Pero and his bike

petak, 14.01.2022.

The Una River - The fourth day

You can come back on the previous part of this travelogue here.

The fourth day

If you don't want to read, skip the text and see the images of this day of journey here.

Sometime in the early morning, after six, I was awakened by a rumble. Only when lightnings appeared, I realized that the rumble was thunder. Then a shower was starting, to gradually decrease and turn into "normal" rain. Satisfied that I was on a dry, safe and comfortable bed, I continued to sail the expanses of dreams in the scent of ozone.
I woke up again around 8. The rain had stopped, but the clouds had not yet decided whether to disperse or continue to raining. I got up slowly and after toalet I started a breakfast. It wasn’t until the end of breakfast that I noticed that the clouds had parted and the sun was shining as brightly as it could. Looking up at the sky, I saw endless blue. Unexpectedly, I got the opportunity to fulfill a wish that was quietly, shyly smoldering in me - to visit the fortress on top of the hill.
A few minutes later I was already in the "center" of the place next to the store I visited last night.

In the image above "my supermarket" is this one on the right with a blue facade, and the old town/fortress is on the left above. When I zoom it then the old town looks like this

To get to it I first need to go through the place. Wikipedia tells me that in the great fire of 1903, most of the Kulen Vakuf place was destroyed, so today there are no visible remains of old architecture, except to some extent in the urban organization of the place. But for the visitors who are interested in it, and I am one of them, someone put in the effort and painted what this place looked like before that unfortunate fire

The picture is placed as a jumbo poster on the wall of the house across from the supermarket. It immediately reminded me of the Kreševo place, and I regretfully state that it was a real pity that the fire had ravaged the place. It would be really interesting to walk past that old Bosnian architecture.
The "main street", the one that goes from the bridge over the Una river, led me to the mosque.

On the website nationalpark-una.ba I found that the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Kulen Vakuf was built in the period from 1603-1613. in the time of Sultan Ahmed I, after whom it was named. It is characterized by the fact that below it there were shops and passages on four sides, and the entrances to the mosque are via a stone staircase. The mosque was demolished in the last war and was rebuilt in the second half of the 1990s in its original shape and dimensions (12x17m), with the difference that instead of the earlier hewn stone, brick was used to rebuild it.
On the same website, I found a picture of the said mosque as it once looked.

As soon as I passed the mosque on the sunny side of the street I filmed “man’s best friends” enjoying the sun’s rays.

On the way out of the place I had to cross the railway. It crosses the valley here with a large/long steel bridge.

To call it a road is a bit exaggerated, and yet to call it a path is a bit too modest, in any case, whatever it is, I had to walk to the fortress. The mentioned road can be seen on the right in the image above, so I walked along with it to the front, below and behind the bridge, and filmed it.



I was extremely impressed by this large, massive construction
in this small place. I also hope that I am not alone in that. I was sorry that this beauty from the Una railway was empty and abandoned because of the politicians and their strange mental structure. And so many beautiful things could be seen and experienced by travelling with that railway.
My trail/road got into dense greenery and made me sweat well with its steep climb.

Some Lada Niva (Russian-made car SUV), which I passed, somewhat solved my dilemma of whether I was on the road or the path. I say to some extent because that car is an SUV. Still, I wouldn't dare drive my car here, used to flat asphalt.
The hike took longer, much longer than it seemed to me watching the fortress from the place. I started sweating a lot so I took off my T-shirts. The sweating didn't stop even then, so I wiped the sweat with a cotton handkerchief (luckily I took it). The uphill was extremely persistent and stubborn, so it lasted until the fortress itself.

But, everything came to an end, even this steep uphill. I came to the fortress finally.


According to Wikipedia, the old fortress Ostrovica was probably built during the 15th century on the foundations of an older building from Roman or even earlier times. This area of the upper reaches of the Una river has been an important north-south traffic route since ancient Roman times, and the steep hill was ideal for building the fort that controlled it, especially since below it was a relatively shallow part of the river that horses could run over. It fell under the Ottoman rule in December 1523, and this situation lasted until 1878. During the rule of the Turks, the fortification was expanded and strengthened and served to accommodate a military crew.
It was only when I calmed my breath and heartbeat that I noticed that there was no more blue sky above me. It was covered by clouds, low, gloomy, dark, so it was only a matter of time before they would drop their water load on the ground, and with it on me. And I looked like a naive tourist who goes to the mountain in flip-flops, without any jacket against the wind, or raincoat against the rain. So I immediately stopped any attempt to enter the fortress, but I was satisfied with shooting the horizon. To be honest and to humbly admit, I came here more for that than for the fortress itself.
And the view was fantastic! It was worth every drop of sweat.
First a view of the valley downstream by the Una river from Kulen Vakuf.



