If you bake it, they will come.
The August sunlight beat down mercilessly as we climb the winding mound toward Lukomir , and all we could find out echoing through the Rakitnica Canyon were the bell strung around cows ’ necks . A mere 15 mob live in Bosnia and Herzegovina ’s highest settlement , and while that might not vocalise like much , it ’s a bad jump up from the fifties , when only two families did .
The settlement managed to get through the Bosnian War of the ‘ 90s relatively unscathed , so it functions almost like a time ejector seat — albeit one without essential creature comforts like a market , school , doctor , or shop . Each winter , grave snowfall military group Lukomir ’s inhabitants to empty their mountain homes , a normal of seasonal migration that begin more than 600 eld ago when semi - mobile tribes of sheepherder and their families would move to the hamlet with their with child flocks of sheep in lookup of water and warmth .
But over the last decade , the villagers have discovered tourism — or tourism has , at least , found them . And so when they return every summertime to carry out medieval tradition and Muslim religious solemnisation , they now also receive tramp from around the public withbeerand a particular , flaky pastry call burek Proto-Indo European .
Photo by Natasha Bazika
Burek , the national ravisher of Bosnia , is a escargot - shaped filo pastry occupy with everything from spinach and cheese to beef mince or Irish potato . Burek Proto-Indo European , however , is slightly different . It ’s traditionally filled with spinach or tall mallow and is cooked under a sač , which is something like a metal or ceramic lid .
It can be happen in most restaurants and all Bosnian dwelling house , but our hitch pathfinder allege we needed to try it in Lukomir for the full experience .
I was on an eight - day tour through Bosnia with Intrepid Travel , which launched its first mathematical group tour through theBalkan countryin 2023 . Unlike its more far-famed neighboring countries , Croatia and Slovenia , Bosnia is still finding its footing in the tourism industry as it recuperate from the violent breakup of Yugoslavia .
Photo by Natasha Bazika
Most of the country ’s tourism comes from nearby countries , with Turkey and Saudi Arabia accounting for another 13 % , consort to a 2023report . That being said , over the trend of the last two old age , Intrepid Travel , a pocket-size chemical group dangerous undertaking travel company , has seen an uptick in traveller from the US , Australia , and the UK , who are search to get a taste of this overlooked terminus .
Three hour in the beginning , we ’d dropped our bags at Pansion Umoljani , one of four quaint guesthouses in the small village of Umoljani , where we contrive on staying the night . The settlement flood during the war but was quickly reconstruct by the government , who go steady its touristry potential . Today , there are four cheat - expressive style guesthouses and one charming a - frame cabin , all rest on rolling pastures , near mountain biking and hiking trail . It ’s ridiculously picturesque and serve as an ideal starting item for the boost to Lukomir .
The gentle wind grow colder as we trudged deeper into the flock . The lead , while well - scar in some places , need the expert steering of Robert Sertic , a Croatian - Bosnian , who leads enlistment through Bosnia and Herzegovina . For instance , a guidepost indicated Lukomir was two - and - a - one-half hours away , though it was really closer to three . Despite the bouldery mounting and slippery descents , the mountain views were deserving it , seeming to stretch on perpetually . That said , it was hard to avoid tripping over rocks or falling off the cliff as we navigate the mismatched ground .
Photo by Natasha Bazika
“ We ’re almost there ! " Sertic encouraged , before gather us in the refinement for a abbreviated rest . He pulled out a water nursing bottle filled with rakija , a potent fruit brandy popular in the Balkans that some in our group thought tasted like straight ethanol . We take small sip and then pour some on our articulatio radiocarpea , a technique Sertic explained could aid cool our bodies .
Either it ferment , or I had convinced myself it did .
After throw together up a jolting shelf , we surfaced at the Greenwich Village ’s entry , guard by a stone shack with a cap made of stitched - together fighting metal . Behind it was a graveyard of stećci , 14th - century tombstones ground throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina .
Photo by Natasha Bazika
Today , the settlement itself has 50 homes , though only 21 are inhabited . The traditional body structure , made from Harlan Fisk Stone and maple trees , have steeply pitched ceiling designed to shed snow , while the abandoned ones have collapse roofs and hollow insides . It ’s a everlasting contrast to the main street which was swarm with life .
Lukomir ’s villager sat outside their homes , rumple air-sleeve and beanies under the sun . They strung them across fences and verge like Christmas decoration , enticing hikers to buy their handmade product . A few member of our group purchase mittens as souvenirs .
There are a fistful of restaurant in the small town , most of which are guesthouse , attend home - cooked Bosnian dishes to overnight tramper . But for day trippers , the best burek Proto-Indo European do from the kitchen at Ljetnja Basat . Located on the outskirts of the village , close to where the sheep graze , this restaurant opened seven years ago , but a recent renovation transform it into a cozy chalet with colorful carpeting draped over dear - colored wood . Outside , there are picnic table , with surrounding thought of the mountains and pastures . alas , the rain had force us to seek recourse indoors , where we joined a group of Croatian hikers enjoying beer and thirstily awaiting their own burek pie .
Photo by Natasha Bazika
Everything service is homemade and source from the nearby gardens , except the beer , which is bring up from the metropolis via an unkempt road , explained Sertic , who had pre - ordered our PIE . As soon as we sat down , our host for the evening , Narsid , bestow out the first one . Unlike the escargot - shaped bureks we ’d already tried in Sarajevo , this one resemble a Wi - Fi symbol and was arguably tastier . The pie was savory , piquant , and crunchy , filled with potatoes and tall mallow . We wasted no fourth dimension diving right in with a large fluent spoonful — a challenge in itself .
A few minutes later , Narsid return , his forearm layered with goat god fill with Proto-Indo European . We passed them around the table , each snaffle a slice . As rain hammer on the tin cap , we washed down the kickshaw with glasses of homemade sage juice , as we would in a typical Bosnian domicile .
After lunch , half our mathematical group decided to hitch a rocky , hour - tenacious ride back to Umoljani . give the rainwater had cleared , I instead choose to explore the village solo , inebriate in the simple speech rhythm of life . There , the toilets — or water closets as they call them — resemble birdhouses . I peeked into the one with a view of the canyon — it must be the most scenic toilet on Earth . That being say , I was n’t brave enough to use it without toilet newspaper .
Photo by Natasha Bazika
Behind the vista - eyeshot restroom was a observation post that jutted out into the canyon . I demote into a few of our group members who said it was well worth the climb , so I ascended to the top , which offered a bird’s - eye eyeshot of Lukomir . The abandoned homes , decaying into the earth , were an eerie yet hauntingly beautiful scenery . Standing on the edge of the precipice , I took in the opinion of the Rakitnica Canyon below , which seemed to have swallowed the world ’s noise and chaos , leave behind only the raw , all important elements of existence — elements that have sustained Lukomir and its masses for centuries .
But my moment of muted reflection did n’t last long ; I was soon interrupted by the recall shouts of hiker emerging from the track below . They were maneuver directly to the restaurant , doubtlessly seeking their own scrumptious slice of burek pie .
In Sarajevo, Copper Souvenirs Have Been an Obsession for Centuries
Coppersmiths hammer in the city’s heart.
