Janjske Otoke // Walden

What is it that makes nature so burdensome to write about? Okay, we can rule out my crippling limitations as a writer, although that is almost certainly the answer. It has to be, right? People have been writing about nature since people started writing about anything. You can mention Walden here if you must. It is what everyone is thinking.

I can’t do it. I’m sure I could do it poorly, but what is the point of that? I could fill this article with sweeping statements of love and adoration for streams, waterfalls, and the relentless green surrounding them. The serenity, the tranquillity. About the peace that nature provides and how being close to water produces an inner calm, the importance of which cannot be overstated. About how important it is to connect with the natural world around us, even as we neglect it in a suicidal commitment to our own obliteration.

But, and I’m sorry to labour the point, I can’t do it. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. We can never have enough of nature. Breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit and resign yourself to the influence of the earth. Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.

Is that enough Walden for you?

It isn’t redundant for me to talk about the beauty of Janjske Otoke. Quite the opposite, really. A little slice of paradise (serene, tranquil, tranquil, serene) 4km from the source of the Janj river, it blew me away. I wasn’t expecting it at all, although that is my fault. Do your research, travel writers.

We arrived at Janjske Otoke before lunch, after a brief stop at the tourist information office in Šipovo. Upon arriving at the office, the staff told me how excellent their rakija was and suggested we start the day with a glass. Now, do not judge me, but it is impossible to say no in such situations. The only thing I could do was agree, say how good an idea it was, and do everything in my power to avoid any clocks. It was good rakija, for sure, although I could have done without the second that immediately followed it. I made the mistake of looking at my watch. 10:45 am. Travel writing is hard.

And so, with a plum-based pep in our collective step, we headed to Janjske Otoke. The journey was punctuated with the hopes and dreams of Šipovo’s ambitious team, of developing the area as a nature hotspot offering excellent fishing, hunting, picnic spots and all the rest. Now, I’m obviously not in favour of hunting, but who am I to criticise such things? Šipovo isn’t Welshpool. As always, I retired into comfortable acquiescence, happy to make haphazard notes and gaze at the scenery as it trundled by outside.

And then, Janjske Otoke. Was it love at first sight? To cut a long story short, it was. I immediately dreamt of just packing everything in and moving there. I could pass my days reading books by the streams, reading books by the waterfalls, reading books surrounded by relentless green. After all, how many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book?

Walden.

Janjske Otoke is every bit the celebration of nature that I am struggling to accurately convey. Such things can’t be conveyed, at least not by a man of my limits. I told you this, I have the same relationship with God, the one espoused by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the 9th-century jurist from Baghdad, the idea that it is not acceptable for humans with their limited understanding to impose categories and concepts upon God. Only God has the authority to describe himself. Yes, that one.

Only Janjske Otoke has the authority to describe itself. I hope paraphrasing isn’t disprespectful, but if the impossibility of beauty isn’t God, I don’t know what it is. Every morning is a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity.

I’ve never actually read Walden. All travel writers are liars.

It wasn’t as if we did much at Janjske Otoke. We were there for an hour or two, and that time was passed embracing the serenity of it all. Are there two more overused words in travel writing than serenity and tranquillity? It doesn’t matter. They fit here. We walked down to a waterfall, where we happened upon a rainbow that ran directly into the cascade. In this case, it wasn’t too good to be true. It was real. All travel writers are liars, but a broken clock is correct twice a day.

And then, we left. We stopped at a nearby flour mill to pick up a bag. The place was staffed by convivial folks who offered coffee and (more) rakija, a much stronger variety than the one enjoyed at the office a few hours earlier. As I check my notes from that day, I see that I referred to it as the ‘strongest rakija ever’. We got back into the car and headed to our next stop, a small community development not far from Mrkonjić Grad. Another story for another day? Another story for another day. We came perilously close to smashing a dog. The scenery was Wales on steroids. Janjske Otoke was my happy place, and if I ever find the quietude to appreciate it properly, maybe I will be brave enough to try again.

Janjske Otoke // Walden

Mostar // RAMBO

Rogatica // I Always Heard Better in the Dark