Montenegro. (Oct 22)
Within minutes of arriving in Montenegro I just knew this would be an experience I wouldn’t forget. My landlady at my accommodation explained that she came here from Lichtenstein back in the 1980s when Montenegro was part of the Soviet Union’s Yugoslavia. She married a local and settled down. She went on to say “I went back home to Lichtenstein a few years ago but the people there had changed – they are so busy they have forgotten how to live”. That was probably more of a profound sentence than she had meant it to be, but it resonated and summed up the main reason I am here having ditched my 30+ year career for a much simpler life driving trucks (not being quite ready to retire). I now do more of the things that really matter, like seeing friends, family and having experiences like this. I made a conscious decision a few years ago to leave the rat race behind. My compass has now been well and truly reset! Priorities now in the right order… Whilst I now travel most places with Emma, I took this trip on my own. I’ve a bit more flexibility than her, and occasionally like doing stuff that she’d not enjoy as much. It also helps when a certain low cost airline is knocking out return flights for £19:98 and accommodation can be found for £14 a night!
So onto the trip… On arrival I made my way to a cycle hire shop in central Podgorica where I rented a touring bike for five days. It was then a 15km ride along the Morača river valley to a village south of Goričani/Горичани and my accommodation – smack bang in the middle of nowhere!
After ditching my rucksack I spent the rest of the day cycling though the valley and getting a feel for the place.
Tuesday, and I cycled a bit further south to the picturesque village of Virpazar which is nestled along the western shores of Lake Skadar close to the mouth of the river Morača. After breakfast I hired a kayak and spent several hours exploring its clear waters and tributaries. I reckon in one day alone I’ve seen more butterflies than I’ve seen all year, and so many turquoise blue kingfishers that I lost count. With no plans and having the water pretty much to myself, I approached some old ruins on a tiny island.
Unfortunately, there was nowhere obvious to land, so I pushed on. I was surrounded by cormorants and pelicans, all of which kept a healthy distance. I eventually spotted what looked like a beach on the southern shore; it was the only place I had seen all day that I thought I could make a safe landing. I am so glad I did as it turned out to be at the base of a remote restaurant that trades solely on pre-organised boat trippers.
The establishment doesn’t have any road access to speak of, so has taken many years to build with much of the material being brought by boat. Care has been taken to ensure the restaurant has been designed with the environment in mind. This accounts for the high number of large wild olive and fig trees in and around the buildings, and why I couldn’t see it from the lake. Today they had a group of 80 Germans heading over for a set menu. They don’t get many lone kayakers rock up unannounced, so the owner and staff were very interested in what I was up to. When the boat eventually arrived I grabbed a beer or two, made myself scarce and headed for the beach. After the East German group left, tranquility returned. The place was empty again, just me, the owner’s daughter – Angela, one other guest – Donatella, and the staff.
I ordered some food and afterwards we chatted away the rest of the afternoon. I then headed back across the lake on my kayak with memories of a wonderful paradise found, along with a brief encounter with some locals who could not have been more welcoming.
Day three and a visit to the old fortress town of Stari Bar and a walk through its ruins. I took my bike on the train as the tunnel through the mountain prohibits cycles. It was early enough for breakfast and a Turkish Coffee before starting to explore…
This old town is well worth a visit, especially when empty and out of season. Quirky to say the least with amazing history. The bike ride was about 6km from the train station and uphill all the way, but that led for a nice ride back in the afternoon, and having worked up a sweat I headed for the Adriatic coast for a dip. I stopped at a few beaches along the route heading for Sutomore, a popular coastal town with a long pebbly beach. I also found a few nice bars to relax in and ate before heading back to my accommodation by train at dusk.
The soviet era trains and infrastructure here remind me a little of India. Brutally functional! If a station is large enough to have multiple tracks it’s a bit of a lottery as to which track the train will arrive at.
So everyone just walks across the live tracks to get to their train. It seems to work! And graffiti – well, think of the 1970s New York subway! I am pretty sure that one train I was on was delayed by ten minutes because the driver and conductor were enjoying a coffee and chatting to a cafe owner at one of the small stations we stopped at. There appeared to be no other reason for the delay other than this conversation! No one on the train seemed to mind. An extreme example of what my landlady was saying earlier.
