Day 18: Gornja Košana to Ocizla

Today was to be the last big day of walking. Approximately 30 kilometers plus some adventure trails and we wanted to stop and see the caves. Early to rise, grabbed our packed breakfast/lunch and set off. It was a pretty nice walk in relatively cool temperatures. Of course the path we followed and Dr. Lynch’s Plot-a-Route map didn’t match….again. No worries. We know how to navigate. We stopped after a couple of hours at a 24-hour cafe that was closed (nice) and had a bite to eat on the terrace. We continued and made our way to the river gorge where we had to use some cables and ladders. Not really that hard but we had to use caution. Eventually, we made it to the caves and much to our chagrin, it’s another tourist trap. You’d think we would learn. It’s funny that those who criticize most of the things about and along the EPW actually love the touristy stops. Makes us think they chose the wrong place to spend their “holiday”. Tour buses await them. But, we had made the effort to get there and we chose to take a tour. In all fairness, there are some grand things to see but it just wasn’t worth the time, 5k walk or Euro. We spent two hours there and during that time the temperatures began to rise significantly. We ate a little lunch and were back on the trail. This afternoon’s walk was really a buzzkill of sorts. The cue sheet said “You’ll love today’s walk”. The morning was very good, but walking on a gravel path within earshot of the super highway was not peaceful at all during the second part. We crushed the distance though and arrived at the hostel at 3:30. This was touted as some great hostel but it’s nothing special really (and a bit overpriced for what it is). We were supposed to get a meal here for 8 euro but our host took us to a neighboring town where the restaurant had a pig on a spit out front. We got a decent meal with dessert and are now back preparing for our last walking day tomorrow.