Day 108 - Medjugorje - Kravice Waterfalls - Mostar

 Thursday, October 18th, 2018.

What an amazing day we had today. My cousin's wife from Canada had asked me if we were going to Medjugorje. Honestly, I hadn't thought about it, but then we went to a bookstore and saw a book about the apparition of the Virgin of Medjugorje. When I went home I checked and learned that it was very close to Mostar. I told Gregory that it might be worth going to, but it wasn't high on my list and I didn't expect him to want to go. Well, we rented a car and decided to go since it was on our way to the Kravice waterfalls! For those who don't know, Medjugorje is a town where the Virgin allegedly appeared to 6 children in 1981 and told them secrets. The site has become an unofficial pilgrimage and people come here to pray for a miracle.

It was a beautiful experience. At first, I couldn't concentrate at all and wanted to give up mostly because I wanted to go to the bathroom. The family didn't believe i when I would go on the side of the road, but we were in a field with no one around, so I did and then I was ready to climb all the hills in the world. We did not visit the church. For me, Apparition Hill was more significant. I had no idea of what to expect!

Trying to find the way!

Finally some direction!

Finally found Apparition Hill but we still need to climb! The whole trail was rocky like this.

Climbing jagged rocks. We twisted our ankles. We also saw a few people climbing barefoot!

We saw a lot of people praying the rosary, stopping at each mystery and touching the stone behind me.

It was very moving seeing so many devotees praying

We finally made it to the top. It took us about an hour with very few stops. Actually, this isn't the top -- you can cheat and climb about 1/3 the way up and cut across. We went all the way up the hill and down the other side, following the path. We were lucky that it's not high season -- normally this area is clogged with tour bus groups. We read that Medjugorge has the most hotel accommodations in Bosnia!

Gregory sat on the rocks to meditate for a while and possibly got more out of this pilgrimage than I did!

I felt a moving energy before we made it to the apparition site. I shed some tears and prayed for the McLaurin boys who lost their mother. We all prayed for a miracle for my friend Melanie Kabo, who has brain cancer.

Sunshine told us later that this pilgrim was blessing objects and had holy water with him.

Going downhill was harder. There was not a dirt path to follow and it was hot. Definitely bring tennis shoes and a bottle of water.

Last peek of the statue of the Virgin. Daniel and Sunshine felt that the statue detracted from the impact of the site.

This entire town has become a market where they sell all sort of religious souvenirs.
KRAVICE WATERFALLS
From Medjugorje, it was a short drive to Kravice Falls. Luckily, the roads were well marked. It was even luckier because Google Maps frequently told us to go the opposite direction! Finally, Gregory told me to shut off the GPS. He wanted to go "Luke Skywalker".


Unusual sign at the waterfalls

I love this trio!

No need of words for description. But we'll try anyway. The falls are due to tufa rock. This lake is full of bathers in the summer, despite the low temperature of the water. It's not more than 5 feet deep at this time of year and in parts it's about 3 feet (1m) deep.

Should we go in? the water was very cold!


Cold water, brave girl! Daniel and Sunshine went in and crossed to the other side of the waterfalls.



Happy hubby guiding us to find more waterfalls

Found the sign (Mala kravice means small small cow). We must be going the right direction!

A strong woman leading the hike!

And to finish the perfect day and recover the burned calories, we went to Nidje Deze, a nice place recommended by a local girl. This restaurant was full and all locals. Another good sign was that the menu was only in English.
Gregory and I shared a cherry and Nutella crepe

We had the best crepes ever (better than in France -- sorry, French readers!)

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