Montenegro: Mountains, Lakes & Sea

Moving from Serbia into Montenegro, we know we are moving into a small country, only some eleven years independent from Serbia, that has just joined NATO and is also ambitious to join the EU, so we are fascinated to try and understand how this country works.

We drive through Serbia to Mojkovac in northern Montenegro, noticing that the quality of the roads improve as we cross the border. They become increasingly steep and winding before we stop at a mountain campsite. As in Serbia, we notice unfinished houses as we travel; we later learn how families tend to provide extensions or additional houses for their sons as they mature, building as they can afford, daughters moving away to live with their partners' families; unsurprisingly, some modern women are railing against tradition, it seems

From this campsite we all take a 4x4 trip in convoy to visit the national park which proves to be a quite breathtaking experience, revealing a country with remote inaccessible parts and canyons 1.3 km deep. The campsite is run by a family who have lived here for generations and make it clear that they want us to feel part of their family; it certainly gives us warm feeling, which is not a bad start in Montenegro.

The 4x4 trip

 Yes, it's snow

The Tara Bridge

A small monastry church near the campsite

After three enjoyable nights here, we journey south to a site on the coast Petrovac.

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We take an all-day coach trip from the site to explore the nearby National Park and the surrounding Lovćen mountains, only some 5km from the sea but rising rapidly to 1.5 - 2 km. The coach journey is an education, not least in how to negotiate narrow roads with dozens of hairpin bends with traffic in the opposite direction. Terrifying.
See for yourself
We see the old city of Kotor and Cetinje, the original capital. A long but brilliant day, rounded off with a drink at a beachside café.

Sveti Stefan - holiday island

Cetinje

The seat of religious power....

Looking down to Tivat from on high

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It's Saturday, a free day.. so it's up later, buy ant killer (don't ask), chat, relax, beach, lunch... then we explore the coast a little in the Touareg.  We arrive at the unique St. Stevan (see above), park the car and then the lightening flashes and the heavens open. After sitting it out for a while we head further north to brighter skies and, after a supermarket shop, arrive at Budva, where we visit the wonderful old town.

Sitting in a beachside café, the six o'clock church bells call the orthodox Christians to prayer and we have the chance to see and experience this in the old town setting; another memorable moment.

We eat in a restaurant just outside the town wall, next to the marina, with wall to wall with luxury yachts: interesting indeed. In the high season, this town is swelled by a considerable number of holidaymakers from Europe but most travel from Russia and the Ukraine. We like it as we see it now...

We make it back to the campsite at dusk and pick up details of tomorrow's itinerary from the tour leaders; no lie-in tomorrow, then.

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So, it's tomorrow now, if you see what I mean, and we take a group coach tour to lake Skadar and the town of Bar. We take a boat trip on the lake, visiting one of the lakeside monasteries, which includes a personal tour of the church by a resident monk.

Lakeside

Happily photogenic monk

The town of Bar is our last town visit in Montenegro and is, therefore, tinged with a note of sadness as we explore this historic Muslem settlement.

Mosque from old town Bar

Old Ottoman aqueduct (well, it would hardly be new, would it...)

So, we're off to Croatia tomorrow, visiting Dubrovnik for three days and that means goodbye beautiful Montenegro and goodbye from this post.

See you soon.

Monastery Mission

We head east from Zlatibor for a completely different face of Serbia. We pass through the picturesque Ovčar-Kablar Gorge but the hidden gems are the 17th Century Monastery Churches hidden in the dense woodlands on the gorge slopes.

It's not possible to visit these with the 'van on the back so we head for the next 'site' which is a sporting centre basketball pitch, drop off the van and head out some 30km or so to visit the famous Studenica Monastery  - after setting up the dish to record the Monaco Grand Prix... of course.

We take a couple of motorhomers and have a really interesting time, also visiting the local Žiča monastery, which provides a contrast. These are working monasteries, allowing visitors to view the buildings and original frescoes. We feel privileged to be allowed into these communities - no photos of the interiors allowed of course.




How do you get eighteen motorhomes/caravans onto a basketball pitch? Here's how:

The Studenica Monastery (more info)

Žiča Monastery (more info)

Montenegro tomorrow, all being well. That means a new post. See you soon.

Serbia - moving south

We follow the route from Siófok to Zlatibor as devised by ACSI, who are running the tour. Can't believe how pot-holed the roads are in places - although we were warned. Extremely interesting, though, as we pass through small towns and the National Park.

..they get much worse than this....

The sat nav says it all - apart from the steep gradients, that is....

