Kolašin

I am normally the tour organiser, researching accommodation with my own set of criteria – parking, internet,… however Bruce took that role for Montenegro.

Our first “hotel” in Kolašin turned out to be a villa apartment which isn’t quite finished, so we were boarding with the owners. Not quite what we wanted.

Tanya was very hospitable and her son Filip and his friend washed most of the car for us – well the bits a couple of 9 year olds could reach.

We drove further north towards the Serbian border, to the Biogradska Gora – a national park with one of Europe’s last virgin rain forests. The 3km walk around Biogradska Lake, with photos stops and extra deviations was delightful and a cool place to be in the continuing heat.  The wild flowers were beautiful and a delightful boardwalk at the swampy end of the lake wound through a rich, green undergrowth, alive with bugs and butterflies.

There was a restaurant near our villa that specialised in the local food. We met a French group there and enjoyed their chatter and the food so much that we arranged to meet and eat together the following night. The local specialty is a mashed potato and flour with two of the local cheeses wound through it and then baked. We were told the soft cheeses take a great deal of effort and muscle to knead into the stringy consistency suitable for baking.  For us foreigners, it was a fantastic treat.

Kolašin is in the Tara Valley and a popular ski resort. Our host Tanya believed most of her guests would come over the winter months, so she has installed a sauna and spa bath into the apartments she will rent.

There was a massive bush fire further north, so our host recommended another route south of Kolašin to our next stop in Žabljak.