Northern Montenegro

After a short weekend in Rome, Brian and I flew to Podgorica, Montenegro.  Where's that and why are you there you ask?  Montenegro is the country that is just northwest of Albania and was one of the six republics of the former Yugoslavia. It gained its independence from Serbia in 2006. Why haven't you heard of it but you've heard of all the countries around it?  Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo?  Each of those had a military war with Serbia but Montenegro was allowed to vote for independence and when it reached the 55% mark, Serbia allowed Montenegro its independence freely.  Montenegro has a beautiful Adriatic coastline and a less known, but fabulous mountainous area.

To answer why are we here?  We are trying to get off the beaten path and want to see these areas that were so war torn over a decade ago.  They are names in our mind, but we really don't have much of an idea of what it looks like.  So we're off....

Brian and I chose first to drive north to the mountains, away from the more touristy coast.  And we drove along this river.  And yes, the water is that clear and green.

Our car for the Balkans trip.  It has Serbian plates.  Never would I have ever though I would be driving a car with Serbian plates.

As we were driving north from Podgorica (the capital city) we came across a lot of people stopped along the road.  We wondered, perhaps somebody was bungee jumping?  But we came across this police tape.

Brian, being Brian, had to climb down and see what happened.

June 23rd, 2013
PODGORICA, Montenegro — At least 13 people were killed and 32 were injured when a bus carrying Romanian tourists swayed off a bridge and plunged into a deep ravine in central Montenegro on Sunday, police said.
Montenegro Interior Minister Rasko Konjevic said the bus with 46 people on board crashed some 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of the capital, Podgorica. He said the bus was traveling from Romania to Montenegro's Adriatic coast.
Police said the bus plunged from a bridge over the Moraca river during a rain storm and crashed some 40 meters (130 feet) into the ravine. A helicopter was used in the rescue operation mounted by Montenegro police.
Konjevic said "sadly, this death toll could climb further" because seven of the passengers were seriously injured.
The winding road that leads from Serbia in the north through the Moraca canyon and then to the seacoast is notorious for traffic accidents because it is narrow and slippery in wet weather conditions.

We were here on June 24th.  Ugh, we started driving a bit slower and more carefully.

Fluvial Geomorphology in action!!  Don't build your home in a river bed.

We don't have a guidebook, but simply a picture book we purchased at a gas station.  We saw pictures of this and wanted to see it.  So, we found it on the map and determined it is the Tara River Canyon.

Too cold to swim....or even dip your feet in!

The most perfect scene of the day.