Montenegro day 3: Fast and crazy

Tuesday, 4th October 2022

Our host met us at the flat at check-out time to profusely apologise about the tourist tax mess-up yesterday and, surprising us completely, gave us back the €6. Clearly a honest man!

We are renting a car for 2 weeks from MTL Rent a Car Montenegro. We met them at their office, 10min walk from the flat. We asked how were Montenegrin drivers. 'Fast and crazy' was the quick reply. This could be fun...

Driving out of Podgorica was busy. At junctions it felt like all lights turn green at the same time. When you turn on a junction you need to be careful of incoming traffic and pedestrians crossing. It gets a bit confusing. Adding to that, Montenegrins seem to park wherever it suits them and, if there isn't enough space, parking the nose and leaving the rear sticking out onto the road is an option. Pedestrians look uncertain whether to cross when you stop to let them cross. Here you have to just go and pray for the best. The majority of cars will stop, but only if you are already on the crossing.

Once out of Podgorica, it was gentle sailing. The mountain road was fantastic, quite empty and scenic.

We stopped for a quick snack and stretch our legs at Hotel Sokoline, which has great views.

There was one stop today before our final destination: Ostrog Monastery.

Ostrog Monastery (Manastir Ostrog) belongs to the Serbian Orthodox Church and is the main holy place and pilgrimage place in Montenegro. It is dedicated to St. Basil of Ostrog (Sveti Vasilije Ostroški), Metropolitan Bishop of Herzegovina in the 17th century, who died and was buried here in 1672 and some years later glorified.

The monastery complex consists of a Lower Monastery and an Upper Monastery.

We parked the car where we found other cars parked, which was slightly north of the Lower Monastery. There are toilets and a church at this parking area.

The monks are clearly not a fan of drones.

We took the stairs off the parking and walked a well marked trail up to the Upper Monastery. It's steep and it's part of the pilgrimage route.

Upper Monastery:

Entrance

Basic rules to comply within the monastery complex.

Fountains greet you at the entrance. 

The newer fountains.

The older fountains.

On the support buildings there is a coffee shop which was closed but there were vending machines outside. A large gift shop. A room for candle lighting.

The Upper Monastery is carved on the rock above the Bjelopavlići Plain, 900m high. Built on the 17th century and renovated in 1923-26 after a fire which had destroyed the major part of the complex. It explains why it looks brand new.

Room for candle lighting.

In the most sacred part of the monastery, photography is not allowed.

Note the umbrellas ready to shade the hoards of pilgrims in the Summer.

There are two little cave-churches, the key areas of the monument which were spared by the fire. 

One cave is called the Church of the Presentation, a very small cave where St. Basil of Ostrog relics lie in a coffin, covered by embroidered cloths. A priest stands praying by its side. The wall paintings have been darkened by the smoke of the candles.

The other cave is called Church of the Holy Cross and it's a small chapel with very well kept wall paintings. Clearly, less candle lighting in this room.

There is a balcony with amazing views onto the plain.

We descended the pedestrian trail back to the car and a pilgrim walks past us. Tradition dictates that pilgrims walk barefoot and they still do.

Lower Monastery:

Entrance

There is a church, the Church of the Holy Trinity, built in 1824.

This is where the monks residences are.

Entrance to the monastery is free and it's open 6am-5pm (May-Sept) & 5am-4pm (Oct-Apr).

From the monastery the mountain roads become even more fun. First it gets so narrow that you need to be careful with oncoming traffic, then it widens but a succession of zigzag bends with the regular hairpin bend keeps you wide awake. Dancing between 3rd and 4th gear with a 2nd gear on the hairpin bends, what could be more fun?

We confirm that Montenegrins are 'fast and crazy'. Twice we saw very dangerous overtaking. There was no space, they were coming too fast, I had to slow down to let them pass.

Stops on the way for some scenic picture taking.

Our destination and where we will be staying for the next week is Razvršje, a very small village south of Žabljak and just on the border of Durmitor NP.

Durmitor NP is a national park since 1952 and has UNESCO World Natural and Cultural Heritage status since 1980. It is Montenegro's biggest national park and covers an area of 32.000 ha. 

The massif, as the Durmitor mountain is called, is comprised of limestone and surrounded by European Black Pine. The massif is part of the Dinaric Alps, that stretches from Italy to Albania.

The park's main features are:

• 48 peaks, 23 of which above 2200m, highest is Bobotov Kuk at 2523m.
• 18 glacial lakes located around or above 1500m called 'mountain eyes' due to the purity of their water.
• 3 canyons, Tara river canyon being the second biggest in the world.

We rented a chalet in Razvršje with mountain views(Holiday Homes B&V). The host was waiting at the chalet to greet us and assured us the tourist tax had ben paid. I do hope so...

We dropped off our stuff and went looking for dinner in Žabljak.

Finding a restaurant with an available table proved to be difficult. It took a while but we found one at Restoran Durmitor. The food was good, again desserts weren't interesting so we skipped them, service was good. For 3 mains + 1 salad + 3 drinks we paid €43.

Ten stuffed cevapchici

Njegusi steak

Durmitor steak