This past weekend a previously unvisited destination waited for us. While I already posted some countryside images of abandoned buildings from our road trip, in this post I want to share one of two main destinations of our latest venture. As you will quickly notice, the images from this day were taken with my phone camera, since I forgot my Canon at home. Don't ask me how it happened. It was a first for me as well. But I hope you will enjoy the sights nonetheless.
click on the images for a bigger view
Getting to Boracko Lake
In order to get to Boracko Lake (by car), you have to take a side road out of the city Konjic, which will lead you up the mountains. The drive is not long from Konjic, only 25 minutes. Of course you have to get to Konjic first. We took the main road (M-17) from Mostar, which is a 1 hour drive. The same road leads from the capital city Sarajevo to Konjic as well, and is also about a 1 hour drive. I think the best option is to get here by car. Buses are few and far between, and I'm not sure if they get to the actual lake.
The Road up the Mountains
I will say that you have to drive carefully up these mountains. The road is narrow in some places, but mostly it's a two-lane road. Anyway, driving slowly up the mountains has another advantage (except getting to the lake safely). You get to really enjoy the sights. At a quick stop, I snapped the shot of the city Konjic in the distance (photo above).
You can see an example of the curvy and steep mountain road in the shot below. It only takes 15 minutes to drive up the hills, and then the drive stabilizes and you drive through the mountain valleys which is much more enjoyable.
Another stop along the way is a lookout spot before you arrive into the valley where the Boracko Lake is. From here you can see the surrounding mountains and landscapes. We took our time here, making photos and enjoying the sights.
Definitely bring food and water with you, since you won't find any stores here. Restaurants and cafes are also few an not to be found at the lake, especially during the off-season. I don't know what the situation in the summer is. There is however a great restaurant a bit down the road, where we ended up having lunch, but that will be the subject of the next post.
Arriving at the Boracko Lake
There is not much to be found on the actual shores of the lake that shows signs of life. Some abandoned buildings are dotted along the lake, and when you arrive you have the choice to park your car at a small parking lot or drive down the road to the auto camp which is on the other side of the lake (photo below). Parking is free in the off-season and as far as I have heard only costs 2 KM (cca 1.1 $) in the summer season.
We stayed on the east side of the lake, and took a stroll to the shore. You can park your car here and take a big hike all the way to the other side of Boracko Lake. But since we had more plans on this day, we decided to keep our visit short.
About Boracko Lake
Boracko Lake is nested between the Prenj, Bjelasnica and Visocica mountains. The lake is open to the public for camping, swimming and BBQs. On the west side, by the aforementioned auto camp you will find a restaurant (also only open in the Summer season) and a great freshwater stream and plenty of shade. Boracko lake is a glacier lake, which means that it's formed when a glacier erodes the land, and then melts, filling the hole or space that it has created with water.
Our Road Trip Continues...
As I mentioned, we had other destinations on our map for this day, so we only stayed at Boracko Lake for about half an hour. Our next stop was a small village located further south on the road we were traveling on. But more on that in my next post. As we departed the lake, the mountains took over again and spectacular views were in front of us (like the next shot with the Boracko Lake in the distance)
Rugged landscapes were on each side of the road, that took us to our next stop...
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