark. As it was after the Monastery's closing time I pitched my tent out of sight in the woods and rested after a walk today much longer than intended.
An enormous 47.1 kilometres walked today including attempting find a path avoiding Urovica, plus 870 metres of ascent. A gpx file of my route can be found on wikiloc.com and wandermap.net. The route can also be found on my.ViewRanger.com as johnpon0028.
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| Barge overtaking me on the Danube |
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| Blederija waterfall |
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