When we came in to the park there was no one at the entrance booth. When we left the park a ranger(?) was there, so we stopped and were charge 20 euros for our time in the park. When we stopped on the trail out of the park to fill up our water the ranger drove up in a beat up old VW Golf. We started to pack the pump, so that we could move Rosie out of the way, but more rapid Bosnian and hand waving ensued. The ranger jumped back into his car and proceeded to drive off the road, through the bush and past Rosie. Don’t need any 4×4 vehicles here!
Trebinje is the southern-most city in Bosnia and is located near the borders of Montenegro and Croatia. Our stop for the night is located in a parking lot adjacent to a monastery at the top of a hill. We thought we had selected the route that buses use to take visitors to the monastery, but as we started winding our way through Trebinje and up the base of the hill the roads started getting narrower… and narrower. Roofs were overhanging into the street. There was a lot of traffic, and one little old lady sitting in one lane arranging her flowers. She didn’t move, or look too concerned (she should have looked a lot more concerned) as I slowly manoeuvred around her. We hit a switchback that I had to stop and backup in order to make it around.
We made it to the top of the hill and stopped in a bus parking lot (the buses must have a different route).
If go to the Visit Trebinje web site the photo on the home page is of the Hercegovacka Gracanica Temple with the heading “Monasteries”, so we were kind of expecting to see a monastery when we got here. We found a very nice building, but it wasn’t a monastery!
It is a reproduction of a monastery that was built in 1321 in Kosovo, and it is also the final resting place of a well known Serbian poet, Jovan Ducic. Ducic was born in Trebinje (at that time part of the Ottoman Empire) in 1872. Ducic went into exile in United States in 1941 as a result of the German invasion and occupation of Yugoslavia. He lived with a relative, Mihailo Pupon, until his death in 1943. In his will he expressed a wish to be buried in his home town of Trebinje. Pupin was a Serbian physicist, chemist and a wealthy philanthropist.
In order to send Ducic’s remains back to Trebinje Pupin bought the land at the top of the hill and paid for the temple’s construction.
The temple is part of the Serbian Orthodox Church and a priest performs weddings and baptisms there. No monks to be found though.
Anyone who parks in public places on a regular basis knows about “The Knock”. This occurs when you have inadvertently parked in a location where overnight parking is not allowed and someone knocks on your vehicle’s door to tell you to move.
Most times parking restrictions are not sign posted anywhere, so you take your chances. We found a nice level spot near the temple and set in for the night. After dark (8 pm-ish) we heard a knock on Rosie’s door. A very apologetic Bosnian fellow indicated that we had to move to the lower parking lot, because he had to close the gate leading to the upper parking lot. A quick move and we were set for the night.
We spent some time poring over Google Maps trying to find an alternative route back down the hill (I really didn’t want to have to manoeuvre around little old ladies sitting on the road again), and we found a route that looked like it had wider, and straighter roads.
The next morning we left before breakfast in an attempt to beat the morning traffic. We found the turn off to the new route… and no way was it a bus route. The switchback to access the road was so narrow I didn’t think I could fit Rosie down it, never mind a bus. So, back down the same route we came up. Very little traffic and no old ladies, so it actually was not a bad route at all.
We found a nice spot next to a river that flowed through the town and settled in for breakfast.
There is an old town section, so we wander along the river until we find old stone walls and some very nice old narrow streets inside. Very clean in this part of town (one thing we have noticed is a lot of garbage alongside the roads, especially at road-side stopping areas). We wander around for a bit and stop for ice cream for the kids (well okay, a little bit for us too).
Today’s itinerary also includes a visit to another monastery, where they make wine, and who we hope to be able to stay for the night. It is only about 10 minutes away from our current location, and not located at the top of a hill surrounded by narrow streets.
We find the monastery and it looks promising. Monk-like architecture (don’t know what that is, but if I was a monk I could live here) and fields with grape vines – we must be in the right place!
It is early in the season, so the place is not really open yet. There is construction going on, so parts of the buildings and grounds are closed off. The cellar, with the arced ceilings and old wine barrels is closed, but we are directed down a side lane to the “winery”. We find 3 or 4 guys standing around drinking wine from plastic cups (most wearing sweats and running shoes) and they are selling white and red wine in 1 gallon plastic jugs. We decide not to make a purchase at this time. I don’t know what attire monks wear these days, but these guys definitely did not give off a monkish vibe!
The souvenir shop was open, so we dropped in to ask about parking overnight. NO. Okay then, just buy a couple of bottles of wine to check out the monk’s handiwork (glass bottles, with corks), and then head back to Trebinje.
We have a place to stay, just on the other side of the bridge where we parked for breakfast. It is in the parking lot of an Irish Pub.
The parking lot was mostly empty when we arrived, but filled up completely during the evening (it is the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day after all). We were totally blown away to hear polka music! No Irish music at all. Just hours of polka music. It wasn’t too loud inside Rosie, so it didn’t keep us awake (but it did bring back memories of the time we hiked around Loch Lomond in Scotland and stayed at a fading hotel and were woken up by polka music being played for people who should have been in bed hours earlier).
Amazing trips. Hope you enjoyed the curry in Dover xx
Best Indian food ever!