NIKSIC, ZABLJAK, MOJKOVAC & PODGORICA, MONTENEGRO

2016-01-12, 19:00, THORIN

STAY (PODGORICA): HOSTEL NICE PLACE

After going to Montenegro in April, we knew that we wanted to come back and see the rest of the country. Luckily, Montenegro is pretty small so we could do this in a few days. We left East Sarajevo bus station in the morning of the 8th of October, 2014, and made our way to our first stop, Niksic, the second biggest city in Montenegro. Since Bosnia is on poor terms with Montenegro over the whole war thing, the only way to get to Montenegro by public transport from Bosnia is from the Republika Srpska.

We wound through the stunning Montenegrin mountainscape as we arrived in Niksic in the early afternoon. On the bus over, we had this old babushka sitting in the front seat who insisted on greeting everybody who entered the bus with a 'Dobra dosli', which just means welcome in Bosnian/Serbian/Montenegrin/Croatian. Even the police and customs folk who came on the bus to collect passports (as is the norm in the Balkans) got a vigourous 'DOBRA DOSLI' from the front seat. It was inspiring. 

Niksic is a quiet town with a small central boulevard with a few shops. The hostel was down a small lane in the garage of some guys house. The guy to whose family it belonged was an ex-student doing some farming, and he had two good friends over who were students at the local university. We chatted to them for hours about the status of Montenegro and the ex-Yugoslavia, and all their opinions on the sociological and socioeconmic problems that befell the country. Very interesting to hear from Montenegrins (and one Slovenian), as Montenegro was very involved with Yugoslavia, but now largely forgotten except for Russian investment on the coast. Some fascinating opinions about democracy and the Yugoslav ex-dictator, Tito.

Not forgetting sightseeing, we went up some hill with a hotel on top, and also saw a church they had. All topped off though with some delicious montenegrin meal with their well known (within Montenegro) wine. In fact, throughout the Balkans, Montenegrin wine has a good reputation, and is actually pretty scrummy! Highly recommended! 

We left Niksic the next day to go around the mountain pass towns in the north of the country, famed for their scenery. We first took a bus to Zabljak to go and see the national park there. Holy mother of pearl, it is absolutely stunning. One of the most brilliant sites I have seen. But honestly the highlight of Montenegro is almost more the journey than the destination. The mountain roads with sheer drops hundreds of metres into crystalline blue rivers is just awe-inspiring.

We walked to Crno Jezero in Zabljak and meandered around the lake. Then we made our way back to the bus station to catch the next bus to Mojkovac. We had intended to go from Zabljak to Mojkovac, to the border town of Rozaje, where we intended to go over into Kosovo. However, there was absolutely no bus schedule of any kind anywhere but Zabljak bus stop, and even then it only gave bus times to Mojkovac. As it was the middle of the day, and again Montenegro is hardly a large country, we decided to hop on the next bus to Mojkovac, which took less than an hour.

The drive to Mojkovac goes along the second deepest canyon in the world, and the deepest in Europe: the Tara Canyon. We stopped at a crossroads halfway to Mojkovac to go over a cool bridge (Durdevica Tara Bridge) that had exquisite views of the canyon and the crystal clear Tara river below it. There we ate a delicious lunch of bread, cheese and veg that we had procured in Zabljak at a supermarket, and sat with our leg swinging over the drop into the canyon. 

There wasn't much in Mojkovac, so we decided to push through to Rozaje in time for a bus over into Kosovo. We reached Rozaje around 4pm, only to be told that there was only one daily bus to Kosovo, even over the border ~40km to Peja in Kosov. We then had the option of staying in Rozaje, or going to Podgorica, where we could catch a bus to Kosovo.

We walked around Rozaje a bit, and it was one of the first places where we felt highly conspicuous. Usually in the Balkans, people go about their business, paying little attention to tourists (even if they don't see them too often). However, in Rozaje we felt like we stuck out like a sore thumb. Unlike Zabljak, which has a national park on its doorstep, and is quite affluent from a modest ski industry in the winter, Rozaje is a poor, poor quasi-refugee town with a majority Albanian population, very much in a country where they are not wanted. Montenegrins with whom we interacted all had a very poor view of Albania and Albanians (although Albania was great when we went in May), and this further perpetuates the distressed feeling in the town. There was a strong ambience of sadness and restlessness in the air which was slightly disconcerting.

We then made the decision to go and visit Podgorica, and stay in a hostel there. The only hotel in Rozaje charged €30 a night, whereas a hostel in Podgorica cost ~ €8. Since the bus only cost a euro or two, we decided to see the rest of the country (essentially) and travel south to the capital. Initially Podgorica hadn't been on our list of places to travel to; Montenegro is strange wherein travelling around the country is an absolute pleasure, however many towns and cities not on the coast (i.e. not Kotor, Herceg Novi, Budva, etc) are strangely depressing. The country has a lonely feeling to it, due to the heavy unemployment brought on by industry abandoning the country in the wake of the break up of Yugoslavia. We felt the down feeling in Niksic and expected it in Podgorica.

We got to Podgorica, and made for a hostel we had in mind, which luckily had some beds spare. Podgorica was better than we expected, with some nice architecture and cool ruins of the old castle. We found a heaving Cevapi shop (the Balkan Shawarma essentially, absolutely delicious and pretty cheap, although straight to the hips) and walked around the city at night. 

In the morning we hopped onto a bus to Kosovo, went through Rozaje (ironically) and made it to Pristina!