Zabljak - 14th October

We left our expensive hotel and of course discovered that all our driving around Niksic looking for this hotel could have been avoided had we followed the signs.  Our first stop is the Ostrog monastery which again is up a very twisty road (even some of the main roads are like this).  The reason for this is that the monastery hangs off the side of a cliff 900m high. It’s very impressive, it probably was more so before the road was built right up to it.  We parked in the lower car park and walked up, but not many others did, although most were older people there on pilgrimages rather than tourists like us.  We did go in, and see some relic, but I don’t really know what it was.  The biggest thing most people here come to see is the view over the Zeta canyon.

Then it’s time to drive north to Zabljak, the centre or Durmitor national park. The drive across the country is full of amazing scenery, so like yesterday it is taking longer because of photo stops.   Almost every scene is prettier than the previous one.  I haven’t seen anything like it since New Zealand.

We arrive at Zabljak which is the summer adventure sports centre of Montenegro, and the winter sports centre as well.  In fact it looks a lot like many Alpine towns, with the various chalets for rent.  We actually get a very nice apartment for very little, which is a benefit from arriving in the middle of the day instead of after dark.  I’d say it was near the centre of town, but then most places are.  The town is so small we have cows walking down main street (as luck would have it the one time I haven’t got my camera on me).

We spend the afternoon hiking around the Black Lake, one of the centre pieces of the national park. It’s pretty, but there are many more walks just like it in many countries.  Still it gets us some fresh air, and it is really fresh, because Zabljak is almost 1500m up, and the temperature is a lot less than it was on the coast.  So we really have to layer up for the first time on this trip.