2geonomads

Wednesday 7th May 2014.

Leave flat at 8.00 am and arrive at the train station in good time for our 9.10 train to Podgorica.

We leave behind a city and a country where life appears to be very tough and certainly struggling more in an economic sense than their neighbours to the north. Moreover, there appears to be a continued undercurrent of unease in the relationship with Croatia. Hopefully this will dissipate as time goes by.

Our 10 hour train journey to Podgorica almost didn’t come to pass as while we were in Zagreb we had received a text from Maureen stating, and I quote verbatim ” John has spoken to staff at bank who say don’t take train to Podgorica it’s dangerous and dirty. They said bus is far better.”

This came as a bit of a surprise as firstly Gail had checked out a site called ‘ man in seat 61’ who had described it as one of the world’s scenic journeys. Even more to the point was John’s reliance on the local bank clerk for expertise on train travel in this part of the world! Whilst we may not be experts in the field experience has taught us that we are safer to rely on such as travel agents, tourist offices and such institutions when making our travel plans! Time will tell.

The train leaves on time, which is a good start , and, although crowded, the carriages and seats are comfortable.

Initially, the landscape is fairly underwhelming but as we travel further south and into Montenegro we come across some truly awesome scenery, especially the Moraca Canyon which is not one for vertigo- sufferers. The train track is in fact perched at an impossibly high level above the gorge and the canyon does not suffer by comparison with the equally spectacular Gorge du Verdun in Southern France.

Montenegro is a singularly beautiful country and Podgorica is in a superb location surrounded by mountains on most sides.

We arrive in the city at 7.30 pm. ( on time ) and the only danger we have encountered has come in the form of the top coming off a feed bottle being administered to a little 7 month old called Pavla by his young Mum Maria who had got on with her friend Diana at Uzice in Serbia! Fortunately, the projectile didn’t quite reach John so he arrived at his destination totally unscathed

Trundled on foot from the nearby station to Hotel Ramada, dragging cases behind us ( more on this later) . VERY jaded from our 10 hour journey so it’s dinner at the hotel and then straight to bed.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.