And second in the world only to the Grand Canyon lies here in Montenegro and it is known as the Tara River Canyon. This was definitely on today’s itinerary; the only question was how to get to it as I was still a little sore after yesterday’s 20KM hike! Thankfully this wasn’t a dilemma for long as the fab owners of the fab Hiker’s Den hostel casually offered a group of us a personalised guided tour in their car for less than 5 Great British Pounds so everyone benefits from this. Job done then.
First we headed into the mountains and up some great roads before stopping for an brief exploration and of course, some snaps:
Next, we would visit the Devil’s Lake:
And now, a visit to the Tara River Canyon.
This is my last Montenegrin post and so I’m really happy my already wonderful visit to this relatively unknown and unexplored country was made even more amazing by my decision to visit Zabljak. Be warned though – this is easily the sort of place you could end up staying for a whole lot longer, perhaps even forever! (As the manageress knows only too well). Fresh mountain air, epic walks, bike rides, white-water rafting and endless picturesque scenery. Truth be told if there weren’t a handful of people departing tomorrow destined for the same location as I, I would have stayed longer. It really is that nice up here, folks. Don’t come here in winter though. Hostel work is often seasonal (for obvious reasons) and this is particularly true up here in the mountains. This is the outside of the hostel I stayed at here in mid June. Excuse the slightly fuzzy photo.
Now get your head around what this place looked like mid April, just TWO MONTHS prior:
You know how we moan back home when the electric goes out. I remember kicking off when it didn’t come back on 6 hours later! Well the people here wrote the book on patience and improvisation. I still can’t believe this as I write it but this winter their electricity was out for, um……… TWO WEEKS. As a lot of other facilities such as water and therefore the toilet rely on an electric pump, of course this was out of action too. If that wasn’t enough they had no central heating either and saw on occasion temperatures of minus 28. Beyond our comprehension, huh.
So again I find myself leaving another country with a heavy heart. As ever, I hope the next country can offer the delights of what I’ve experienced here in Montenegro.
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