Day 8: Plav to Vusanje
Sunday 2 August 2026, 22.6km, 1270m up, 1080m down

Zeppelin Hotel to Guest House Kollata

Last night , over dinner, we discussed the options for today’s hike. According to the Cicerone guidebook, the hike to Vusanje commences with a 10 km walk up a dirt road that starts gradually but culminates in a very steep climb. Apparently many hikers opt to take a jeep ride up the road, reducing the walk from 27km to just a 17km hike. The jeep option was possible but fairly expensive and further reading suggested that the whole hike length was closer to 21 or 22 km not the 27 claimed by the guide book.

In view of this, we were up at 7 and headed over to the nearby cafe to be the first there when it opened.  Unfortunately, perhaps because of the concert last night, the cafe was closed. The other nearby cafes were only serving coffees. The only brekkie option seemed to be a local bakery where we bought pastries and yoghurt drinks to fuel us before the hike.

By 8 o’clock, we were on the road, making good time in the pleasant cool air of the forest. Although the climb was steep in parts, when the forest opened up to meadow at the top of the mountain, we were rewarded with spectacular views – rock faces separated by pine forests or lush grassy slopes on the mountains nearby and pockets of unmelted snow glistening in the sun.

After lunch we continued along the ridgetop to another peak with 360 degree views of dramatic mountains all around.

Following this we commenced the steep descent down mostly 4WD tracks to the town of Vusanje. The afternoon sun beat down on us, now walking on an unsheltered path, and we were happy to see a place selling cold drinks. We enjoyed these in the shade of a tree before walking the final  short distance to Guest House Kollata.