Three Days in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina

The trip is planned from Kragujevac through Novi Pazar, Podgorica, Kotor to Trebinje, Blidinje Park, Jablanica, and back through Sarajevo and Bajina Bašta.

First Day: Kragujevac – Podgorica via Trešnjevik and P19

The first day takes Srkija from Pančevo to KG, where we drive along the Ibar highway to have time for Trešnjevik and P19, a road that leads through villages near the highway to Podgorica.

We tried the new road from Novi Pazar to Tutin - a colleague from NP warned us that something was not right with that road, and we could see for ourselves. A good part is okay, but there are unpredictably slippery sections.

The route takes us through Andrijevica and Trešnjevik to Mateševo, from where we follow P19. The road goes through smaller villages and surprises with open views of the Mala Rijeka canyon towards the end. The trail is not for larger motorcycles – the hairpin turns are partially narrow, and almost the entire length lacks any protection beside the road. We leave P19 just in time, right before dark.

Second Day: Cetinje, Kotor, Klobuk, Blidinje

The second day takes us from Podgorica through Cetinje to Kotor. The road is excellent, dry, the sun is shining - I think it can't get any better. Srki has a rhythm that suits me perfectly, the journey would take me a week on my own, as I would stop at every curve to take pictures.

I have never been to Kotor - I didn't grow up in Serbia, so besides Serbia, a good part of Montenegro is new to me. It's no wonder I'm thrilled with the views from the switchbacks. What looks like a nice-to-have part of the journey on the map is actually a surprise behind every curve, pines, sun breaking through, clouds below us. There's almost no one on the road, we caught the perfect moment for this trip.

We quickly handle the border crossing, tackle the first curves, and enjoy. Srki turns into some bushes, saying he wants to show me something. For the next 15 km, we ride on gravel next to the Trebišnjica. The worn-out tires bounce, but they are good enough for this. We take a short break. We have 165 km ahead of us through eastern Bosnia to Posušje near Blidinje on the western side. We think about food, but we still have a long way to go and want to visit Blidinje during the day. Learning from our experiences in the trenches of Romania, we fuel up with Snickers and vitamin waters and continue on a really excellent road through Veličani, Čapljina, and Grude. Little traffic, no controls anywhere.

We reach Posušje where we begin our ascent to Blidinje. The road to Blidinje reminds me of Transalpina, good asphalt with many beautiful curves - noticeably colder. We stop at Blidinje Lake, the first break after Trebinje. The view is beautiful, a plain surrounded by hills covered with snow. This part is definitely marked for some off-road section in April or May. For now, we ride a bit on gravel around the lake, enjoying the sun and the view of the lake.

The road to Jablanica is excellent. Only towards the very end does the road quality worsen, but our priorities shift; at dusk, we enter Jablanica and rush to a restaurant.

Third Day: Sarajevo, Bajina Bašta

After spending the night in Jablanica, we head back. The goal is to bypass Sarajevo and instead go through Olovo and Kladno to Bajina Bašta, rather than via Višegrad. The entire route is a good main road - only towards the end does the road become a bit dirty and slippery due to surface mining. Nevertheless, the end of the road through Bosnia to Bajina Bašta brings back a smile. In Bajina Bašta, we have lunch and then our paths diverge - Srki takes an honorary loop through Loznica to Pančevo, while I continue through Užice and Ovčar Banja to Kragujevac. A solid amount of packed impressions from 1,300 km, compressed into three days.