Hiking from Umoljani to Lukomir
Earlier this year, Visit Konjic and Turisticki Klaster Hercegovina invited bloggers from around the world to participate in a ten-day familiarization trip around Herzegovina. Luckily, I was selected to participate and I gladly accepted the opportunity to experience more corners of my home country, Bosnia & Herzegovina.
The ten-day program was very packed with outdoors activities planned for each and every day, but we knew what we’d signed up for and took it all with a smile and I must say we did a good job! I mean, who wouldn’t enjoy mountain biking, hiking, river rafting and canyoning through the outstanding landscapes of Bosnia & Herzegovina? Our first stop on the trip was a hike to Lukomir, one of the most famous ethno villages in the country, which has been on my bucket list for years. And that is what I would like to introduce you to in this article.
About Lukomir
Lukomir is an authentic Bosnian mountain village on Bjelašnica. The village is situated on an altitude of 1,469m, located some 50 km from the capital Sarajevo. It is the highest and most isolated village in the country. The villagers are mainly shepherds who live off the sale of sheep products. There are not many villagers in Lukomir but those left live in the village approximately from May – October, in-between they live by some relatives in the surrounding villages nearby Sarajevo.
Bradt travel guides describe the village as:
“Perhaps the finest example of a highland village in the country, Lukomir is a rare window to old world Europe where the traditional way of life is the rule and not the exception.”
Starting point: Umoljani
Our guide from Superb Adventures, Faruk, picked us up at our hostel in Sarajevo, early in the morning. First, we made a small stop at the local buregdzinica ASDž, to get some breakfast, which I would rather call a whole meal by the way. Hereafter, we had an app. 1 hour drive to Umoljani from where we would start our hike. As we were going to hike for several hours, we had been watching the weather forecast, which predicted massive rain shower, however when we arrived it seemed slightly promising.
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We began our hike at Umoljani, from where I had to take my famous jumping photo (I might even start calling it my signature move). From here we moved further and further into the mountains where we crossed valleys, rivers and mountains peaks – outstanding landscapes that take your breath away. Our goal was to reach the area’s highest peak, Obalj at an elevation of 1848m – and we sure did!
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When we reached the peak, the sky opened up and started pouring rain. We could see the village from where we were standing, but it seemed so far away with all the rain pouring down on us. The last bit of the hike we walked downhill on slippery rocks and muddy grounds but we finally made it to the village. After 6 hours of walking and nearly 9 km passed, we reached Lukomir.
Hot showers, delicious dinner and open fireplace was waiting for us in our Lukomir accommodation.
Prijatno rajo!
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The next morning we woke up to an absolutely delicious breakfast, with homemade products from the local villagers. Hereafter we had a little tour around the village and continued our way to Umoljani, another 8 km, from where another adventure was about to begin.
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Book a tour to Lukomir with Visit Konjic
