Train trip Belgrade-Bar Archives

A Train Trip through the Tara River Gorge

By Patricia | 2018-01-06 | Comments 0 Comment

A kind Bato dropped me back to the Bar station first thing, ready to catch the 9am train back to Belgrade through the Tara River Gorge. This time I changed seats in order to get the seat that had the windows down. Crossing my fingers that no one would have it reserved. The train left right on time. I was able to take pictures of the bays that we had gone to on the boat trip. The first stop saw people getting on, and oh dear they wanted the seats, but it turned out they were a russian family with the same idea of taking photos of the trip back. We were lucky that no one else wanted them and we made the most of the seating.

It turned out the son could speak english so we were able to enjoy a conversation of sorts.We all enjoyed the fact that we’d jump up to get photos only to find that there was another tunnel to go through. I really enjoyed their company, the first russians I have been able to relate to and it was a delight. Unfortunately, they got off the train after the canyons, but it was with cheery waves and much smiling we said goodbye. The Tara river canyons are the deepest in Europe, and have a UNESCO world heritage cover on some of the park,in Durmitor National Park.

The canyon was all I thought it would be, the cute small village turned out to be on a cove off of Lake Skadar , a huge fresh water lake that belongs to both Montenegro and some of Albania. A charming cove partially covered by the water lilies that I had seen. The train also tracks across Herzegovina and Bosnia briefly so I can truthfully say I have been there as well. I am fascinated by the people mostly men that stand up straight and watch the trains go by. I gather they are probably rail workers keeping an eye on the trains as they go through. They are usually next to a small house in out of the way places. That has been the case since I have been in these countries. Some even wear a peaked cap.

Instead of having a dining car or coffee trolley they had itinerant sellers that come through the carriages saying they have drinks of various sorts. mostly beer, water ,coke or a cola of some sort. They get on at the stations while the train is stationary and off as it leaves. This trip there was a guy that stayed with the train the whole time dishing out coffee as people asked and delivering to their seat on a small tray!

Disappointing Last day in Bar

By Patricia | 2018-01-06 | Comments 0 Comment

The last day for me in Bar was a quiet day with washing to do ,so instead of planning a tour I decided to have a closer look at the town and possibly get some more clothes. There was a shop that I had seen next to the supermarket that looked as if it would be worth looking at. So mid morning chores done, I wandered into the shop just browsing it was here that someone kept bumping into my back albeit the back pack. I kept moving away I didn’t feel I was in the way at all. Feeling just a little aggrieved at the manners of this woman I left the narrow aisle and on to somewhere else.

Leaving the shop it was on to the grocery shop to stock up with things for the train tomorrow. Getting my purchases to the checkout I went to pay, hello,

my wallet was missing, the woman in the dress shop had lifted my purse.
So it was back to the hotel where I related my story to Bato the ever patient owner. The wonders of technology, I emailed my daughter in NZ and asked her to cancel the card that had been stolen. Literally within the hour it was blocked from use by the bank while we emailed as she spoke on the phone to them. Amazing!
I thought I should go to the Bar police for insurance purposes at least. Bato drove me down to the police station and translated the story for the (smoking) policeman. In due course forms were filled out and stamped. I was surprised at the reasonable efficiency. I had expected delays of hours! Bato had to go so I was left to get the last stamp on my copy of the form.

Fortunately , I had only kept one credit card in the wallet with another two as backup along with my passport. On the way home I tried the back up cards in the ATM machine , they worked with no problem, the relief! I could have been a serious situation if they hadn’t thats for sure. I walked back again to the hotel in the boiling afternoon sun for a well earned siesta. Bato had said I could call the bank later to confirm the arrangements made. The afternoon nearly gone I walked back to town for dinner and tomorrow’s food for the train. However it did cast a shadow over what had been a wonderful stay, but the kindness of the hotel Vila Jadran owners far outweighed any sourness I may have felt towards the culprit. I would recommend their hotel very highly.

