Tourism is booming in our country this year. The streets of the cities are full of tourists who mostly come for nature. Among the most visited destinations is Martin Brod, a fairytale village in the Una National Park.
Whatever language they speak, all guests are speechless, enchanted by the waterfall and greenery in Martin Brod. The watermill of the Reljić family, which is more than three hundred years old, also fits into the tourist offer. Here, grain is milled for generations, and laundry is also washed, in a specific way in the so-called noisemakers. They say, you can earn something from it.
“The most important thing is that the washroom does not use any detergent, no soap, nothing. Only strong water pressure that washes those things. Every service is charged, and so are we. A standard blanket that is brought. It is symbolically 2 BAM to wash and dry it. It’s good for people, and for us too,” Dragan Reljić from Martin Brod says.
A hundred or so locals host thousands and thousands of tourists every year. In this village near Bihać in the summer you can, for example, meet Chinese, Arabs, Italians… and of course tourists from all over the former Yugoslavia.
“We found out about the river Una and these beautiful waterfalls that are located here through the Internet. We decided to come to you in Bosnia every year, the nature is beautiful, nothing has been destroyed. You should preserve it,” says tourist from Slovenia David Frice.
“We come from Opatija, we were at the sea for a few days, so we decided to extend our vacation by visiting this landscape. We like it very much. The waterfalls, the people, how we were greeted… The vibe in the air is calm, nature in the air, we feel good “, says tourist from Croatia David Pavković.
And while he is a tourist, those who live there manage to earn a few marks in various ways. The impossibility of employment is one of the reasons that their descendants went to live in bigger cities. There are only three students in the school.
“Since this year, a lot of people from Martin Brod have been working here. Most of them are domestic products. We have our own honey, cow’s cheese, we make sweets. We have our own nuts, medovača,” Radenko Kovačević points out.
“Whoever wants to work, can earn. Grandma sits, knits, and earns,” says Ljiljana Karanović.
And so life in Martin Brod goes on for centuries, nature does not change, people age. 97-year-old Božo Reljić also welcomed us at the door of his home. Martin Brod is also a place with the secret of a long life.
“Let me tell you… As far as life is concerned, any man who takes care of his health can live a long time. Here, people are about my age. There is little air, it is clean, there are no traffic jams here. Secondly, the river Una is there, it blows either up or down, the wind contributes to the clean air always,” says Božo Reljić.
Nature played with this place in the most beautiful way. Because of these waterfalls, Martin Brod is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
