2016 SEPTEMBER

Thursday 01/Sep/2016

My alarm awoke me at 06:30 in good time to prepare for the day and my departure from Sarajevo. My taxi arrived at 07:15 to take me across the city to the bus station I was departing the next leg of my journey from. The taxi driver took some high winding roads to make the journey there rather than through the city centre – and this gave me an opportunity to overlook the city from a different view point.

I arrived in good time and saw my bus being prepared for the journey before it moved over to the platform for us passengers. It was a small bus – around 17 seats – and there were only about 10 passengers to get on. At 08:15 our journey commenced, the gates to the bus station opened and we departed onto the streets of Sarajevo to begin our scheduled 6 hour trip to Podgorica – the capital of Montenegro.

The journey was steady. We collected a couple more passengers and dropped a couple off en route at more remote villages or towns. It was clear to see the advantage of having such small bus – as its acceleration at climbing hills was much better than a larger bus would have been. Not only that but as we were approaching the area where the border between the two countries was, the road became very narrow and often composed of hard packed rubble. Thankfully the driver obviously knew the route and road very well as there was often an almost shear drop of hundreds of feet to one side of us (the side of the bus where I was sitting!).

Soon we arrived at what looked like three container units on a fairly deserted winding ‘road’. The driver stopped, collected our passports – or ID cards in some cases – and proceeded into one of the containers with passports and list of passengers. Around 10 minutes later, he reappeared and distributed the passports. We were now out of Bosnia but in no-mans land. We then progressed around half mile and stopped at a few better class buildings (the entry point to Montenegro). The same procedure took place regarding our passports, and after being checked again were again redistributed – and I had the pleasure of seeing the first stamp in my new passport!

We then proceeded on our journey and was soon entering some beautiful scenery. I had not known that this area was so amazing and of course my camera was recording the scenes fully. A couple of local lady passengers were also attracting my attention when they knew we were approaching another good view point. This certainly livened the journey up. We were also travelling along a road at the side of a lake – where the road was cut through numerous mountain tunnels – often very short (50m) but sometimes much, much longer. It really did make for a special part of the journey

Once the spectacular scenery resided, I realised we were well on our way to Podgorica and would be soon arriving. Around our scheduled time we arrived at the small bus station. I collected my bag and started to leave the bus station. A taxi driver rushed over to me shouting “Taxi, Taxi”. I looked at him, smiled and shook my head – pointing to the hotel across the road where I was staying. We both laughed!

I checked in an was offered assistance as to what I might wish to visit. With a copy of a map of the city I was soon on the streets. Considering it was the capital of Montenegro it was relatively small – and having seen what sights there appeared to be within a couple of hours – not too eventful. Sadly, as I was making my way back to the hotel, the rain began to suddenly pour down – with thunder and lightning. The centre was fairly well covered so I managed to walk round a little but by 19:00, it was still raining heavily and so I decided to eat (unusually early for me!). I called in a local restaurant, was offered pork and potatoes and salad – which I accepted. When it arrived I thought I had got half a pig!!! I enjoyed however – and ate most of it.

Thankfully after finishing my meal the rain had eased and so I walked back to my hotel, showered and caught up with a few travel jobs and wasn’t too late to bed.

Friday 02/Sep/2016

Fortunately, I had decided to stay only the one night in Podgorica – which was enough to be honest – although I had selected to depart on the later bus at 10:45 rather than the early bus at 08:00 – thinking (wrongly!) that there may be other sights I wished to visit before departing. However, the later start gave me a little more time checking on travel jobs and preparing for my day ahead. I checked out of the hotel a few minutes after 10:00 and after I had crossed the road to the bus station again a taxi driver was trying to get me to hire his services. I waved my bus ticket at him – and again we both laughed at his enthusiasm.

My bus arrived a little early – as it has left another city and Podgorica was another stopping place en route to my next destination – Tirana in Albania. I was soon on board and we were soon leaving the streets of Podgorica behind. The journey was to be just under 4 hours. After around 45 minutes we approached the border between Montenegro and Albania. We were soon through the Montenegro side but on approaching the Albania side an immigration officer got on board, scanned our documents in his hand held scanner, passed them to the driver – who was basically collecting them for him – and then went off into an ‘office’ – where it took around 30 minutes to do what had to be done! I wasn’t sure what was happening to any other vehicles behind us – I didn’t see any pass! However, once all the formalities were completed we were allowed on our way once again.

A selection of 56 photographs (out of 113) taken on my travels through Montenegro - from the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina to the border with Albania - with an overnight stop in the capital Podgorica. The pictures cover the whole of the route and the city of Podgorica and show both the scenery and Podgorica. Please note that the photographs are as originally taken and not enhanced by any means. I hope you will read my blog of my travels and experiences - and these pictures can be used in conjunction with the relevant part (01 - 02 Sep) of the blog.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed the scenery travelling through the country - although I was disappointed with Podgorica - which didn't appear to offer much for tourists.

[Please click on the thumbnail images to enlarge. Some maybe little blurred due to rushing the shot - or taking through a travelling bus window etc]