Belgrade to Bar, an Amazing Train Journey

By Patricia | 2017-01-04 | Comments 0 Comment

I slipped out of the Belgrade hostel early, actually glad to leave that one, I’d picked up fleas! The room didn’t have an outside window, made it quieter, but the downside was it had a window inside onto the next room, shadowed glass of course, for privacy, but they had forgotten that lights from that room effectively lit up my room. So had just fallen asleep last night only to have the very bright light shine through, along with the noise of fellow hostel guys. This meant I didn’t get to sleep until nearly two. The reason I have private room mostly is for that reason, I don’t disturb and no one disturbs me.

As well as not being as clean as I liked and I can’t say I am particularly fussy in that area, what really annoyed me was website had said the kitchen was fully equipped, and had lots of good reviews about the place. In my book one small hot plate does not represent a well equipped kitchen, lack of a microwave not even a toaster that I saw, perhaps one in a cupboard????.
One bathroom and toilet in the same room for the needs of probably twenty people when full , fell short of representing a good hostel. Did have an air conditioner but the first night I froze, the second I had turned it up and with the addition of some of my clothes made it warmer to sleep as there were no blankets ,just the empty duvet cover. The 5 minute walk to the station was more like 15 minutes when towing a heavy bag.

I made the station with plenty of time to spare, the bags were particularly heavy as I had stocked up with food for trip, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice learning from my Budapest to Belgrade trip! Just as well I did as it was an 11 hour ride. People all started boarding as soon as the train had slowly backed into the station and stopped. We were all obviously allocated seat numbers so that made it a lot clearer. These trains are just not designed for travellers like myself as there are invariably no places to store big suitcases for a trip which means they have to be parked in the least disturbing place, not easy actually.How ever settled in my seat next to the window ,facing the direction of travel I was ready to take on the day. The lady in the international ticket office did very well I thought.

We left right on time and the train trundled out at a slow pace, through the city and picked up its speed once leaving the boundaries. At first it was the standard Serbian scenery that I have become used to seeing the crops, the sunflowers and the inevitable flat land enterprises. The train was packed apart from the seat next to me and the lady opposite. Every time the train stopped I crossed fingers that no one would take it. Eventually my luck ran out, and I had to stow the back pack under my feet as it wouldn’t fit anywhere else, I could see the lady opposite me wasn’t impressed at all. The seats in this train were in clusters of four, two sets of seats facing each other and no where to comfortably put your feet without kicking someone else’s. How ever we got by, I spent most of the time on the ipad or just gazing out the window. The toilet was a disgusting mess, that made a person cringe just thinking about it, let alone using it!

The smokers went into the vestibule between carriages which meant the smoke was blown back into the seating compartment. There are so many smokers in these countries , they will inevitably have many health problems in the future. The pity is they include a lot of young people as well as the old. I have no doubt that in the years to come they will fall into line with western countries and ban smoking from trains and restaurants in particular!!! The border police for Serbia came and went after a long stop, then the police from Montenegro came aboard to do their passport checks ,another stop. It was nice being welcomed to the country instead of being taken off of the train for a visa infringement.

It was from this point on, while I was reading a book on the ipad, that the terrain started to get interesting. The tunnels had started quite early in the trip, so nothing new there, but the hills started to grow into mountains, very big mountains they were too. The rivers so pretty as the water dropped over the stones in the river beds. The tree covered mountains started to lose some of their trees and turn to bare tops and rocky outcrops. Soon the train seemed to be just snaking around the rails with massive drops on one side. Tantalisingly, you would see maybe a minute of stunning mountains , then racing back through a tunnel. There are well over two hundred tunnels on this line, bridges are many. One of the highest viaducts in Europe is on this line, I was told this was the deepest canyon in europe, I can believe that, it was massive.

I think this trip by train is one of the better ones in terms of scenery, I have seen a few. After going through the many tunnels and around the mountains, it seemed to me that all of a sudden we were down on the flats again. Water lilies galore , I thought they were on various wetland ponds and lakes. The train passed by the cutest village set in a small bay of sorts, with their boats all lined up, the sort of sight I have seen in Scotland and England. Soon we are passing the sea, before long coming into Bar, a trip of over 11 hours. I was thrilled to have the hotel owner pick me up from the station, there is no way I could have made it on my own. Probably been ripped off by yet another taxi driver.
Thankfully the hotel/hostel turned out to be a good one, and the owners made me and the other guests they picked up from the station feel very welcome. And a decent nights sleep to boot, bliss!