"Autumn, like a sad look, I love autumn. On foggy and quiet days, I often walked into the woods, where I sat and looked at the white sky and the tips of the dark pine forest. I love to chew on sour leaves, lie on the grass with a lazy smile, listen to the shrill cries of woodpeckers, and think of all kinds of strange fantasies." This is Turgenev's gloomy and cold Russian "Autumn". In my opinion, autumn is always its most beautiful season, no matter where it is. Zabljak, the highest town in the Balkans, is sunny and colourful in autumn. The ultimate autumn colors of Durmitor National Park are like the real world of oil painting.
Here, too, you can copy Turgenev's "autumn": lying on the grass with a lazy smile, looking at the dark pine forest, listening to the call of woodpeckers
Dumitor National Park is a natural park cut off by glaciers and rivers. The strangely shaped mountain is a rock mass before the Ice Age. Europe's most famous gorge, the Tara River, winds through the mountains, and the mirror-like glacial lake reflects the ancient black pine forest on the shore. Dense native flora and rare animal species thrive here. In 1980, Dumitor National Park was inscribed on the World Natural Heritage List. It is only a 20 minute walk from the small town of Žabljak.
The small town of Zabljak is paved with roads leading to Dumitor National Park
A postcard of 3 euros is a ticket to the park and is brought back as a souvenir
I have to say that such a close distance to the city and such a low ticket is really a paradise for hiking enthusiasts. Hiking in the woods here allows you to get away from the hustle and bustle and be surrounded by nature, without losing your familiar sense of security by being too far away from the city.
In Turgenev's poems, the pine forest is black. Correspondingly, there is a vast forest area in Germany named "Black Forest", and the lake here is also called "Black Lake". I've always wondered why Europeans prefer to use "black" to describe the thickness of forests and the depth of lakes. However, the moment I came here and saw the Black Lake, this question was instantly understood.
A deep black lake with peaks formed before the Ice Age in the distance
For years, hikers from all over the world have loved the beauty of Mount Dumitor and the wind blowing between the mountains. The black lake in the park, the wave is as flat as a mirror, and all the beauty is included in it, known as the Eye of God. From above, it looks like a pair of clear blue eyes, and together with the other 17 glacial lakes on Mount Dumitor, it is also known as the "Eye of the Mountain".
The mirror-like surface of the Black Lake
The cicadas are noisy and the birdsong mountains are more quiet. The occasional wild duck swims in a graceful curve on the lake surface, setting off the beautiful tranquility of the lake.
Wild ducks swim across the lake, making it even more beautiful and quiet
Follow the lake towards the dense forest. The distance is closer, the pine forest is no longer just dark black, and the lake water has changed from blue to emerald green. Walking in it, it is as if you have stepped into the real world of oil painting, and each frame is the ultimate lake light and autumn color.
Hiking trails in the woods. Green ropes were pulled in dangerous places to ensure safety
Black Lake Autumn Colors
Black Lake is a lake of water flowing down from the melting of glaciers. It's unusually clear and exudes a refreshing coolness.
Feel the clarity and coolness of the lake up close
Dumitor National Park is also a huge nature reserve where many rare species of flora and fauna thrive, bringing life to this huge, tranquil park.
Birds singing in the woods
In the past few days of hiking in Zabljak, I like to listen to the American country folk song "Country road, take me home", whenever the "Almost heaven" melody sounds, the blue mountains, rivers, and ancient rocks in front of me give people a full sense of substitution. The vast and magnificent nature can always bring warm comfort to tired human beings.
Black Lake souvenir
Back in Zabljak, it was late afternoon. The temperature dropped significantly, and the owner of the homestay burned the heating and lit up the warm lights early. My husband and I made an ironed dinner with simple ingredients bought from the supermarket. In this Nordic town, decorate the chalets and make a Hygge memory.
Chalet with early lights on
The chalet is full of wooden elements, and a thick branch can be the most beautiful hanger
The meticulous setting by the hosts to create a Hygee in a chalet
Our simple and homely dinner
I remember a passage in Qian Zhongshu's "Siege of the City": "Travel is the most experimental way to derive a person's character." When traveling, it is the most troublesome and troublesome, and it makes human nature appear. Only those who have gone through a long period of hard work and do not hate each other can make friends. The order of honeymoon travel after marriage is reversed, should travel for a month, after a month of boats and servants, the two parties have not yet seen each other, dislike each other, but also maintain the original marriage contract, such a husband and wife guarantee that they will not divorce. ”
This is deeply true. My husband and I have worked together again and again, traveling to most countries in Europe, as well as beautiful Turkey, still tirelessly with each other, using "it's okay" to resolve the fatigue and difficulties in the journey. Just like now, we stood together in this deserted station, trying to arrange the next trip.
Behind the horses, the green-roofed cabin is the bus station in Zabljak. I didn't see the staff for days
A simple notice was posted on the station window, and "Ticket" was misspelled
But we know, no matter what, that's where we're going to get to our next stop, Kotor, the best-preserved medieval city in Europe on the Adriatic coast.
The next update is coming soon.