I admit that I was
a bit worried when I found out about the 2013 ICF Wildwater Canoeing World Cup
Final taking place during the exact time we were supposed to be in Banja Luka.
I was worried that it could affect our entire trip’s schedule and prevent us
from rafting down Vrbas River, an experience I was so keen to explore… Luckily,
it was clearly meant to be and I’ll tell you in a minute why.
Entering Bosnia and
Herzegovina close to sunset after a stopover in Belgrade and a couple of hours
on the Croatian motorway was bliss for me because I had clearly missed it too
much. Night was creeping in as we found ourselves closer and closer to Banja
Luka. In spite of my aggravating cold, I still managed to keep my senses as
acute as possible and enjoy the city.
My friends and I
were very tired, but decided to go and get some beers after checking in at our
hostel. The heat was still poignant and Banja Luka’s centre was swarming with
people in hip and trendy outfits. Was this triggered by a usual Saturday night
or by the Fresh Wave Fest 2013 under way in Republika Srpska’s administrative
capital? I was left wondering. Well, we were there for the river and for the related
adrenaline, so it was an early night after the refreshing Nektar beers we had
on our room’s terrace.
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2013 ICF Wildwater Canoeing World Cup Final |
The cool air of
that Sunday morning was a blessing after a night spent with our room’s door
open. After picking up some delicious pastry, we decided to try our luck and get
to the 2013 ICF Wildwater Canoeing World Cup Final to see the individuals and
teams in action [we had been warned that we might not be allowed to go by car
and that we might have to walk a lot to get to the section of the river the
competition was held on, but I was prepared to do that]. I had always dreamt of
watching such a competition and – like all my wishes this year – it became a
reality. Sooner than we knew it, we had our parking permit and I was climbing the
rocks framing the river together with my girls.
Vrbas River looked
greenish, foamy, and a bit scary in my opinion. I was watching the athletes
struggle with certain rapids, trying to find the best line and get the best
times, I was feeling lucky to be there and at the same time wondering if
struggling was what we were about to do in our raft, on the river. And then I
received the SMS from Ognjen [who helped us a lot in organising the Vrbas rafting
episode!] and I knew that our day was getting even better,
because our rafting adventure was still on, in the afternoon, after the award
ceremony of the Canoeing World Cup Final.
We returned to
Banja Luka, but our search for stores to shop and some traditional (late) lunch
took us back to ‘Orthodox’ Motel [it was Sunday!], which gave us another chance
to be close to the river, while enjoying the delicious food. We met Ognjen there
at 3:30p.m. and Goran, who was going to be our skipper, arrived there soon.
After deciding on the longer and more demanding route (Bijeli buk – Karanovac), we were off.
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With Goran, Iulia, and Andra after the finish line :) |
As we got into the water and passed some white foamy rapids and some
high waves, Goran told us that we could relax, because the most difficult part
of our route was now behind us. :) We continued to paddle and to watch the
banks of the river with the green and wild views unfold before our eyes; we
talked and talked with Goran, which turned our rafting experience into an
extremely fun and informative one. We got to understand water better, we got to
understand Vrbas better, its type of rocks, its underwater soil, and the rapids
it formed. The traditional beer break followed and – by the time we reached the
section we had watched during the Canoeing World Cup Final – we felt very
relaxed and confident. Not only did we make it safe and sound through those
tricky rapids, but we also got to try out several traverses and managed to
really function as a team, which boosted our level of confidence. It was one
complete rafting experience, including a section considered by some as the best
sprint section in the world.
We would have liked to
stay a bit longer, but it was already night, the rain started pouring down on
us and we were on to another adventure in another place of magical Bosnia. We’ll
definitely be back!
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