When I moved the lens a little to the right, with the help of zoom I managed to get closer to the small but steep canyon (in the middle of the image below) through which the Una river passes. Because of it my road, which I came yesterday, had to go uphill.

I admit to me, looking at it like this, it doesn't look like a terrible uphill. But if we take into account yesterday's fatigue and surprise that instead of a place, I came across uphill, I guess I manage to explain my subjective feeling about the "terrible" uphill.
And now, the Kulen Vakuf place!




According to nationapark-una.ba, during the Roman Empire, a road passed here that connected the Roman provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia from Zadar.
Kasaba (settlement) Jisr-i-kebir (On Turkish: Great Bridge) on the river Una, as it was originally called today's Kulen Vakuf, was founded by building the mosque of Sultan Ahmed I (1603-1617). The place unofficially changed its name in the 18th century, when it was named Palanka Mahmut paša Kulenovića after the vakuf (foundation), and in the 19th century, the place received its current name Kulen Vakuf.
After the Karlovac Peace Treaty of 1699, the Bosnian governor (governor) Halil-pasha expanded and fortified this place. The place originated on an artificial island along the left bank of the Una River, so that the Una River and its artificially dug arm, which still exists today, flowed along the place walls. In addition to solid walls, this place also had a water defensive belt. There were four gates and two bastions on the place walls.
I turned to the other side and filmed the Lika region somewhere far away on the horizon.

The above image also shows dark, gloomy clouds that looked much darker and gloomier to me.
I moved the lens a little to the right and a little down and filmed a couple of houses that make up the village of the same name as the fort - Ostrovica.


From the west, from the Lika region, a cold, ominous breeze blew at me, as a final warning before the rain began. The devil took the joke, I concluded, and I headed back fast, as fast as I can. I walked fast, very fast, on the verge of running, looking at the sky hoping that I would win this race with rain after all.
About halfway through, I paused for a moment and filmed the place once more.


The statement that the place was formed around the mosque is true.
On the occasion of the same place, I filmed the Una river before Kulen Vakuf as well as the railway bridge.


It started to rain when I got to the place so I hurried as much as I could. It was not a heavy downpour, so I can say that I came to my room more or less dry. I say more or less because being a little wet was more due to sweat than rain.
After showering and changing, I noticed that the rain had stopped even before it started, I guess disappointed that I escaped it. But half an hour later the rain couldn't stand it, so it started falling again. It was falling quietly, long and persistently, like real autumn rain. I spent time relaxing and watching some movies on youtube enjoying the smell of ozone coming to me through the open window.
I was satisfied to be in a pleasant, dry place and grateful to Him for harmonizing this rain with my day off from riding, especially for allowing me the opportunity to tour the fortress.
When it came time for lunch, given the abundance of time available, I made an effort to make a noteworthy and respectable meal. At least by accordance with the possibilities.

As you can already guess from the above image, I had "rooster" soup and goulash with pasta on the menu. To make it all glide nicely, I was watering it with the Union beer from a can, which cost only 0.85 Km (0,42 €) on some action !!!
Late in the afternoon, the rain stopped, the clouds receded and the sun shone. It was as if, now at the end of the day, it wanted to fix some general impression of him. I took a short walk around the place and over the bridge that I crossed yesterday, more and less, at this time.
Right next to the bridge is one of the two restaurants that Kulen Vakuf has. This one was decorated with gorgeous flowers that bathed in abundant sunshine looked even more gorgeous.

I walked slowly, from foot to foot, to the middle of the bridge, and filmed the Una river upstream and downstream of it.


Down under the bridge, the ducks were doing their show again, ignoring the world around them as well as my littleness in it.


Well, that would be all for this fourth day. I was very pleased with it, despite the changeable weather. I was also proud of myself that, completely unexpectedly, from a day from which I did not expect anything, by going to the fort I became too rich in beautiful views.

You can view the continuation of this travelogue here.

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