After our first night’s sleep at the beautiful Country House Djurisic, we both woke up feeling a little bit itchy.  During the afternoon of check-in, Marko asked if we would like a blanket for our bed as there was just a sheet. Worried about temperature dropping at night we said we would. After attending to us for our home cooked dinner, Marko informed us as he was going out with some friends he would ask his sister to bring a blanket up to us. At bed time, I took the blanket through to the bedroom and as I unfolded it to lay on top of our sheet I thought to myself, this sounds and feels a bit ‘crispy’. Having already taken out my contact lenses, not able to see clearly and just wanting to crash I spread it over the bed crispy side down.  Steve made some comment about grass but it wasn’t until the morning we realised the blanket was totally embedded with small pieces of dried grass and after a night’s sleep a lot of it was all over the place especially us.

As pre-arranged, Marko brought our surprise Montenegrin typical breakfast up to our balcony at 9:30.  We didn’t want to know the menu but just be served something typically Montenegrin. It was as amazing.  It consisted of local fresh Priganice (which is similar to small doughnut balls and not far off in texture or taste), served with a choice of field or wood honey, obviously local, home made jam and hazelnut sauce.  As a side dish we were served home produced cucumber and tomato, full of aroma and taste, some local cheese and home made fruit juice.

Being a perfectionist and keen to make our stay memorable for all the right reasons, Marko was aghast (I haven’t used the word for ages) that having left us in the hands of his sister, she had given us a blanket, ruined by a previous guest, which he’d especially told her not to give us.  Neither Steve nor I was bothered about the incident, it just added to our adventures, but it took a while for Marko to get over it. I expect reading this, his nightmare will return. Sorry Marko!

After breakfast Marko discussed routes with Steve and gave us 6 points of interest to explore. Off we set in the Poacher with Stella having packed a practical bag for another day’s adventure.

Žabljak Crnojevića Fortress

The first one was Žabljak Crnojevića, an old abandoned fortress at the mouth of the Morača River which runs into Skadar Lake.  We thought oh no, not another fortress, but Marko explained it had been the capital of Montenegro in the 10th century and in the 15th century became a town before the capital was moved to Rijeka. We pulled up in front of the village and could see the fortress on top of the hill behind the frontage of houses. We thought we’d start off with a cup of coffee at the only bar on the river, after having to dodge a hissing goose with attitude.  You’d have thought it owned the place.

Walking up the trail to the Fortress, passing a church with a locked wrought iron gate, but with the key hanging from a top hinge, we thought we could hear the sound of running water, perhaps a waterfall, but as we continued our upward trail we realised it was the consistent sound of many bees collecting nectar from the pretty little flowers we were walking through.  We left them alone and luckily they left us alone too. Upward we continued on the now expected uneven lose stones and steps admiring the wild flowers and variety of colours of the dragon flies along the way.  As is our pace, no rush, easy does it and arrive in one piece.

The 4 x 4 Safari Trail

Our next stop was apparently a bicycle trail but Marko preferred to call it the safari trail. There had been a lot of rain in the previous few days but Marko thought it would be excellent for the Poacher and we couldn’t wait to have our first proper 4 x 4 adventure. Setting off down a normal looking single track road, not far into it we came across a large muddy puddle blocking our route straight ahead. We sat in the Poacher to think about whether we could get through or not and Steve walked around it to study how wet the ground was. We decided to give it a go, but I must admit I kept asking Steve if it was really worth it.

Having driven forward a little bit, Steve immediately changed his mind in fear of getting stuck and reversed out. We began to discuss whether to go to the right hand side or reverse back and turn around, but the decision was made for us.  A local farmer in his very old white Golf towing a trailer was parked up behind us, we couldn’t reverse but we could pull in closer on the left to the hedgerow. The typical white Golf driver put his foot on the accelerator, overtook us, back off side wheel skimming through the mud, taking a trail to the left hand side of the fence on a parallel path.  Looking at each other and watching white Golf Man storming off at quite a pace leading the way, we thought in for a pound in for a penny. Steve driving the Poacher, still in low ratio gears, set off trying to follow the farmer but all we could see was a smoke trail.

Now think of a butterfly net and have that image in your mind.  Both of our side windows were open for draught as it was a hot day, but unfortunately they also let in leaves and branches and nasty flying things, so every now and then we opened the doors whilst driving wedging them open with our feet.  So far so good.  As you can imagine the ride was quite bumpy and I for one (Steve not having this issue) was pleased to be wearing a newish support bra avoiding bruised knees and/or eyes. Later on that evening I noticed my hair was full of bits of tree, but luckily nothing had made a home in my barnet.  Phew! When we stopped to scratch our heads, and decide which way to continue, I opened the back door to let Stella have a breather.  Remember the butterfly net?  I couldn’t believe the number of flying things that had flown in through the windows and were caught in the back of the car, faces pressed against the sides and back door now happily flying out to freedom. Eventually looking at both our satnavs we realised we hadn’t a clue where we were, apart from in the middle of nowhere and it was time to turn around. I swear when Steve got out to try to recognise our tyre tracks in any of the trails, I thought he had turned into a red indian and was going to impress me even more with tracking skills. He did choose the correct trails and we returned safely to the village, having had a jolly good off road safari adventure drive in the Poacher.

Rest of the Tour

Following a route of interesting roads and lanes we visited Rijeka Crnojevića which is a small village a few kilometres from the historical capital of Cetinje. Most of the route took us along single lane roads around the sides of the mountain with sheer drops to one side. The village is along river and was the capital of the Crnojevic state until 1478. The beautiful bridge dates back to 1855. Everyone takes a picture of it and a view from the roads above.

The rest of the route took us through little villages. We saw a Stone Circle and Stone Square originally used for council meetings at one of them, plus along the way war memorials with Russian Hammer and Sickle which interested Steve but not me! When people pass away in Montenegro, its a custom for relatives to pin up a photo on a notice board or tree. They have a saying “I haven’t seen so and so today, not even on an olive tree’.

Arriving back at Virpazar we decided to have a drink and a snack at the Pelican Hotel before returning to Marko’s. I was asked by the owner before I had barely arrived to leave a review on Tripadvisor. Having experienced the food and hard sell for boat trips, I decided that the nicest thing I could do was not to leave one, so I didn’t.

Going to bed that night we had the softest of blankets to keep us warm. Not a blade of grass in sight.

To finish our stay at the Country House Djurisic Saturday morning, we were served another delicious traditional breakfast this time of Burek, a pastry made out of phyllo dough filled with soft cheese. It was served with fresh cucumber, delicious tomatoes, local cheese and home made juniper juice. If you are in Montenegro I really recommend you try home cooked Fish Dinner, Smoked Fish, Red Wine, Burek and Priganice at the Country House Djurisic.

After breakfast and a good chat of the past couple of days, we packed (Steve hadn’t worn his spare t shirt) our clothes and two bottles of Marko’s Prevalis Red Wine, said our goodbyes, and promised to return soon.

Being waved off by the family, we set off to return to base camp via as close as we could get to the Albanian border, coming around the Southern Coast of Montenegro and meet up with our two sets of friends Andrea and Phil and Chris and Richard, both staying at Petrovac.

By the way, the saying ‘Life is a One Time Offer, Use it Well’ beside our breakfast, is the cover to my notebook for these posts. It’s not a bad motto to live by!