Sorry for the lack of posts recently- between the 20th anniversary of Srebrenica and the 50+ pages of writing I have to do before the program ends, I’ve been rather swamped.
While the others ate their lunches, Carli, Jon, and I traipsed behind the line of restaurants to the other side of the river, where we had seen a sign advertising a raft into the cave we saw earlier. The light was just setting behind the mountains and so it covered the monastery and river with the golden sunsetglow I love so much, and the short traipse- though initially covered in behind-all-restaurants-rubble- was nice.
We asked the man how much it was- four euros- and then how long it would be. He hesitated and then said fifteen minutes, so we all decided it was worth it and hopped into the small raft, our faithful guide at the helm.
He guided us by pulling on a rope, and I began to seriously doubt the validity of his claim that this trip would take fifteen minutes.
We began to the enter the cave and I realized that the water does look different in all lights- sometimes an inky navy color, sometimes a clear blue, and others a candy aquamarine. These pictures remind me of the Pixar short “Day and Night” because of the contrast in colors.
We quickly realized that “fifteen minutes” really meant five, and that the cave itself was quite small, covered in pigeons threatening to poop all over us, and a quick explanation that, if we looked really close, we could see the light wafting through what was a massive cave on the other side, that could only be reached by scuba diving.
And then we headed out again.
Traipsing up the trail.
It was one of those moments where perhaps the tour itself was not worth the four or five euros, but finding out with a group of friends collectively that it wasn’t worth it was, in fact, worth the price.
Those are the best moments.
We piled onto the bus for the three hour drive home, which wasn’t so bad, with these views as the sun set.
Until tomorrow (I actually promise!)
-Kris ❤
Traveler at the Edge 