Digital Wanderer

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Montenegro — 12, day 5, night in Podgorica and rafting on the Tara

2012-07-12

We left Herceg Novi in the evening, and unexpectedly for me, we rolled off to Podgorica. It is the capital and the largest city of Montenegro, with a population of about 150 thousand. That's almost a third of the country's population, a situation similar to Latvia and Riga, and also Iceland and Reykjavik.

We didn't see anything particularly interesting in the capital. Ate some ice cream, drank some freshly squeezed juices. Doomer delighted the young glamorous chicks rushing to the disco with his bright red cycling shorts. Andrey, I hope, was delighted, because he really wanted to get to Podgorica, and he managed to do it. Just like with the sea.

Dimly lit at night monument to A.S. Pushkin with two bronze figures on a round base. In the foreground is a marble plaque with the inscription: «Monument to A.S. Pushkin. Gift of the city of Moscow to Podgorica.»

Gift of the city of Moscow

Two cyclists are riding along a paved path among green meadows in a park with an autumn forest on the horizon. Along the path in the distance, large decorative metal rings are installed under a bright sky with cirrus clouds.

Natalya Goncharova also fights – she scratched one of our comrades with her bronze hand

A man with a camera in his hands kneeled on the steps in front of the glass entrance to the Montenegrin National Theater. The brightly lit facade of the building and glass doors with Cyrillic writing are visible in the background at night.

I convinced Doomer to take a picture against the background of the sign

Night cityscape with trees, street lamps and people strolling along the sidewalk. To the right is a white building with columns and stairs, in front of which a barrier tape is stretched.

A man in a black t-shirt and red shorts stands next to a full-length bronze statue of Alexander Pushkin, depicted in a historical costume and pointing into the distance with his hand.

Yura, in his own way, stands in the same line with Pushkin

Bas-relief depicting a flying female figure with flowing hair on the stone wall of a building illuminated by warm night light. On the right, tree branches cast shadows on the facade.

Street art

Night shot of a brightly lit white building with many windows and two balconies, in front of which there are three flags on high flagpoles. In the foreground, a person in a reflective vest walks along a path among dark trees.

 

Landscape with wavy gray water, a sandy spit on the horizon and a bright, misty sky.

The theme of protest will always be relevant

 

Tara day 5 - rafting


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The next day we woke up late, and therefore decided that it would be a good idea to experience something that none of us had ever experienced before — namely, rafting. For those who haven't heard this bourgeois word before, I will briefly explain that rafting is floating down turbulent mountain rivers on a large rubber raft, overcoming rapids, and a real chance to soak your torso.

In general, I must say that people are very different. Some always need something new and they are glad to have any fresh experiences and activities, others play it by ear, and a third group is happy with everything just sitting at home in front of the TV. Sometimes all these groups change their habits and do something uncharacteristic of themselves, and sometimes they continue in their own spirit, but wonder what would happen if they betrayed themselves.

I have long understood that I always need to see and do something, otherwise it gets boring, and you don't feel that life is passing with meaning. In this sense, it's harder for me than for many, because I can't even try to believe in higher powers or mysticism — my brain is wired differently and only accepts rational explanations. You have to look for non-religious meanings and justifications for everything around, and for the very process of life.

In itself, the desire to see and understand new things is wonderful. But there are also stressing moments. One of them is that a person is never satisfied with what they have. You rode around Latgale — you want to go to Lithuania. Seen enough of Lithuania — you feel like going to the mountains. Rode around the mountains — you want exoticism. Seen exoticism — you want ethnography. If you let this process take its course, it will turn into a meaningless pursuit of thrills, when you have neither the time nor the desire to comprehend and integrate the received experience. In our reality, however, this danger is not so great — the financial capabilities of the majority of Latvian residents are limited, and not that many interesting events happen in Daugavpils and nearby.

On a grassy meadow stands a wooden pavilion with a green roof and a "Nikšićko Pivo" banner, inside which inflatable boats are stored. Behind it rises a gentle green hill covered with trees, with a small house on the slope under a cloudy sky.

Rafts

Anyway, I was telling you about rafting. Almost everyone from our team participated in it, and all for the first time, if I'm not mistaken. This pleasure cost quite a lot — 45 euros, I think, and lasted only a few hours. However, first things first.

When we arrived at the place, the Montenegrins were already drinking their traditional drink — grape vodka, widely known as Rakija. Its strength is 40-50 degrees, and the hosts, of course, drank homemade, of maximum strength. When Yura asked where to buy some, they complained that the season hadn't started yet, and they were finishing off their old supplies — not enough for themselves.

A group of people chat under a wooden canopy with a table and benches against the backdrop of picturesque green mountains. Nearby on the lawn are other benches and outdoor equipment.

Naturally, they poured a shot for us too (for those who drink)

A man in glasses and a black t-shirt with a backpack on his shoulders stands in a green meadow against the backdrop of hills, small wooden houses, and a parked car.

The mood is positive — a little exciting, but overall the anticipation is pleasant

A large arch bridge crosses a green mountain valley surrounded by wooded slopes under a cloudy sky, and in the foreground, trees with young foliage and a signpost to the Durmitor National Park are visible.

Another view of the bridge

A ginger and white cat stands on bright green grass, squinting its eyes and slightly opening its mouth.