Oh, forgot the donkey carts...

But it all makes for a memorable journey.. and that's why we're here. It's noticeable what a positive attitude this group has; no one seems to be negative.

And here we are... from green to grey.. (blobs, that is)

More tomorrow - here for three days.

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It's raining again but we take a trip west some 25km from the site on narrow winding roads to see some local Serbian sites, including the Stopića Pećina (caves), a waterfall at Gostilje and a restored wooden village made up of real 19th Century houses that have been transported and re-assembled to show how Serbians lived at that time. Fascinating, actually.
We enjoy a really nice coffee (Turkish again for me) in Gostilje before we move on.
Each of these places charge - but a couple of pounds in total at the most. We just miss coachloads of schoolchildren at each of these sites; apparently it's visits time in the Serbian school calendar - and it certainly shows.

The Wooden Village

On the way back we call in at the local Ski Resort town of Zlatibor to shop and also take a walk up to a memorial above the town in memory of Serbs executed by the Nazis towards the end of the war.

Upon our return, we're told that a local car rally passes close the the campsite so off we scamper to watch, returning after the first leg for a late dinner. We hear that there was a nasty accident in the second stage unfortunately.

I set up the satellite dish to record Monaco F1 qualifying tomorrow - because we're out on a trip to see a pretend wooden village, which is actually a film set, and to travel on a narrow gauge tourist train which rises 300m in 1.3 km by travelling in a figue of eight. Clever stuff.  This used to be a vital transport link when originally constructed with great difficulty.

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Film set:

With old cars from the communist era

Including a stretch Trabby

Our tourist train, it's not..

But this is - made in Romania

A Peugeot 504 train thingy

The driver obligingly opens up the engine cover for us train fans

So - back 'home', I find the recording of Monaco qualifying from German RTL has been successful so a couple of F1-fans join me in watching it in the 'van. Sad to see Jenson's successful return rewarded by having to start from the back because of yet another Honda power unit failure. Ouch!

A short journey to stay in a 'campsite' on a sporting stadium tomorrow to see a Serbian monastery.
Bye for now.

Serbia!

Note: limited connectivity means delayed pictures...

Breakfast in Hungary, Lunch in Croatia, Dinner in Serbia.
Not bad, I say. As the dinner in Serbia involved local beer, wierd schnapps, followed by strong Serbian coffee (think quadruple Turkish coffee) it's best that this post is continued tomorrow..
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Fresh as daisies next morning, we use the Touareg to visit the local town, Scremska Mitrovica, which sits atop unexcavated Roman ruins. In sunny hot weather we see local historic churches and take lemonade in the square, which seems to be the thing to do. It's also cheap. Clearly, there aren't the resources to maintain the historic buildings (or maybe some buildings have negative memories...) but, with it's footbridge over the wide Savi river, it looks a nice place to live.

We decide to head some 60km to Novi Sad, the second largest city in Serbia but as we head there the darkening skies release lightening and sheets of rain causing the road to turn into a river in places. Negotiating this and a couple of accidents, we make Novi Sad and, eventually, park the car in a park where we can pay without opening a telephone account.

A (very) wet Novi Sad... Note the preparations for the EXIT festival

The city is big, thriving, and has some of the EU chains; clearly there is money around. We eat, take a look at the cathedral then motor over the Danube to see the Petrovardin Fortress and museum which is smallish but the staff are very helpful and allow us to see the underground tunnel and well system. Well worth a look. We decide we're wet enough after the museum and forego exploration of the large fortress itself,  heading back 'home', getting there around 6.30.
A good day and we feel lucky at being able to use the Treg to explore in this way.

A trip to Belgrade tomorrow, led by our intrepid 'Jack of all trades' and campsite owner Jovan, a man of considerable influence around these parts.
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Belgrade, a city of some two million inhabitants, proudly modern but with a tumultuous history, set at the confluence of the Danube and Savi rivers.

We join the coach trip with the group to experience a guided walking and coach tour, with a little time to ourselves. The local guide provides vast amounts of detail of the history of Serbia and Belgrade, some of which we remember. Actually being here underlines the reading we've done - and the fact that massive change has been so recent, too. Clearly there are strong and different opinions about the recent past and the path that Serbia should take in the future.

Have some random photos:

Breathtaking opulence beneath the cathedral which is undergoing major refurbishment.

The residence of Princess Ljubica in the mid nineteenth Century - now a museum.

Protest against NATO bombings

...and that's it from here. Moving south tomorrow.

News just in... and quite remarkable, too. New Leader