Night hiking to mysterious Mt Rtanj top in Serbia
CLIMBERS’ PARADISE: Rtanj is a mountain situated about 200 km from Belgrade in Southeast Serbia. It is a pyramid-shaped mountain and its highest peak is called Siljak with a height of 1,565 meters.
WHY MYSTERIOUS: The Siljak peak possesses a very high magnetic field and emits electromagnetic radiations. There are many fringe theories regarding the pyramid and is the favourite place for believers of paranormal activities. People believe that the pyramidal shape of the mountain is due to an alien pyramid emitting mystical energies. Many people have flocked here prior to the predicted 2012 Mayan Doomsday, believing it will protect them. Moreover, some believe that the pyramid is the launch pad of aliens and there are reports of UFO sightings at the top.
OUR HIKING TRIP: We started at 9 pm from Novi Sad city of Serbia and a group of hikers in Belgrade joined us. About 35 people aboard the bus from Belgrade and reached the Rtanj base (village at the foothill of mount Rtanj) by 1 am. We 40 people started hiking at 1:30 am from the base (a few joined us directly at the base). Here it is important to tell that we were led by a professional hiker named Djordje (George) who is highly experienced in hiking operations particularly the peak Siljak. Interestingly, a small dog (maybe a pet dog) also accompanied us and matched our steps. It was really an awesome scenario.
We managed to reach the summit by 5 am a perfect time to enjoy the sunrise. Although it was very cold at the top the joy of conquering the Siljak didn’t let us feel cold. Then the moment of “Sunrise” came and we felt like we were at the entrance of heaven. All of us were keen to capture the moments in pictures, but in my thinking, some moments were best kept in our mind through our eyes and gave us the same feeling when we remember the memories. After spending some time at the summit we started climbing down altogether and we managed to reach the base by 9:30 am. All this way the small dog was always there with us to the summit and back to the base.
BREAKFAST AT THE RTANJ VILLAGE: I am always interested to try the traditional village cuisines and here we got the chance to feast on traditional European village breakfast. We had homemade bread, scrambled eggs and freshly prepared cheese with special Rtanj green tea. It is important to mention here that we also tried homemade Rakya which is a very famous homemade alcoholic drink in Serbian villages.
Finally, we started our journey back at 11:30 and reached back to Novi Sad by 3: 30 pm. It was really an awesome trip and my first-night trek.
(The writer is an Assistant Professor with Novisad University)