Dobrun caves

It was a good try. I think. Or maybe I should have pushed harder. But ... it was getting difficult to stay on the slope, even with some smaller trees around me. But in the end I turned around, and did not reach the Dobrun cave in the mountains of eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina... the slope was loose gravel, and getting steeper on every step. No sign of paths. I do wonder though, I could *see* the cave but not reach it! And reportedly monks have lived in the cave, is there another path?

Perhaps there is. But the approach from another direction would have required a boat to get further in the river, as the cliffs around the river were vertical. I had attempted to walk up a forested scree slope towards the cave. And even to get to the this slope I had to stop on the highway where there's two houses and cross a railway just across the tunnel. Not to mention a border crossing from Serbia that at different times can take up to three hours to cross...

But be that as it may, I failed. Maybe there would have been a different path further up the river. Maybe a from the other side of the mountain, from the other side of the railway tunnel. Or maybe I should have started climbing the rocky cliffs next to the scree slope. There were some walkable paths, but they were not a straight path to the cave, and I had no idea if the detours would have led to the cave.

Here's a photo of the bushy slope up to the cave:

Fortunately, at the bottom of the scree slope there was the river, the river was crossable on my bare feet and only getting my shorts wet. And on the other side of the river there was definitely a cave. Not a big one, but still maybe 25m by 10m, kind of a shelter cave at the bottom of the cliff against the river. 

This cave was used as a party place, so filled with human stuff, chairs, bar tables, even a stage... interesting. Let's call it the Dobrun Party Cave! But all done for the love and fun in mind.

Interestingly, the party cave had some very real-looking cave paintings, obviously done recently... but wow, nice!

Sadly, though, compare to the ones the dimwits in Finland paint in our caves sigh:

Anyway, my first Bosnian cave was therefore visited, even if it wasn't the one I originally wanted to reach :-)

The real cave is at N 43.7513819 E 19.4064237. The party cave is at N 43.7509942 E 19.4050658. And the railway tunnel west entrance is at N 43.7504393 E 19.4062374.

NEVER VENTURE INTO TUNNELS, ESPECIALLY RAILWAY TUNNELS IN USE, CAVES, OR HIKE UP STEEP MOUNTAIN SIDES OR CLIFFS. THESE CAN BE DANGEROUS AND RESULT IN INJURY OR DEATH!

Main cave:

Party cave:

Crossing to the party cave:

Railway tunnel:

On the same trip I also visited a nearby cave on the other side of the border, the article is here.

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos and text (c) 2016-2024 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.  I never photograph pools, beaches or saunas unless the facility is closed or empty.