Lukomir: Tradition untouched

Lukomir
see all photos »

During our stay in Sarajevo we took a day trip to the Lukomir village.  Lukomir is the highest village in all of Bosnia and Hercegovinia and thanks to its altitude remained untouched during the war...it was deemed too remote for the Serbian army to concern themselves with.

The village consists of 20 families in the summer months and only about 5 in the winter months.  The homes are shacks made from mud and rock; the lifestyle is farming sheep; the temperatures are extreme.  Our visit to Lukomir was one of the highlights of this trip.

the overwhelming smell of sheep and cow droppings

Sharlene
see all photos »

When we arrived the overwhelming smell of sheep and cow droppings was enough to make us reconsider the trip.  The entire town is covered in 'natural fertilizer' and we were very careful where we stepped.  However, before we had much of a chance to wonder what we'd gotten ourselves into, the women from the town ushered us towards a home - they wanted to sell us socks.  The women spend all winter knitting socks from the wool of the sheep and then what they don't use themselves, they sell to tourists.  They looked extremely warm and would have come in handy - we were freezing when we first arrived.

Patrick and Shannon
see all photos »

The cold didn't last too long as we set out on a hike.  Initially we were joined on the hike by a group of senior citizens.  Needless to say the four of us were not looking forward to spending the day with the oldtimers and when they stopped about 10 minutes into the hike for a break, we made our break.

The hiking in this region is incredible.  The mountains surrounded us, while the valley was full of lush rolling green hills.  Off in the distance we were able to see farmers tending to their sheep - the occasional sheep bleating was the only sound other than our footsteps and voices.

The hikers
see all photos »

Following our hike, one family in the village invited us into their home for lunch.  It was a traditional lunch of pies and cheese, and I must say, it was the best food we had all trip.

We left just in time for the heavens to open and found out the next day that the oldtimers didn't manage to hike back to the village until almost four hours after we'd left - they must have been drenched!