I headed into Thursday wondering what to do next without any predetermined plan. I’m starting to get into the Montenegrin swing of things now! I considered a bus ride to one of the more famous coastal attractions along Montenegro’s northern Adriatic, but elected instead for a cycle along the mountain roads of Skadar Lake, I had read a number of really positive reviews on one particular route so thought, let’s do it. A hearty breakfast and padded shorts needed. I knew it would be a hard cycle.
What an amazing day it turned out to be:
After breakfast I headed “up” into the mountains. Up is an understatement – as “up” didn’t stop for about three hours, but through some of the most amazing scenery I’ve ever seen. After I reached my destination, a peak overlooking the Albanian mountains, I started to head back.
The highlight of the day came when I made a detour to find an old abandoned fishing village called Pristan. The steep road turned to sand, sand gravel, then into a path and then the most eerie of places awaited. Fishing nets looked like they’d been bagged up and left yesterday, but the homes were in ruins. A little spooky if I’m honest, but it was also blessed with an abundance of wildlife. Pelicans, hawks, falcons, snakes, mantises to name but a few so well worth the detour. On my journey back I got talking to a farmer and his wife, they were just about the only people I’d seen all day. After showing interest in the farm they invited me into his distillery, they were making Rakija (moonshine style) from the grapes left over from wine in an outhouse/shed in the middle of the vines. An impromptu tour started, along with a detailed explanation of the distillation process. The man, Vasko (not sure if that’s spelt right) thrust a shot of fresh 55%++ Rakija in my direction which went straight down the hatch (but not too fast – that would be considered rude, and not forgetting to keep eye contact, as is the tradition). This was swiftly followed by a glass of unfiltered wine direct from the cellar store. Amazing people, amazing hospitality. Of course, when I left I offered to pay for the wine and Rakija but he steadfastly refused, appearing to be genuinely happy to be able to explain how things work on his farm. I felt so lucky to be able to see this very basic, and timeless process first hand. When I left I slipped a bank note under the windshield wiper of his car so he would find it later. How could I not!
I then headed to the only restaurant for about ten miles and settled down for some more home cooked food and local wine before the downhill part of the day took me back to the train station and back to base.
With a very late flight I was able to really relax into my final day. I cycled to Žabljak Crnojevića Fortress only a few miles from my accommodation. Wow. Authentic Montenegro at its best, and a place with huge history. As I crossed the village bridge, weighed down by my rucksack and airplane bag tied to the bike rack, I smelt the distinctive burning of logs and into view came another old boy with yet another moonshine distillery in full swing. He too was making Rakija and this time the setting could not have been more timeless, beside an ancient bridge, beneath the village and historical fortress almost a thousand years old. His dog came up to greet me (well my ankles) and we tried a conversation but it wasn’t as successful as my last. He did manage to tell me the best way to the fortress, which I visited but not before popping into the only place with any sign of life, a local cafe on a rickety old river boat. It didn’t sell any food but was well stocked with alcohol! So Turkish coffee and Rakija for breakfast it is then! Well that’s what the locals appeared to be having, and “when in Rome ….”. A great liquid breakfast watching kingfishers skim over the water and trying to convince myself that the Rakija is good for me this early in the day. The views from the fortress over the flat delta were breathtaking. A large herd of wild horses could be seen on the shores of another nearby lake. I learned later (when talking to a villager as I left for my return cycle to Podgorica) that this village is cut off for months over winter when the seasonal water levels rise. A harsh life, and explained why there were multiple carefully stacked piles of cut fire wood on the high ground outside every house.
I’m going to miss this place and I hope that the handful of people who have got this far reading what I’ve got to say about this trip to Montenegro are tempted to give this country a visit. I know I ramble on too much and wax lyrical about the places I go, but this place has a certain “something else”. It’s raw, magical and stunningly beautiful, its people are genuinely warm and kind, and it is an area so full of history. The only downside is that they really do need to sort out their waste and recycling which is nothing short of a disaster, but I’m sure their integration into the EU will sort that out in the years to come as standards level up.
From speaking to other travellers and locals over the past few days it would appear the forests in the north are a must see, with bear and wolf packs still roaming wild. So maybe I’ll be back to explore that part of the country next. But I’m so glad I took the time to slow down and explore this small corner of the south and got to meet the people I did. Had I been tearing about by car trying to fit too much in and tick boxes, I’d have certainly missed the best bits – and that’s the people!
