At Podbrdo village, a 3km (5KM) taxi ride from away central Međugorje, streams of the faithful climb Brdo Ukazanja hill on red-earth paths studded with sharp stones. They're headed for a white statue of the Virgin Mary marking the site of the original 1981 visions. If you're fit you could nip up and back in 20 minutes but pilgrims spend an hour or more contemplating and praying at way stations, a few walking barefoot in deliberately painful acts of penitence.
