Europe, with an Arctic cruise, a Balkan tour and bits of France and Malta

[RooFlyer]

Today, Tuesday, we saw some sights around Zabljak

The glacial Black Lake is an east 2.6km walk from out hotel.







There was strong fighting here by the local Partisans in WW2 and this is one of several memorials in the area.



Some of the country around Zabljak

 

[RooFlyer]

From there, we drove to a local family's place out in the country for lunch. These can be awkward, but this was great - but TOO MUCH FOOD!

View from their place



Our lunch table, set with 'starters'



But first mushroom soup (!! yes, I did think twice ...). Their own cheese, salads, cheese pie



I didn't have main but on offer were two large stuffed peppers and two BIG pieces of potato! Or, two decent sized trout and potatoes. Also a veg option.

Our host, grand-mamma and her helper, Sammy



Their own drinks trolley - rakia, blueberry and thyme juices, there was red wine



Helper Sammy



Tour of the farmyard - the meadow flowers were interesting to me!





Driving out, with everyone stuffed (except me - I am saving for restaurant dinner)

 

[RooFlyer]

Next, concluding a long day, was a visit to a viewpoint over the Tara Canyon.

Tara River Gorge, is the river canyon of the Tara river. It is for the most part located in Montenegro, and to a smaller extent in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The most attractive part of the canyon are the high rocks of the mountain range of Ljubišnja, which are located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Durmitor National Park. Known as "The Tear of Europe," the Tara River Gorge stands as the second deepest canyon in Europe behind the Sulak Canyon, and also behind the Grand Canyon for third deepest globally.

We probably didn't get to the best vantage point but nevertheless it was an amazing, verdant green feature. Up to 1,300m deep.











Them after a long day, back to the hotel to find a digger has ruptured the water main and no water in the entire town. Killed time until dinner at the hotel outside bar area.



Montenegrin flag - double headed eagle.



Dinner at Or'O - Eagle - which was excellent. I'll reproduce part of the menu so you can see the type of things offered, and prices. Again, HUGE portions.





About the wine:




Trout was superb.

 

[Seat0B]

I've never even thought of visiting Montenegro, but this TR is making me want to go there. The mountains look beautiful, but it is the lakes that have really grabbed my attention in your photos.

 

[Cossie]

Great photos, we will be in that area in 3 weeks, hoping to get to Bulgaria, Kosovo, Albania, etc to keep in front of the boss, number of countries wise!

 

[RooFlyer]

The mountains look beautiful,

Wait till you see where we are driving through today.

 

[Seat0B]

Wait till you see where we are driving through today.

Looking forward to it!

 

[VPS]

We drove through there on a Contiki tour in 1982 - the scenery was stunning but the roads were

 

[zig]

Wait till you see where we are driving through today.

Such a tease

 

[JohnM]

We drove through there on a Contiki tour in 1982 - the scenery was stunning but the roads were

And you remember anything outside the bus and during the day from a big Con tour...?

 

[VPS]

And you remember anything outside the bus and during the day from a big Con tour...?

of course I was a goodie two shoes and still am

 

[RooFlyer]

Woke up feeling poorly after anther poor nights sleep.

Today it will take most of the day to travel abt 170km to the Bosnian Herzegovinian capital, Sarajevo. We are promised some mountain scenery, travelling a narrow former 'shepherds track' across the Durmitor mountains, and then down gorges on both the Montenegrin and Bosnian side and, more strictly, the Republika Srpska side. More on them later.




With by now, mandatory zig-zagging down precipitous mountain ravines. This place is heaven for motorcyclists and the very earnest bicyclists.



We went through dozens of tunnels - short to long, concreted to rough-hewn rock , all built in the Yugoslav days.

Starting from Zabljak, we soon turned onto a sealed narrow country road to ascend the winding road up into to Durmitor range. First stop was a view point at 1,950m



Looking back the way we had come.



The cars are mainly from hikers going up these steep mountains. Can you see them?




and to where we are going to go.



You can see our road.





Wild horses





Further down the valley to the mid right in the above pic, was a welcome coffee and toilet stop. Good coffee 2 euro.



Nearby a statue to the Partisans who fought the Germans here in WW2.

 

[tgh]

Fantastic pics and scenery…more….

 

[RooFlyer]

After lunch we came off the plateau here down into the Piva River canyon, here with a lake behind Europe's highest dam. Dozens of small and large tunnels followed, concrete lined or just hewn rock





Hairpins and tunnels as we descended down the cliff face - with a viewpoint at the top, per the map.





The loose rock overhang was worse than this looks.








When we reach the bottom, we join the main road from Podgorica and Sarajevo, which snakes along the lake, again through tunnels and clear.

Then to the 220m high Mratinje dam which you should be able to see here:

57 reactions · 17 shares | 💧The stunning view of Mratinje dam, going up to 220m hight, which distinctly separates 44 km long Piva Lake on one side, and tiny 13 km long Piva river... | By 360 monte | Facebook

💧The stunning view of Mratinje dam, going up to 220m hight, which distinctly separates 44 km long Piva Lake on one side, and tiny 13 km long Piva river...

www.facebook.com

You can see how deep the canyon is in that video











It really is difficult to show how rugged and spectacular it is.






We followed the gorge for 100km!

The Piva then meets the Dina river and we crossed into Bosnia Herzegovina. Sort of. It was actually Republika Srpska, one of the bizarre consequences of the Bosnian war. Basically a separate 'republic' for the Serbians within Bosnia & H. They don't recognise the genocide at Srebrenica, for instance. Welcome to the politics of BH.

Republika Srpska - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[RooFlyer]

Some drone footage down the Piva - remember the gorge bottom is about 150-200m below the surface.

Clip D795_511_003, from Dissolve

Aerial view of Beautiful Piva river canyon with reservoir Piva Lake (Pivsko Jezero) summer view in Montenegro. Nature travel background, 4k

dissolve.com

Longer, showing the road.

1.3K views · 6 comments | The Mratinje Dam is a concrete arch dam in the canyon of the Piva river in Montenegro. The dam was completed in 1975 with designs by Energoprojekt. It’s construction resulted in the flooding of the Piva canyon and the creati

The Mratinje Dam is a concrete arch dam in the canyon of the Piva river in Montenegro. The dam was completed in 1975 with designs by Energoprojekt. It’s construction resulted in the flooding of the...

www.facebook.com

 

[RooFlyer]

We stopped for lunch at a nice riverside café in Bosnia. By this time the Drina had moderated somewhat. As soon as we crossed into Bosnia, the road surface deteriorated to a bit bumpy. In Montenegro, it was good.



In Bosnia, we are using the Convertible Mark - as good as 2 to the Euro.. So cheap!!





Still not hungry, I ate half an entrée of spicy peppers and cream.

 

[RooFlyer]

Incredibly, as we approached Sarajevo, the topography closed in again and we were driving down several green ravines, with walls too close to get photos from out of the bus. Lots of serious white water rafting on the DrIna





Just some shots of driving into Sarajevo. Its surrounded by hills which play an important part in its history.

 

[RooFlyer]

I just found some more pictures of the lake and river on the way to Sarajevo















Going over the dam

 

[Seat0B]

As foreshadowed by you, stunning! The lakes are absolutely amazing. Does the driving with hairpins etc induce motion sickness? Asking for a friend.

 

[zig]

As foreshadowed by you, stunning! The lakes are absolutely amazing. Does the driving with hairpins etc induce motion sickness? Asking for a friend.

Was about to ask the same question. I don’t generally cope well with bus / coach travel and when winding roads are involved it’s not a good outcome.