The Two Towers

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Hello my fellow travellers!

I left Cleon early this morning and I must admit that I was quite tired from all the beers last night, I'm getting old I guess. Well, I took the 7 am bus to Shkodra where I would take the 4 pm bus to Ulcinj. This plan gave me a good six hours to check out Shkodra and on the top of the list was of course the impressive Rozafa Castle located only a couple of kilometres from the city.

Before I set out for the castle though I took a peek of the Great Mosque but to be honest it didn't really strike my fancy so I didn't linger there for long. It actually turned out to be quite a hike to get to the fortress anyway because the locals actually don't seem to know the way there, or my attempts to tell them where I'm going was way to bad! Whatever the reason was it took me a while and I was soaking by the time I got to the castle but it was so worth it! Not the walk, but the castle, I can honestly say that just take the bus straight away, there wasn't really anything on the way there that caught my eye and the road to the castle is pretty rundown.

The castle though is quite open so you can explore it, including the underground parts, without anyone hindering you and it's a really neat experience going down below the ground. The location is great and you get a really panoramic view of not only Shkodra but also of where the rivers conflate. While I was up there I met a great guy from Kosovo who lives in Australia and his family. I told him that I liked Prishtina and we agreed that it has come a long way since the war.

Rozafa Castle was originally built by the Illyrians around 350 BC and it remained an Illyrian stronghold until it was captured by the Romans in 167 BC, since then it has been in the hands of several owners, including the Ottomans and the Venetians, and it has been the site of several famous sieges such as the siege by the Ottomans in 1478 and the siege by the Montenegrins in 1912.

There is a really fascinating legend surrounding the castle and it's name. It's named after a woman, Rozafa, who was buried alive in it's foundation during it's construction. According to legend the castle was built by three brothers but the walls kept falling down, refusing to stand in place what they built during the day would fall during the night. One day they met a clever old man who advised them that a sacrifice was required in order for the walls to stand.

The brothers found it very difficult though on deciding who to sacrifice but finally they decided that one of their wives would have to be the sacrifice. Every day one of their wives would bring them lunch at the castle and they came to terms that whoever would bring them the lunch the following day would be the one sacrificed. They also vowed to not speak of this to their wives but both the older brothers broke their word and told their wives about the decision. Only the youngest brother kept true to his word and so his wife was not informed of what was to happen the next day.

As lunchtime came the following day the brothers waited anxiously to see whom of the wives would be carrying the lunch of the day and naturally it turned out to be the wife of the honest youngest brother. He told his wife about their decision and the reason for it and she didn't protest, understanding that it was her destiny to be walled in alive, so she agreed to be their sacrifice but under certain conditions. She had a newborn son whom she worried about so she agreed to be walled in only if certain parts of her was left in the open to be able to care for her son. Her request is immortalised in a poem that goes like this:

I plead, when you wall me, leave my right eye exposed, leave my right hand exposed, leave my right foot exposed. For the sake of my newborn son, so that when he starts crying, let me see him with one eye, let me caress him with one hand, let me feed him with one breast, let me rock his cradle with one foot. May the castle breast be walled, may the castle rise strong, may my son be happy.

After my visit here I actually took a bus back to the centre where I looked around for a while and ate a bit before I caught the bus to Ulcinj. Travelling here is really cheap, from Tirana to Shkodra it was only 300 ALL and from Shkodra to Ulcinj it was only 400 ALL. The bus ride to Ulcinj presented the most amazing scenery and you should take it for that alone, trust me you won't regret it! You travel along the side of deep valleys and breathtaking mountains. Every bit of the way will stun you with it's beauty!



Once I reached Montenegro I had to change my plans a bit though, I still hadn't been able to find a host anywhere in Montenegro and I knew that it would be dark in Podgorica by the time I reached it even if I took the first available bus out of Ulcinj. So rather than risk ending up spending the night at the bus station in Podgorica I decided to extend my time in Ulcinj instead and then just go with the night bus from Podgorica to Sarajevo to arrive there earlier since I already have a host ready there. So, with a bus ticket for a night bus changing in Podgorica and going to Sarajevo bought and ready I set off from the bus station to see what I could manage in Ulcinj with the limited time available to me.

I can say it is a beautiful, but very touristy, city. There are quite literally hundreds of tourists crowding everywhere here and I often found myself waddling rather than walking to try and get to where I was heading. Just as in Shkodra the castle was my main objective, this one however is far more easy to access (once you manage to get through the crowds) and it is really beautiful up there! I actually think I' might come back here with my girlfriend for a longer vacation some day since the climate is great and both the beach and the old town are beautiful.

Ulcinj Castle is a very old one, dating back some two millennia, of course it has been changed over the years by the various rulers of the city, all from the original Illyrians to the Romans and Byzantians, the Venetians and Ottomans and of course the Serbs and now the Montenegrin. I wish I had more time to explore the castle and the old city within it but with thew massive crowds it unfortunately took a long time to get anywhere within the city and I had to turn back to the bus station before I had a time to really see it but that is how travelling is sometimes, I will just have to return to Montenegro another time to see more of it.

Tomorrow morning I will arrive in Sarajevo and I really look forward to see what this town whom have seen such important historical events have to offer!

Until tomorrow I wish you all peace and happy travels!

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