Lukomir, the Highest Inhabited Village in Bosnia

On P-day, our whole Sarajevo district of missionaries went to Lukomir, the highest inhabited village in Bosnia.

It's about a 2 hour drive to the SW and past the 1984 Olympic ski villages on Ingman Mountain. The scenic drive is mostly paved up until the last 16 KM of gravel road - then it's REALLY slow going. Lukomir sits in the middle of the Dinaric Alps and at the edge of a very deep canyon. 

The scenery is wild and rugged. We saw shepherds tending their sheep and on the way back, the band of wild horses that inhabits the area. 

Those who live in the village welcomed us and invited us to purchase hand-knitted hats, mittens and slippers. There are about 10 families who live there, but becuase of the elevation, most relocate during the worst of winter. They had larege lovely gardens, filled with potatoes, onions and cabbage. We had packed a lunch and enjoy eating the beautiful sunshine. 

As we got ready to go, I observed an partly open door into the kitchen to the "Pansion-Restoran, Kod Rehe i Zejnila" (a bed n breakfast/restaurant) 

The woman proprietor was making "burek" and allowed me to snap a few pictures of the process. I was delighted!

I've written about burek before and I've eaten may fair share of burek, but I've never seen it made. Burek is a meat filled dough. The dough is very thin, almost like filo. This woman had rolled her homemade dough very thinly, on a table covered in a flour-dusted sturdy cloth. When the dough was paper thin, she sprinkles bits of uncooked meat in a line. She then carefully started to roll the dough around the line of meat. 

After she had started the process with her hands, she lifted the cloth, to roll the entire log together (super smart idea!). When the meat had been encased by 2 rotations, she trimmed the dough and spiraled the burek log, like a snail, into a round metal pan. She was very skilled at this technique and I could tell she had made burek for many many years. I wished I was going to be around for dinner!

I am grateful she was willing to let me watch and take a few pictures.  

A few more pics, 

And some "fun and games" with the young missionaries and jumping pictures. 

The young missionaries hiked down the canyon from Lukomir to Ummoljani. Elder Lamb read about some ancient tombstones on the way to Lukomir - so while the young missionaries were hiking, we stopped to check them out. The midieval "stecci"/tombstones date about 12th century. Most were very weather worn, but on a few, one could see carved ornamentation. 

It was a super fun day!