Gari and the Deer Leap Bridge

After hiking to the Duf Waterfall, we drove along the southern border of the Mavrovo National Park, headed to the tiny village of Gari. Along the way, we would pause at the ancient stone Deer Leap Bridge.

When a bridge has a name like “Deer Leap”, you might suspect that there’s some sort of legend behind it. In this case, my friend, you would be correct. The story is that long ago, an Ottoman lord hunting in Mavrovo had shot an arrow int the flank of a deer, but the animal would not go down. I...