Montenegro - Day 3 - Biograska National Park, Ziplining, Black Lake

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Early the next morning, we made our way to the local restaurant our guide sent us to have our breakfast, which was really good. We shared plates of eggs, grilled veggies and bread. After breakfast, we hit the grocery store where L and I picked up rum (pronounced room) and Coke Zero, then we all packed up, got in the bus, and drove about 1.5 minutes to the nearby clinic for our PCR test. We waited a bit, but it was small with just a couple people waiting for their turn. Then the two nurses / techs came outside and gave us our test in the fresh air. It was not my favorite test, they kept the nasal swab in there for far longer than I am used to and swabbed the mouth too - but Namibia was still by far the worst test I have had, it hurt for a half hour afterwards....

Biogradska National Park

Anyway, we then continued onto Biogradska National Park. Biogradska Gora is one of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and is one of the last virgin rainforests in Europe. The park was initially donated to King Nicola I by the people after freeing the region from Ottoman rule in 1878. He rarely went there and the people still were able to hunt some, but it formally became a protected national park in 1952.

We pulled into the wooded parking area and got together our stuff for the day's hike while hanging out at the beautiful lake. Such a gorgeous spot already! We took some photos and then proceeded up to the path, where we ran into many people exploring this wooded area. The path curved up following the road and its switchbacks or steep shortcuts through the woods. Some of these shortcuts were very steep, but the trail was on the forest floor so nice soft soils, while we crossed a few fallen trees and stream beds. But it was just so pleasant walking through the trees - god, I miss trees living in the Middle East... We kept a pretty consistent, but unhurried pace. Milan basically said that this was a test for the next day's more intense hike, so he was purposely putting us on the steep slopes up. It was quite humid, and with the trees, the sun did not really break through so in the shade it was cool - generally a perfect day. We got to one viewpoint up past the steep slopes for a short break and continued along the road.

Around 12:00, we reached our goal for lunch. Walking along the path, we came upon a meadow where we encountered a woman who worked at what appeared to be a restaurant, she was asking where we were from and seemed surprised by all the different answers, until Milan clarified we were all from Dubai. But that was not the spot. So we walked to the end of the meadow where we were getting a home cooked meal by a local family. The two women gave us a warm greeting and the man shook hands with his giant and rough hands. Apparently, he had said the ladies of our group could join the women inside to see how to cook the food. The guys laughed about this. Yes, it was interesting, but after hiking for three hours, I instead opted for a cold beer (no wine available).

The food came and we opted to eat inside because it was just a slight chill in the air. Oh. Em. Gee. The food was amazing. Vegetarian, which was a nice change. There was a soup with some kind of grain and broth with vegetables. Phyllo cakes, one with spinach and cheese, one with just cheese. There was also an assortment of bread, tomatoes and cucumbers. Then we got even more sweet bread for dessert, which came with jam, honey, and some honey-like topping but with a very different flavor. Almost grassy. So good. After getting more than our fill, we settled down on the ground outside to digest for a half hour.

Since we still had a full evening, we left before 2:00, skipping the observation point, and walked mostly down the road path. Between the two hikes, the knees were a bit tender at this point and we still had the hard hike to do. We walked a little down the slopes in a few places for shortcuts, but otherwise it was a very nice stroll down, taking us just about 90 minutes. So we made great time today.

Tara River Canyon and Ziplining

We headed toward the Durmitor National Park, taking in the views. First though, we were approaching the Tara River and it's spectacular scenery of the surrounding countryside. After one quick photo stop, we headed towards the zip line. This was located at the Djurdjevic Bridge, which was constructed in 1940, crossing the Tara River. It is about 365 meters long and is about 172m high - so amazing views over the river as we crossed. When I saw how high and how long, I was a bit nervous. But then when we climbed up to the starting point, pretty much immediately, I saw that we sat in slings basically. So, it was less of an adrenaline rush, but it was actually quite nice to be able to take your time to look around at the scenery without freaking out. When you get to the other side, you pay your 20 euros, plus they take a few photos of you which you can get for an extra 5 euros. It was funny because one girl in our group is super tiny and she did not make it to the platform; the guys tossed her a rope to pull her in, but she looked at it and threw it back - they were cracking up! You have the option of taking a car back across, but we decided to walk along the bridge instead. A very nice walk!

Black Lake - Durmitor Park

Our final stop of the day was to see Black Lake, which was about a 15-20 minute walk along an asphalt path from the parking area. I loved this area as there were so many people out, even though it was getting dark. There were a bunch of kiosks along the path that were closing up, but sold things like beverages, snacks, honey, and jams. It seemed like a nice park! It was getting chilly as it got darker and most things were shutting down. The guys started skipping rocks, then throwing the rocks as far as possible. I had hurt my rotator cuff back in June, so a feeble attempt and then I just took photos and relaxed.

We got taken to our hotel for the next two nights, definitely more of the budget hotel we are used to with Trekkup and compared to the first two nights. Not bad, but it was getting very cold, though the heaters were not yet working, so we had to use extra heavy blankets to stay warm and it took a good hour to warm up the water heater for a hot shower. It was getting towards 8:30 when we arrived, so we decided just to get dinner there, which was fine (I think I shared a mixed grill with Luke and a bottle of wine between the four of us drinkers). the next day was our big hike, and our guide was a little concerned. We were supposed to hike Bobotuv Kuk, the highest mountain at 2,395m and technically difficult. I was slightly concerned, b but with all the hiking I've been doing over the last couple of months, Luke said I was fine. There was one girl in our group who had never hiked before and I think that was the main concern. Additionally, our program had listed this hike as "moderate" and one of the guys had confirmed before we left that he could hike with hiking shoes instead of boots, however, the guide strongly advised against that. When that guy said that he was out then, we started to discuss our options. The guide gave us two, said we would discuss in the morning to see how we felt, and decide. Both options sounded good. Fortunately, no one in our group was dead set on summiting this mountain and everyone was pretty good - we wanted a good, strong hike, but we wanted to enjoy it too. G, L and I stayed up to have a nightcap of rum and coke, times two, then went to bed because the bar was shutting down.

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[D MJ Binkley]

Montenegro
Hope to make it to Montenegro next year so we are enjoying reading along.