Velez - It is now the season of potent fragrances - and the compelling lure of the aromatic wild sage and rosemary along the roadsides and hills - the fragrances are potent. We found edible berries along the way. On one very hot day in late August we had a very strange hiking experience. Our trek started late, our guide got lost, and a horrendous storm gathered furious momentum while we were approaching the first summit on Velez - a nearby desert-like mountain terrain. But before that drama started, we innocently took time to rest while our guide hacked his way through the bracken looking for the path...
The goal was to reach the face and come down by the light of the moon.
But later - only Jeremy seemed to be concerned about the signs in the sky.
It took a few worried calls from Tarik's father, before we turned back in the face of the storm coming in far too quickly. We are already well on our way back down a windy impassable road, but are a long way from shelter. Our clothes are hopelessly insufficient for what is to follow. I wrap Tarik's extra T-shirt on my head to help keep my body heat in. We were seriously underprepared. This was the last picture that my camera took - ever. The static - or the heavy rain cut through the camera bag and destroyed it.
The ominous weight of air about to burst with hail - impressed us into hurling downhill through sheep pastures, forgetting about possible landmines -- with 6 kilometers still to go. Thanks to the intervention of our guide's father, a van picked us up at the last drivable point on the road. Afterwards we were left with strong memories and pockets full of wild berries to dry for tea....and a legacy of stories to tell for a while.
The most amazing preserved town in europe is Dubrovnik
I have returned here many times.
It is quite a hike around the top of old Dubrovnik. Fanciful imaginings of how it used to be .... a romaticized version of course.
Jeremy carrying my guitar while I am working... first days in Mostar.
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