Came back yesterday from the trip.
Absolutely overwhelmed with so many different emotions.
The village I stayed at is so old, the houses look like they were deserted and forgotten before WW2. There are no young people there, just old(er) people who live the same life every day - working on little pieces of land, and making milk and cheese out of their cattle (cows and sheep). The domestic animals are absolutely free to roam the entire mountain range - the cows, sheep just go around and eat grass, dogs follow tourists on their hikes... Everything just feels slow and at peace.
The days are warm, the nights are cold, the nature is harsh and untouched, yet welcoming and absolutely gorgeous.
Pushed myself to the limit physically and mentally, constantly had to overcome fear (and failed twice and gave up), climbed the highest peak of Serbia (if you exclude Kosovo & Metohija) at 2169m, climbed up to see Serbia's biggest waterfall at 232m, and generally just hiked as much as I could. Lots of dangers involved, including getting caught off-trail in the dark, steep slopes, wild animals (venomous snakes being the biggest threat) - luckily we encountered none, technically demanding and dangerous trails... Lots of things could've gone wrong and a lot of them would've meant at least a serious injury. Luckily, nothing did and we had an amazing time.
Panorama (Midzor peak in the top right corner at 2169m)
Kaludjerski Skok waterfall (232m)
Donji Piljski waterfall (64m)
We were always in a hurry though, trying to see as much as we could. Almost no time to enjoy, reflect or process. It was a rush - a damn good one - but what I missed was a day (or two) when we would just get out and enjoy everything - the air, the silence, the weather, the views...
At one point I just fantasized about buying/building a house there somewhere and working from there. That's how great the place is.
I do not think we'll go back though - the country is full of amazing places to discover, but I think I'll always remember this trip.
Here are some more images:
Snowy peaks of the Midzor massif
A tear-shaped puddle near one of the peaks
A look at the final ascent to Midzor (with a height difference of about 700m) - we used the ridges on the left
Snow up top
Cow turd near the peak