Karling klub Vukovi

NUSANTARA spent its 23rd excursion in the region of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić – on Saturday, May the 12th, members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship travelled to Podrinje.

The Saturday’s gathering started at the „Tronoški vajati“ ethno village, known as „the place where a fairy tale always lives“. Milun Mića Radovanović, manager of the estate, welcomed the guests and spoke about advantages being at disposal of visitors in „Tronoški vajati“. The tour of the ethno village was an actual lesson in ethnology for younger members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship and a reminder for the elderly on previous ways of life. The estate abounds in authentic objects dating back to the end of the XIX and the beginning of the XX century. The visitors gladly photographed themselves before the „Regional Museum“, incorporated in the ethno village, a store, a liqueur celler, a workshop for processing forest fruits and plants, a textile mill, a carpenter workshop; they also had a chance to see an authentic watermill, one of the rare ones in the region working uninterruptedly, and buy some flour made on the spot.

On the road to the Tronoša monastery, members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship visited the Jugović Brothers’ fountain. As tradition has it, a 10-tube fountain, through which water has been flowing with the same intensity for centuries, was erected by the Jugović Brothers in 1388. The ten tubes represent the nine Jugović Brothers and their father, old Jug Bogdan.

The Tronoša monastery, endowment of king Dragutin, who had got this part of Podrinje as a dowry, celebrated 700 years of its existence last year. Besides hearing an audio-recording, relating the history of the monastery, played at the monastery church, members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship also visited the „Museum of the early schooling of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić“, located in the Tronoša churchyard. The monastery reputed to be „older than a legend“ has had a turbulent history; it is unique in Serbia for the „Farmers’ Candles“, special tradition within the Serbian Orthodox Church. The excursionists found out the way locals from the surrounding villages collected wax and made the „Farmers’ Candles“. The candles, weighing approximately more than 55 kg, are lit on Sundays and religious holidays. That Saturday, St. Vasilije Ostroški was celebrated – the candles burnt that morning, too…

The stay in Tršić was used for lunch at the „Vukov gaj“ restaurant. Members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship visited the house of Vuk’s birth then and took a look at surrounding outbuildings. In the times of Turkish occupation, Vuk’s native house was burnt ten times – what NUSANTARA saw that Saturday was the eleventh house, built on the same foundations, in the same fashion.

The following spot on the Saturday’s itinerary was the Forest of Budimlija. Senior members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship chose a short break at the „Klub Budimlija“ resort. Younger members walked a 1.5 km-long clear forest path across the centuries-old beech forest, leading to the Skakavac waterfall. Besides being the only waterfall on the Gučevo mountain, Skakavac is a habitat to three animal species protected by the law, whose presence is a clear sign of water being crystal clear.

In front of the Skakavac waterfall, NUSANTARA heard a real anthropology lecture about the place, considered by a popular belief to bring its visitors luck in love. The waterfall, it is believed for centuries, has been auspicious for both single girls and women having difficulties to conceive.

The Saturday’s excursion ended with a visit to the „Sunčana reka“ ethno village. On the shore of Drina precisely, on the spot in whose immediate proximity the First World War had broken out, the excursionists had an opportunity to relax, walk in nature, learn about rich history of Podrinje, as well as to see photographs from the shooting of „The Unbeatable Heart“ and „Her Mother’s Sin“ TV series, directed by Zdravko Šotra and filmed by RTS in the „Sunčana reka“ ethno village.

Biljana Đorđević