Day 14 - Tara Bridge
Thursday 6th August 2017
The sun is risng into a cloudless sky as we haul our gear down to the bikes and prepare for the next adventure. today we are hoping to cross over the border into Montenegro, another new country to add to our list.
We breakfast on the terrace with its wonderful view of the bridge. There are very few guests here and no tourists except us.
Our route takes us back along the road we rode in on yesterday, through the narrow Drina gorge as far as Goradze. Lots of tunnels have been blasted through the rocky sides; there may be as many as 40. I lose count at 35. Some are lit but many are not and the transit from bright sunshine into darkness means lots of dark visor flipping and a few scary moments when oncoming traffic barrels down the centre of the road in the tunnels, with or without headlights.
In Goradze we turn south onto a small road leading through the forest up into the surrounding mountains. We are looking for the tiny border crossing at Metaljke in the corner where Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro meet. We have no idea whether we will be able to cross here, it is worryingly rural with hardly any other traffic. The road surface is poor but it is very peaceful in the crisp mountain air.
The first checkpoint is Bosnian. it is just a small hut by the side of the road with a raised barrier. The officials are friendly as our papers are carefully checked. The name Bond gets the usual comments and they seem genuinely interested in our journey so far. The Green Card photocopy is accepted and with a smile and a wave we are on our way.
We climb for another couple of miles before we come to the Montenegro checkpoint. there is still no traffic. Our reception here is once again friendly and courteous, though the documents checks are more thorough. Finally the docs are returned to us and with business completed the guards can now admire our bikes and ask after Manchester United. And so we ride into the first country of our tour that I have never visited before.
It is a beautiful day. It is perfectly quiet when we switch off the engines. The mountain air is fresh and clear, perfect visibility for miles from the summit. The only sounds are the birds and the ticking of the engines as they cool.
As the name suggests Montenegro is mostly one big mountain carved up by fast flowing rivers. The roads follow the river valleys. Apart from a few logging trucks there is not a lot of commercial traffic, or indeed any traffic, so the roads are in reasonable condition.
We make rapid progress south on the road down to a small town called Pljevlja where we fuel up and stay for coffee.
From here we turn south and head south through the hills on fast sweepers down to the famous Đurđevića Tara Bridge, our destination for the day. The bridge was completed by the Yugoslavians in 1940. The following year the Germans invaded. At the time the it was the biggest vehicular concrete arch bridge in Europe. Not for long though as in 1942 the partisans blew out the central span.
The roadway is around 170 metres above the river. It is now famous for the numerous zip lines that criss-cross the gorge on either side of the bridge, and white water rafting when the river is in flood.
We check in to the Tara Bridge Guesthouse which overlooks the gorge on its western side. We have a pretty scruffy room (but only €10 each) in the most stunning location of the trip so far, on the edge of the drop with a magnificent view of the bridge from our terrace. Below this terrace is a cafe serving the ubiquitous chicken or lamb kebabs or omelette, all with chips and local beer. Wonderful!
After a few bevvies and an omelette we take a stroll over the bridge. The whole concrete structure shakes when a heavy truck rumbles across. There is no proper footpath, just a narrow raised strip next to the parapet on both sides. There are worrying gaps in the concrete. It feels like the whole structure could drop into the gorge at any time. Brave souls are racing across on ziplines on both sides of the bridge. It is a lot better to look at than to stand on so we soon walk back and get a few more down our necks.
 |
| One of dozens of tunnels along the Drina gorge |
The sun is risng into a cloudless sky as we haul our gear down to the bikes and prepare for the next adventure. today we are hoping to cross over the border into Montenegro, another new country to add to our list.
We breakfast on the terrace with its wonderful view of the bridge. There are very few guests here and no tourists except us.
Our route takes us back along the road we rode in on yesterday, through the narrow Drina gorge as far as Goradze. Lots of tunnels have been blasted through the rocky sides; there may be as many as 40. I lose count at 35. Some are lit but many are not and the transit from bright sunshine into darkness means lots of dark visor flipping and a few scary moments when oncoming traffic barrels down the centre of the road in the tunnels, with or without headlights.
 |
| The forest road approaching the border |
In Goradze we turn south onto a small road leading through the forest up into the surrounding mountains. We are looking for the tiny border crossing at Metaljke in the corner where Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro meet. We have no idea whether we will be able to cross here, it is worryingly rural with hardly any other traffic. The road surface is poor but it is very peaceful in the crisp mountain air.
 |
| At the Bosnian checkpoint |
The first checkpoint is Bosnian. it is just a small hut by the side of the road with a raised barrier. The officials are friendly as our papers are carefully checked. The name Bond gets the usual comments and they seem genuinely interested in our journey so far. The Green Card photocopy is accepted and with a smile and a wave we are on our way.
 |
| Approaching the Montenegran checkpoint |
 |
| Welcome to Montenegro |
 |
| The Tara Bridge from our terrace |
We make rapid progress south on the road down to a small town called Pljevlja where we fuel up and stay for coffee.
From here we turn south and head south through the hills on fast sweepers down to the famous Đurđevića Tara Bridge, our destination for the day. The bridge was completed by the Yugoslavians in 1940. The following year the Germans invaded. At the time the it was the biggest vehicular concrete arch bridge in Europe. Not for long though as in 1942 the partisans blew out the central span.
 |
| bike parking at the guest house |
We check in to the Tara Bridge Guesthouse which overlooks the gorge on its western side. We have a pretty scruffy room (but only €10 each) in the most stunning location of the trip so far, on the edge of the drop with a magnificent view of the bridge from our terrace. Below this terrace is a cafe serving the ubiquitous chicken or lamb kebabs or omelette, all with chips and local beer. Wonderful!
 |
| Beer with a view at Tara Bridge guesthouse |
 |
| Omelette and chips |
After a few bevvies and an omelette we take a stroll over the bridge. The whole concrete structure shakes when a heavy truck rumbles across. There is no proper footpath, just a narrow raised strip next to the parapet on both sides. There are worrying gaps in the concrete. It feels like the whole structure could drop into the gorge at any time. Brave souls are racing across on ziplines on both sides of the bridge. It is a lot better to look at than to stand on so we soon walk back and get a few more down our necks.
 |
| On the bridge |
Comments
Post a Comment