A low-key war is simmering on this mountain in Serbia, and photos reveal the reason why (PHOTO)
Pristine nature attracts tourists, mountaineers, naturalists
We fought for every inch of this country, for the cities and navigable rivers, crossing them and retreating. The peasants, the warriors, have now launched a new fight in peace - not with rifles, but with axes, barricades, and with noise. This time they are defending nothing but pure nature.
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The vast expanses of the Stara (Old) Mountain are barely inhabited, which is precisely what lures in tourists, mountaineers and nature lovers from all over the country.
Here you will see wild horses, but also those domesticated that have been released to their freedom. If you knock on the door of a house that still has an owner, one of a handful of local peasants, they will welcome you as if you were a member of their family.
As you stroll through the woods, you will come across a clear stream, with trout swimming between the rocks.
Wash your face, cool yourself, taste the fresh mountain water.
Look into the distance, you must be able to see Midzor somewhere, the highest peak in central Serbia, taller than Kopaonik with its 2,169 meters.
Forests and mountains, stone and manure, the scent of medicinal grasses and pristine meadows.
There's a small goat, a small cow, a hunchbacked peasant walking home one step at a time, carrying the burden of the mountain life on his shoulders, but without faltering and without complaining.
But over the past year or two, there has been unease in this area.
No, people are not afraid of the Bulgarians, nor of the Germans, nor of airplanes and bombers. They fear greed.
This struggle has united all nations who share these hills and valleys, rivers and pastures.
Some people from the city have come here to fence things, to install systems, to tame nature, while the peasants know it isn't to be played with - nature must be respected and it must be fought for.
When you look at these photos, you will understand why there is a hue and cry these days on Stara Mountain.
VIDEO: 400 people climb up Midzor at dawn:
(M.B.)