“Look right there – there’s a dragon hiding in the mountainside,” Samer says as we make our way towards an innocuous-looking, dun-coloured rockface.
We’ve been following a trail on Bjelasnica, one of several mountains surrounding Bosnia’s capital, Sarajevo, as part of a multi-day trip exploring the Balkan country’s remote and wild corners with Exodus Travel.
Today’s hike has taken us on a loop around the small highland village of Umoljani, populated mostly by goats and sheep, and a handful of humans. Here, rural life continues much as it has for centuries – villagers living off the land, growing potatoes, cabbage, rye and oats and shepherds spending summers in rudimentary huts made from wood and sheet metal.
Despite the fog, the landscape – when it does reveal itself through the atmospheric swirls of mist – is gloriously scenic, all verdant plains and hillsides carpeted with trees.
Unlike neighbouring Croatia, Albania and Montenegro, Bosnia is landlocked, and mountains make up 60 per cent of the country, while 40 per cent is forested. Up here, temperatures can be at least 10C cooler than down at sea level. Summers are typically cool and short.