The cat didn't sail with us, which is a pity

Remembered by the way, how Doomer and I were figuring out who knows what about navigation. The fact that a watercraft, from the point of view of sailors, "goes", but by no means "floats", is a fairly well-known fact. There is another slightly less known one, but from memory I lied to Doomer. I correct myself. Only a military watercraft is called a "ship", while civilian ones are correctly called "vessels".

Anyway, we set sail on neither one nor the other, but on a raft.

 

Four people in wetsuits — three men and one woman — stand on a green lawn against the backdrop of hills covered with trees and small wooden houses. A life jacket on a chair is visible in the right foreground.

To avoid freezing in the icy water, the participants put on wetsuits

The wetsuit is made of tight-fitting foam rubber, neoprene, and it's very hot in it. That, in fact, is the whole point. If you splash into a turbulent mountain stream, which only recently was a glacier, the chances of getting a cramp, paralysis, or pneumonia decrease dramatically.

A group of people in wetsuits, life jackets, and helmets loads a large green inflatable boat onto the roof of a white minibus. The process takes place in a green clearing against the backdrop of wooded hills under a clear sky.

Loading the raft, life jackets and helmets are mandatory

There will be no more photos, because nobody wants to subject their precious DSLRs to the very real chance of taking a dip. You will have to take my word for my colorful descriptions.

Having launched the raft onto the water, we each took a paddle, sat on the sides on the gunwales, wherever we ended up, and stuck our feet into the bindings on the floor. Then the current slowly carried us away. In critical moments, our guide and helmsman commanded where to paddle, in Montenegrin, naturally. Overall, I personally wasn't scared at all, but rather amused and entertained. There were only a few moments where you could yell enthusiastically and get a little scared. Breakers, whirlpools, and rapids were present, but the raft seems very stable. Plus, the worst thing that can happen is you swim for a couple of minutes in the cold water. By the way, when we reached our destination a couple of hours later, we successfully did just that, of our own free will.

From the interesting stuff: not far from the start of the trip, another river flowed into the Tara river straight out of a rock, very beautiful, with white swirls and a huge cloud of spray. Looking at the Tara Bridge from below was also very interesting, and nearby we saw an old bridge, much lower than the new one, and even old rafts on which descents used to be organized before — wooden ones. The guide said that it was a hundred times more dangerous. He told us quite a bit overall, about the history of the bridge and other local things, for which thanks to him, of course.

Summing up, we can say that the rafting was a success, but I would have liked it to be scarier and brighter, with a flip, or something. You can try it once, but I wouldn't pay 40 euros a second time for such a quiet and calm experience; it's better to go to some music festival, at least there you get a few days of interesting sensations, and not a couple of hours.

Officially, by the way, all this was called a “Rafting & Jeep tour”, because on the way back we were driven in a jeep with a third gear modified for lower revs, so it would pull through the mountains. We felt like we were in a police paddy wagon there, sitting on wooden benches under a low ceiling and cramped, an amusing sensation.

And the dude who sailed with us on the raft, a Russian from London, even climbed onto the roof and rode there, though not for long. The Montenegrins approve of such dashing bravado, but there was a tourist inspection on motorcycles nearby, so they allowed him to show off only on a small piece of the dirt road, so as not to get busted. The locals in general don't consider it shameful to knock back a shot in the morning and go about their business, but they know the limit — you can drink properly only in the evening, or if there are no important things to do.

A striped wild boar piglet stands on a light floor, next to a crouching person in blue jeans, who gently touches it with their hand.

This I have absolutely no idea what it is

A forest stream flows through a rocky ravine, the slopes of which are covered with green moss and grass. Fallen tree trunks lie above the stream.

While we were rafting, Oleg climbed into some creepy bushes and a stream

A deep green canyon with a turquoise river winding along the bottom, under a cloudy sky. The slopes are densely covered with spring forest, and rocks and several houses are visible on the distant peaks.

But what a view!

A group of six friends is sitting at tables on an open terrace, drinking beer and chatting. In the background, a large bridge is visible, thrown across a picturesque mountain valley.

In the evening, the whole company relaxes

A group of people at a table on a terrace; in the foreground, a hand takes French fries from a plate with ketchup, nearby there are glasses of beer.

By the bridge, as expected, they sell everything crappy and expensive

Bottles of beer and brandy stand on the checkered tablecloth of the table, next to a black smartphone and an open Acer laptop. Its screen shows a photo of a person diving into the blue sea from a pier against the background of mountains.

Interesting story

In the evening, the Montenegrins from the rafting earlier that day came by and gifted Yura “Doomer” a bottle of their rakija, but they didn't hand it directly to him, because he wasn't there at that moment. The bottle, as you can see, is from a store, but the contents are homemade. Yura was in happy shock, and even tried to find out how to give them money, but we convinced him that after the cost of the rafting he could easily accept such a gorgeous gift.

Two men are sitting at a table on an open veranda against the background of trees. The man on the left in a light blue t-shirt points his finger down, holding a glass bottle in his hand, while the man on the right in a red sweater looks thoughtfully to the side.

In the foreground, close-up, a blonde in a green sweater with an earring, looking to the right. Behind her, in less sharp focus, a smiling woman with a can in her hand and a blurred man in a light blue shirt.

 

DSC_2844

 

Portrait of a man in a turquoise t-shirt, who thoughtfully looks into the camera, propping his chin with his fist. Behind his back, a blurry landscape with green mountains is visible through the window.

 

Close-up of a brandy bottle, a red bottle of sauce, and open cans of stewed pork standing on a table. In the background, people in blue and red clothes are blurry visible.

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