The most scenic place I've ever thrown up
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2005
1
60
248
Trip End
Aug 15, 2008
Durmitor NP,
Serbia and Montenegro
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
My grumbling aside, I had anticipated a difficult journey as I was crossing a border and attempting to reach somewhere a little out of the way, and after my experiences with awful connections in the more developed Slovenia and Croatia, I thought it might be problematic
01 Sarajevo - Zablijak
. As it turned out, all went very smoothly.The roads heading south from Sarajevo to Montenegro (as of the May referendum, seperate from Serbia. Travelpod hasn't been updated yet, that's at least 1/3% more of the world I have travelled!) were incredible. Within an hour of leaving the city, I had the stunning view of a dozen mountain peaks breaking through the cloud layer beneath me, and as the bus climbed higher and passed through gorges, the views just kept getting better. I made a rather obvious tourist of myself by taking hundreds of pictures through the window as everyone else was attempting to sleep.
Even the border between Bosnia and Montenegro was impressive. Crossing a rather alarmingly frail bridge, Bosnia on one side and Montenegro on the other, the river a hundred feet beneath me seemed one of the more obvious natural borders I have passed over.
From there, I thought the rest of the journey might have been a little tedious after what had gone before. I was wrong. The Montenegro side was even more impressive, especially soon after the crossing. A hydroelectric dam had created the most stunning blue lake, the mountain background framing it perfectly.
Eventually we passed out of the mountains and arrived in Niksic, where I had guessed I would have to change to reach Zabljak (the base town for exploring Durmitor). First things first, I had to find an ATM to withdraw some cash (oddly, Montenegro uses euros, despite not even being in the EU). Not such an easy thing to do - it took over an hour to find one that would accept my card
02 Sarajevo - Zablijak
. I don't think Niksic receives many backpackers either, from the stares I was receiving. Finally having got some money (all in 10 euro notes; my wallet was bulging obscenely), I returned to the bus station and jumped on a minibus heading exactly where I wanted to go. That was easy! Passed out for the rest of the journey, probably a good thing given the speed at which we were going, the precipitous nature of the roads and their decrepit state. The whole journey was magnificent, but it did take the best part of 11 hours, start to finish. Didn't have the time or energy to explore the park at all upon arrival, just find some accomodation and sleep.Unfortunately, things didn't go so well after that. Waking up the next morning, I had intended to spend a good long day exploring the park. That didn't really happen. I guess all the fast moving and unhealthy eating finally caught up with me; for the first time in eight months, I wasn't feeling so well.
Even in my slightly queasy state, I decided to get out and do some walking, since I had made the effort to get up there. My aim was to walk up to the ice cave in Obla Glava ("Round Head") and back, supposedly an easy 5 hour round trip. The first hour or so wasn't too bad, despite the mutterings of my stomach, and I was even able to appreciate the scenery some. Initially climbing through forested lowland, that abruptly gave way in sudden fashion. One minute, trees all around; the next, almost no vegetation at all. There seemed to be a very distinct line where the stark, rocky peaks dominated the landscape allowing nothing else to grow. The mountains seemed much more foreboding and dominating than other areas I have been, though the overcast skies might have had something to do with this
03 Sarajevo - Zablijak
. Feeling suitably insignificant and with my stomach rebelling slightly, I pressed on.The trails were incredibly well marked. I didn't get lost once!! Even walking across the (blessedly few) snowdrifts, I managed to find trail markers with no difficulty. The rounded mass of Obla Glava seemed to be in sight for most of the walk, though it always seemed too far away and too high to reach easily. That's because I wasn't able to reach it easily. The final couple of hundred meters were a scramble, to say the least. I'm glad I was going up and not down, as I was practically climbing sheer faces at times. It was around here that my stomach finally got the better of me. I was having to stop every 30 seconds to let the dizzy spells and waves of nausea pass, and when I finally reached the top of the trail after one final push, I had a few brief secons to admire to view unfolding beneath me before I threw up. Twice. I wasn't in much of a mood to venture down into the ice cave and explore after that. I've heard it's quite beautiful, though.
Fortunately, the slightly longer walk back down wasn't as demanding for the most part, but it still wasn't pleasant. My pace was so slow, and I felt like I was tumbling more than walking. Couldn't really appreciate the views in that state as I just wanted to be curled up in bed. After an eternity, I got back to Zabljak and checked the time. The 5 hour walk had taken me 8 hours. I curled up in bed, felt awful and utterly failed to sleep.
Still not feeling good the next day. Instead of doing more hiking as planned, I decided that lying on a beach would be a better idea. I crawled onto the bus direct to Budva (no idea why there should be a direct bus, but I wasn't complaining) and passed out.
