Have you ever visited a katun?
Living conditions in katuns are completely different compared to rural areas. In the katuns, there is no water, no electricity, and no infrastructure typical of urban areas or rural areas. Macadam roads have reached almost all katuns, and that is practically all the infrastructure available here. And the main mission of staying in a katun is to take care of livestock. These two conditions shape the overall way of life in a katun. Going to the katun itself happens in the spring, and the time of departure is different from katun to katun, depending on the height of the katun and the time when the vegetation starts to flourish. There are also so-called spring katuns, at slightly lower altitudes, which are available earlier, so cattlemen first move to the spring katun, and then move even higher to the real katun. Herdsmen from one katun usually move to the mountain together and return together. Herders usually go to the mountain on foot, and only a few family members stay in the village to take care of the fields, orchards and meadows. The men usually go to the katun a few days before, to repair what the snow and winds in the winter have damaged in the huts. From the village, everything is brought that is needed for a simple, herding life in the katun. Each member of the family has its own role in the distribution of work. What they all have in common is incredible hospitality: authentic, unlearned, natural, and passed down from generation to generation.
