Retrospective: Lost In Bosnia With A Land Rover And An Omega Speedmaster “Ed White”

My Speedmaster “Ed White,” 10 years older than my car, made the trip almost untouched. I can’t say the same about my Land Rover, which left me behind three times due to fuel-delivery issues. Otherwise, it was one beautiful trip full of dust, off-the-grid gravel roads, majestic views, jokes on walkie-talkies, dreaming in the forest, and sleeping under the stars.

Last year, my wife and I bought a small country house just next to the forest. It’s the kind of property I always dreamed about. The road ends there. Well, calling it a “road” would be an overstatement. The house sits on a tiny hill on the edge of a huge, sloping meadow with forests on two sides. It’s my weekend escape from meetings and the busy city.

The right vehicle for the job

While the house is romantic, it wasn’t and still isn’t in great shape. I spend most of my free time there, reconstructing it. And I can’t do that without a proper car that can handle everything from pulling old tree trunks out of the ground to transporting construction material and climbing in muddy terrain.

I reached out to Vlado from Heyus, a special workshop for restoring old Land Rovers. I didn’t have a €250,000 budget for a reimagined Defender resto mod, but I was sure he would help me find an original Land Rover Series piece for a fraction of the budget. As much as Vlado loves his builds, he can appreciate all-original cars that tell stories through their patina. Vlado, who scouts old Land Rovers from anywhere between the Mediterranean and Scandinavia, accepted the challenge and began the hunt.

My Norwegian workhorse

It took us about two months to find a car for me. I have to say I enjoyed the process. I’d be sunk deep in whatever office drill when, occasionally, I’d get a message from Vlado about cars he had discovered. It was an interesting exercise that helped me understand what I liked and needed. Initially, I wanted a shorter Series II, but I ended up with a 109 long-wheelbase version that “worked” for the Norwegian military. It has bigger wheels, higher ground clearance, and two fuel tanks. Upon arrival, it only got basic maintenance to keep it rolling. Besides that, we put the long hood down, installed the truck cabin, and brush-painted it sandy yellow. Vlado also installed an original capstan winch, and I took it home.

Trip idea

My three-year-old son named the car Orange. It made Vlado laugh, but he didn’t say anything. Orange and I have known each other for about a year now. It’s an old car that gets stubborn from time to time, but that’s part of the game, and I accept it. Vlado has always helped to get it back on the road. For months, every time he and I met, we talked about rounding up a few Land Rover enthusiasts and going on a trip. That finally happened early this month.

Being spontaneous

Until we set out on the road, I had no clue where we were going. And I didn’t care much, to be honest. I knew I would be somewhere in the woods, bonding with my car and like-minded Land Rover enthusiasts. And what a lineup there was! The five included my truck, a “stripped” 1965 Series II that was as authentic as you can imagine, and a practically NOS blue Series III with a short wheelbase and 8,000 kilometers on the odometer. Vlado drove his father’s 1997 diesel Defender, and our local guide drove a four-door long-wheelbase Land Rover. What a mix!

Watch selection

Thanks to my recent love affair with my Omega Speedmaster “Ed White” ref. 105.003, selecting a watch was not difficult this time. I hadn’t checked the weather, but I was not even afraid of rain. I expected I could end up diving into the engine bay, but I was not worried about that either. And I was not planning to take the watch off my wrist while working on the car. I didn’t buy this Speedmaster for it to sit in a safe, so before the trip, I made peace with the idea that Ed White might end up in service upon my return.

Abandoned radar site

We all met on Monday afternoon close to Plitvice Lake in Croatia. We got the cars ready and set out on our first short trip. With our cars, we climbed the peak of Gola Plješevica, about 1,648 meters above sea level, to a strategic wartime installation, the Plješevica radar site. This facility housed a British-made Marconi S‑600 long-range early-warning radar capable of detecting aircraft up to 400 kilometers away, including incursions over Italy, Austria, and Hungary. The massive abandoned concrete buildings, strong wind, rotten jerrycans, and barracks with destroyed beds left a strong impression on me.

The next chilling stop

Our first stop on the second day was the nearby Željava Air Base, also known as Objekt 505. Driving through the massive underground military complex built during the Cold War on the border between present-day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina was an even more impactful experience. Željava was one of Europe’s largest and most advanced air bases in its day. Its reinforced tunnels stretch over 3.5 kilometers inside a mountain! These tunnels were designed to withstand a nuclear blast and could house up to 80 MiG fighter jets, making the base, which was destroyed and abandoned during the Yugoslav Wars in 1992, a key strategic asset for the former Yugoslav Air Force.

