Balkans Holiday Revisited - Day 12

Day 12 Kotor to Zabljak After a couple of days off the bikes we were ready to move on, and we headed off to Zabljak up in the northern part of Montenegro, in the Durmitor National Park. The first section of the route took us up this mountain on a very narrow B road round 27 hairpin bends. The riding was a little hairy, but the views of the bay of Kotor were superb. When we got to the top we crossed this bowl shaped plateau, which in winter can have up to 1 metre depth of snow. Truly one of those places where you can swim or ski on the same day as the temperature at sea level is often 15 degrees C in January. Just as we started the descent from the plateau we saw these hills stretching into the distance. From here the gentle slope down led us out of the Lovcen National Park, and on towards the capital city of Podgorica. We crossed the city without difficulty and headed up the Moraca canyon towards Mojkovac. Here's a picture of Elvie riding up the limestone canyon. After Mojkovac we turned right and followed the Tara river towards the Tara gorge. After just a few kilometres we were several hundred feet above the river and we came across this memorial stone to a skier. We don't know who he was, or what he did, but the views were fantastic. This is a view down to the valley floor. The road continued to climb as it headed for Zabljak, and we soon reached the famous Tara bridge whick marks the entry in to the Tara Gorge which at 1,300 metres deep is second only to the Grand Canyon. From here we climbed even higher onto an upland plateau and pulled into the M B hotel in Zabljak just as the chill in the air was starting to make itself felt. It wasn't too long until we were settled in the bar with a beer, discussing the day's ride. We both felt it was probably the best ever day we'd had on a bike. __________________ http://mogs-travels.blogspot.com