Štrbački buk -Jajce

Mon 16/9/24

We have adjusted our sleeping time last night to 10pm so today we woke up at a normal time at 5am just nice timing to wake up for Subuh prayers. After bathing and having a cup of hot tea with light snack of biscuits that we brought from home, we set out again by the river near our accommodation to fly the drone. It has stopped raining this morning at 7am and there was more light compared to yesterday evening.

aereal shot of Kulen Vakuf

aereal shot of Kulen Vakuf

After taking some videos and pictures with the drone, we packed our bags and checked out, and headed straight to the Štrbački buk waterfall, located just 16 km away from Kulen Vakuf. We had to set the location of Restoran Buk to go there to ensure we stayed within Bosnia (BiH) and not have to cross the border to Croatia. The Štrbački buk waterfall actually is shared by 2 countries i.e. Bosnia (BiH) and Croatia where it is bordered by the Una river. Google maps will give the direction to Štrbački buk waterfall entrance on the Croatian side if we don't set the restaurant's location. 

Štrbački buk waterfall on BiH side

It took only 30 mins to drive to the waterfall and we paid 16 BAM entrance fee for 2 persons. We were the first visitor to arrive today at 8.30am, according to the Una National Park ranger. We were not sure how big the area of the waterfall is, we pictured it as big as Plitvice Lakes nearby which we visited in 2017 and allocated about 3 hours to spend there.

It turned out to be a small area only for the 3 view points of the Štrbački buk waterfall, without hiking in  the wooded area trails. Since we didn't plan to hike, and just only wanted to walk on the plankboard, we covered it within 30 minutes including time for taking pictures. Since there was no other people around, we got the area to ourselves. Other visitors only started to arrive after 9am, and it started to rain again. Also it is prohibited to fly the drone here as it is located at the border between BiH and Croatia.

Štrbački buk waterfall 

Štrbački buk waterfall 

stream at Štrbački buk waterfall 

Štrbački buk waterfall

the emerald green Una river along the way to Štrbački buk waterfall

Since we didn’t have a proper breakfast yet, we decided to eat something at the restaurant, but it turned out it was closed although google maps indicated the opening hours starts from 8am. By the time we wanted to leave the car park, a bus was approaching, so it was a good time to depart and avoid the crowd. 

We decided to drive to Bihac to have early lunch and searched for any restaurants located next to a river to enjoy the views while eating. The first restaurant River Dock restaurant was not ready yet to serve lunch, so we set out to Restoran Slap na Uni, located by the Una river with a watermill. 

watermill by Una river

For lunch today we had trout fish and cevapi again. The trout fish here is also fresh and juicy and we enjoyed our meals with coffee and chai in the chilly and rainy weather. Our lunch today cost 26 BAM  which we paid by credit card.

trout fish by the Una river

cevapi

After lunch we drove straight to our next destination - Jajce which is located 140km away. The drive took about 2 hours and we stopped by the petrol station to fill up the tank. Petrol Ron 95 here cost 2.46 BAM (RM 5.8 ) per liter. We arrived at our accommodation in Jajce - Sobe Zizi at 3pm. We booked through booking.com which cost EUR 40 per night which we paid by cash.

decor at our Jajce home

After refreshing ourselves, we walked to the Jajce waterfall in the city, located about 1km away. It was still drizzling but we just proceeded anyway. The viewpoint of the Jajce waterfall from the top near the bus station is better and free of charge, compared to at the lower platform where you will get wet and cost 10 BAM per person, which is even more expensive than the entrance fee for Štrbački buk waterfall. 

Jajce waterfall from top (free of charge)

Jajce waterfall from paid platform

There is also another viewpoint of Jajce waterfall and the fort, from a hut located on the opposite side where you have to cross the Vrbas river via the bridge. We actually walked until the end of the bridge, but it looked too dangerous to walk by the side of the road to reach the hut, so we abandoned the idea and walked back to Jajce town.

We enjoyed walking by the river and around the old town although it was still drizzling (luckily it was not that heavy) and there was not many tourists here. We decided to have dinner at Cevabdzinica Dedo restaurant which have a terrace overlooking the Vrbas river. There was not much choice here, so we opted for the cevapi and salad, which turned out to be tomatoes, with chai and coffee, as usual. Dinner cost 19.5 BAM

Jajce town with the fort on top of the hill

Vrbas river 

Esma Sultana mosque at Jajce town

After dinner, we walked some more around the old town, before returning back to our accommodation and walking along the Pliva river. We stopped by to buy a cheese and beef burek which cost 7 BAM and the supermarket on the way back to buy some fruits.

Pliva river by our home in Jajce