Highlights of the trip

Then, we moved from Croatia to Bosnia, where we stayed for another two days. We drove through Una National Park, which is one of the most stunning natural areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There, we enjoyed a swim in the Una River and were left speechless in the tiny village of Martin Brod. I couldn’t get enough of those turquoise waterfalls, probably the most picturesque falls I have ever seen.

We kept driving until we hit the turn to a grave road to Šotolske Lake, which I later learned was an incorrect name for Šatorsko Lake. Surrounded by dense pine forests, dramatic rock faces, and sweeping alpine meadows, the lake offers a scene straight out of a fantasy novel. It is about 300 meters long and up to eight meters deep. The drive there felt like it would never end. But I was happy we made it before the sun set. We decided to bivouac on a small forest clearing to get a nice view of the rocks and lake. After climbing up a steep hill, standing on three wheels, and crawling through mud, I was quite happy to call it a day.

Morning tea

Waking up to see how golden beams of sunlight brush the tops of the cliffs was priceless. One of my friends slept on the deck of his Land Rover, while three friends slept on the ground, just in their sleeping bags. I admired them. Looking at them made my tent feel like a luxury hotel room. In the morning, with my Ed White strapped to my wrist, I pulled out my camping stuff, lit the stove, and heated some tea. I wouldn’t have minded staying at the lake for another day, but we had to hit the road again.

Unwanted highlight of the day

We headed towards the town of Livno, on the rugged Cincar Mountain plateau, hoping to meet a herd of wild horses thundering across the open Bosnian landscape. Those horses are descendants of domestic animals abandoned during the 1970s and 1980s when agricultural mechanization reduced the need for working horses. Over time, these horses adapted to the mountainous environment, forming a free-roaming herd that now numbers over 800 horses. The area is untouched by fences, so the horses are guided only by instinct and wind. Encountering them is like stepping into another world — untamed, raw, and thrilling. The sad thing? I didn’t make it there. My car broke down about five kilometers from our destination.

The rest of the crew continued and managed to meet the wild beauty. Land Rover master Vlado and I decided to get my car fixed. Unfortunately, what we hoped would take 15 minutes ended up costing us about three or four hours. Orange seemed to struggle with fuel delivery. We cleaned the fuel pump, which was full of snake-like slime. So were the fuel pipes. We eventually cleaned them but had to do so again twice over the next two days.

Ed White

Even while doing all the dirty stuff around the fuel tank or the engine bay, I kept my Speedmaster Ed White on my wrist. I thought taking it off would be more dangerous since I might forget about it. At the end of the day, I noticed a few scratches on the acrylic crystal, but those are easy to fix. I took the watch off my wrist only when we went for a swim and jumped into wild water springs for some evening refreshment.

Each morning, as we set out on a journey, I started the chronograph. We never drove longer than 12 hours and usually finished after 10 or 11. Anytime I looked at my wrist, it made me smile. The Speedy Ed White’s presence on my wrist is just about perfect, and the dial patina matched my Land Rover to a tee. One thing bugged me, though: I forgot to take a lamp. When going to sleep in the darkness, I couldn’t read the time. As expected from a watch of this age, the lume is already dead. In that regard, my Oris × Fratello edition won big time.

Heading towards the sea

The next day, we drove mostly on highways. Our objective was clear — cross the border back to Croatia and jump into the sea in the evening. We enjoyed sunny coastal views, stopped at historic city centers, and reached the beach close to Šibenik around 4:00 PM. We found a little bay, jumped into the water, and had a few beers while chatting and laughing. Life is beautiful.

Destination: home

We reached our destination on day five. While the rest of the crew jumped into a comfy BMW 7, Vlado and I took it slowly back home. Vlado had his Defender towing my Land Rover on a trailer, while I sat behind the wheel of the other blue SWB Land Rover. The initial plan was to drive it to Zagreb and leave it with some of Vlado’s friends, but I enjoyed driving this blue, practically new Land Rover so much that I told Vlado I wouldn’t mind taking it all the way home. With a maximum speed of 80–90 km/h, we decided to get off the highways. I put in earbuds and, while listening to podcasts or calling my friends, we hit the road once again. Ten hours passed quickly, and at about 1:00 AM, we arrived home.

Last thoughts

I had no expectations for this trip. I was not sure my Land Rover would make it, but it sort of did. Vlado showed me there isn’t a car breakdown to fear. Everything can be fixed. Also, being in the woods for 36 hours with no digital connection was refreshing. I made new friends, bonded with my car and Speedmaster Ed White, and saw the wonderful nature of Bosnia and Croatia. I am already looking forward to the Land Rover trip next summer. Vlado promised to take us to the island of Hvar. He knows the island inside out and has already teased us that we will climb more rocks, crawl through mud, and winch ourselves out when we get stuck.

Thanks to Otto Vollmann and Erik Gajdos for the beautiful photos.