Prokletije Mountains: From a bird's eye view

When it's a bright sunny day, and there's not a single cloud in the sky, every trip turns into a pleasure.
And even a plane flight.

When it's a flight with an appointment in the middle of the day, and when it comes to a flight with a smaller plane, powered by two propellers (ATR72), flying at lower altitudes, and when flying over land, the landscapes you can see below you are fantastic.

Especially when it is mountainous regions, so the highest is not actually 7000 meters, but the plane is separated from the mountain peaks by 4000-5000m.

Then you can clearly see cities, rivers, lakes and especially mountain peaks on the ground.

Winter is also coming to an end according to the calendar.
There has been no snow in the lower regions for a long time (this year's winter was mild, so there was almost no snow).
Snow stayed only on the highest mountain peaks, which I had the opportunity to see for myself by looking through the elliptical window of the plane.

I flew from Belgrade to Tirana, the capital of Albania.
Over the green areas of Šumadija and the Pešter Plateau, we flew over Bijelo Polje and Berane in Montenegro and approached the border between Montenegro and Albania.

Šumadija

Berane

Back in 1995, I was visiting a friend in Plav, who lives in a small town by the lake at the foot of the high mountains, when the beautiful Plav Lake made a strong impression on me.

Plav Lake

I had the opportunity to see it from a height and only now do I realize how hidden the lake is between the mountains and why the water in it is so blue, clear and clean.

Well, all the waters of these surrounding mountains flow into it.
The water simply has to be mountain clean, because from the mountain tops to the lake, there is nothing that would contaminate it.

Then a friend took me to the border with Albania to visit a military watchtower on one of the peaks of the nearby mountains.
Inaccessible terrain and large height differences are a clear sign that these are serious mountains.

And so unapproachable and inhospitable, the people called them "Proklete"(Cursed), hence the adopted name "Prokletije".

The Prokletije National Nature Park with the mountain range surrounding Lake Plav was then impossible to pass, and with this rush, I realized that crossing it would be worthy of real alpinists and true heroes, not tourists, which I was then.

In the history of Serbia (participant in World War I, on the side of the winner), these mountain peaks are known as the Albanian Golgotha.

In November 1915, the supreme command of the Serbian army, due to strong attacks by the Austro-Hungarian and German forces, made a decision to withdraw the army to Durrës and Wallona, ​​from where it would then be transferred to Corfu.

Strong winter, inaccessible terrain and attacks by Albanian tribes took many human lives that November and December, on these mountains, leaving their bones forever under this snow.

The evil fate of a people and unfortunate people who walked on foot in the winter and snow makes these pictures very emotional for me and apart from a beautiful photo, which I will keep as a reminder of their suffering, it also represents a piece of history for me.

On these mountain peaks, the question is whether anyone will ever put the tag #WorldMapPin, so I am doing it virtually now, from 4000 meters above them, in a blue sunny sky.

I am completing the Dinaric mountain range, it extends over a wide area and extends in Serbia, Montenegro and Albania.
In Serbia, the highest peak is "Đeravica", in Montenegro "Zli kolac", and on the Albanian side it is "Jezerski vrh".

Which of these photographed peaks is the highest, I could not make out, so if anyone knows, if they have hiked on them. can share with us.
I have the memory of these beautiful snow-covered mountain peaks, and I don't know if I will ever have the opportunity to hike on them in my life.

If I ever dare to take that step, I will have with me not a WorldMapPin sticker, but a real flag for sticking to the highest peak.

Thank you for stopping by my post and I hope you enjoyed the photos and the story I shared with you

All photos are my property, taken with a mobile phone