12. Aug 2023

Krupa na Vrbasu - Jajce

Pastor Andrei and family were great hosts. It was like being at home away from home these past three days.

Photo 2: Today's stretch started in Krupa na Vrbasu where I had stopped on Saturday. Andrei took this photo as I walked away. I now have an emergency vest on the back of my backpack so vehicles coming from behind can see me better. I wave to the traffic coming towards me to make sure they see me and give me space.

Photo 3: There were many memorials along the road of mostly young men whose life ended on this road. One curve in particularly today had a whole row of them. I do not think there were any hikers among the remembered... and I do not plan to be the first.

Photos 4-5: The highway follows the Vrbasu River. Towards the end of the stretch and up higher there were some nice views. Originally I wanted to try to walk the whole distance from Krupa na Vbrasu to Jajce in one day. That would have been a very exhausting hike of 46 kilometers. I decided to stop at a motel after 18 kilometers to get off the road and out of the sun. Tomorrow I plan to start early and hopefully get at least half of the rest if the hike completed before noon when there is more shade in the valley and the temperature is a bit cooler. Today it got up to 97 degrees in the afternoon. Tomorrow it will be the same.

No real God-Talk today other than a short exchange with a lady sitting in the shade at a gas station. With my limited slavic expressions I explained what I was doing and that God gives me the "energy of the resurrection" to do it. Her husband, who was working at the gas station, also came over. He heard the same and nodded in agreement. Only with God's help can I go one day after the other...