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In addition to the idea of getting away from the hot Belgrade streets over the weekend, I wrote down one "Must do" task for myself - a Gondola ride on Zlatibor.

The whole #WeekendExperiences came down to that experience for me 😃

The plan was to drive to Zlatibor on Saturday, drink coffee in a restaurant on the Zlatibor lake and buy homemade brandy and jam at the Zlatibor market...

Old town Užice

In the evening visit some of the bars under the open sky (this time it was the bar of the Bor by Karizma hotel) where we drank Malfy gin and tonic cocktails and take advantage of the freshness mountain nights for a night walk and slightly better quality sleep.

And on Sunday to take a gondola trip to the top of Tornik.
I waited until I returned home, so that I could write: Task accomplished, experience incredible 😀

Zlatibor is not a high mountain. Tornik is only 1496m above sea level, but for me, who lives in a town located at 120m above sea level, it is a mountain.
And a serious one 😀
So serious that I would never dare to go to the top as pedestian.
I already used the help of the cable car during the last tour of Tornik peak, which you can see here.

This weekend I decided to reach Tornik with the help of the Gold Gondola, one ride under the motto "Assistance to the top".

Assistance is required for this undertaking, unless you decide to reach the top by car or quad bike. There is definitely a way, as soon as the driver of this Porsche reached the top.

The route of the Gold gondola is 9 km long, and the speed of the cabins is 6 m/s. It is said to be the longest panoramic gondola in the world, and on its route it crosses over Lake Ribnica, where the intermediate station is located.

When I went to Tornik by cable car last time, it took me about 40 minutes to get to the bottom, plus 15 minutes by cable car.
And now we covered this distance by gondola, all the way to the top, in less than 30 minutes, with a view of beautiful landscapes..

The start of the Gold Gondola is in the center of Zlatibor, next to the bus station, which is still under construction.

Near the lake there is the Midstation, where it is possible to take a break and tour this lake, and the next station is also the last one on the top of Tornik.

When we were last in Tornik, the Gold gondola was under construction. Now the paths have been built, the new Gondola Bar and benches and swings have been arranged, while the observation tower has been dismantled.

There is a mountain house, where you can relax and enjoy the view.

We took a little long break in a coffee restaurant, walked around the area, enjoyed the views of the landscape, and when we started back, we stopped by the lake.

I saw swimmers and people in boats, as well as a dam, so I wanted to go down to the lake and see what the water was like.

I was not allowed to enter the dam, as access was prohibited, so I reached the water.

This is not water I would like to swim in. Maybe at the other end of the lake, where there are organized beaches, the entrance to the water is a little less rocky, so it's OK to enter and swim, but here, where I approached the lake, it seems very inaccessible.

Due to the high temperature, and since we were not equipped for swimming, we did not stay too long.

We walked a bit in the forest, rested in the shade of golden pines and caught a cab back to Zlatibor.

The total gondola ride takes about half an hour and is very pleasant even on a warm day, because the cabin has windows through which fresh air enters.

The cable car we used to go up to Tornik last time is now out of service. There is probably not much interest in going to the top from the foot of the mountain, and even if there is, the question is how to spend time in the hot mountain sun on open seats.
Like this, with the wind gently blowing, the sounds of chirping birds, sheltered from the sun, we enjoyed the 1-hour drive.