top of page
Writer's pictureSecrets D'aventure

Virpazar - heaven found


We arrived at the bus station in Bar at about 4pm. The bus station was small and almost had nobody. And we happened to meet the Brazilian friend whom we met in Portirna, Croatia. After a little chat, he had to board the bus to continue his journey and we also walked towards the train station. The train station and bus station were next to each other so it didn’t take us much time to get there. The outside of the bus and train station looked very normal but when we entered the station we got amazed. The terminal of the train station overlooked a majestic mountain scene at sunset. We had to utter "wow, fantastic!"


Our train was around 6pm. Well, the train fare here was amazingly cheap, only 1 euro per trip per person from Bar to Virpazar. And when we arrived at Virpazar it was almost 7 pm. It was dark at that time in winter, so we did not see anything in Virpazar except some lights on the streets and the winding turns. Emma and her son Gorge came to pick us up. Well I had not tell you that we went to Virpazar to do volunteer at Ben and Emma's. Volunteering is also a good way to reduce the cost of travel and to have experience with local people. But because they were British, we did not have an opportunity to experience with any native family here. But they also gave us a lot of useful information about this locality. I will write a post on volunteering when traveling for your reference later!

That evening we had dinner with their family. The morning after when I was sleeping, Gautier woke me up with excitement: Baby wake up, look out the window! I was annoyed of being awakened but still tried to open my eyes and I was really surprised and didn’t believe in my eyes.


Oh god, like in heaven! I jumped out of the bed and ran to the door out to the balcony. I was really overwhelmed with the beautiful view from the balcony. From the balcony I saw the village of Virpazar surrounded by majestic mountains and the clouds were all overhead in the early morning. I think this was the house with most beautiful view in Virpazar. About 11am, the clouds disappeared. At that time, I also saw the part of the blue Skadar Lake surrounding the village. Since we came here to volunteer, we had evenings and weekends to discover Virpazar and Skadar Lake.



Virpazar was a small fishing village on the way from Podgorica to the coast. It was located where Crmnica and Orahovštica met and then flew into Skadar Lake. Virpazar was the starting point for most boat trips on Skadar Lake. Virpazar's houses are arranged in a circle with the front facing the village square and the other side facing the lake. In the middle of the square full of tree shade was a nice place to enjoy a few glasses of wine, surrounded by three restaurants and a tourist information office. On most days, you would find vendors of local products such as famous Crmnica wines and Lozas, but the best shopping day was Friday, local market day. I heard that in the summer months, tourists came here to attend the famous local festivals. There was a festival in the winter, called wine and bleak festival that lasts for three days and all are free. Fish was baked right in front of everyone and with a view of the lake, giving the whole festival an atmosphere like at home. The festival usually took place in December, so if you come to Montenegro at that time then do not miss this event.




Skadar lake was a place that visitors to Montenegro had to come to see to believe that there was such natural beauty really existed. This was a very attractive destination because of its natural abundance, easily accessible both from land and sea. The sea, lake and mountain were all within 150 km. Thanks to the diverse geography here, it was possible to meet all types of tourism throughout the year: bird watching, excursions to historical monuments, archeology, research entertainment, events and festivals, boat excursions and much more. We did not have enough time to enjoy all that recreation. But we were also fortunate enough to experience some interesting activities.

Wandering around the lake on an early winter morning. I was really amazed by the fairytale scene here. The blue lake was as clear as the mirror and the fog laps covered the surface of the lake. Somewhere the sunlight was trying to shine through the mist. I really do not know how to use words to describe this beauty. When the sun went up a bit, the scene was clearer but still beautiful. We also saw a ruin of a fortress by the lake.





The lake at sunset brought another beauty. At this moment, the lake was quiet, with no ripples, making it look like a huge mirror reflecting the natural landscape above. The birds parked on a steel frame trimming their feather and maybe they were also enjoying the rest sunlight at the end of the day.






On almost every island on Skadar lake, monasteries and fortresses exist as witnesses to the turbulent history of Montenegro, its rules and conquerors. Castle Besac was located on a slope close to where we stayed. From there we could watch Virpazar and the surrounding wetlands. We also passed by some other monasteries and fortresses but did not know their names.



At Skadar lake, there was a small island called Grmozur. This was an island with many legends and myths, which used to be the prison during the Austro-Hungarian Empire but is now abandoned. In 1847, a fortress of 430 square meters was built. At the time of Prince Nikola Petrovic, the building was converted into a prison, later it was used more for political prisoners. Prison Island was known to be almost impossible to escape. And the stories told that most prisoners were those who did not know how to swim. Along with that, the patrol boats constantly guarded, making it more difficult for any prisoner to escape. That is why the island is nicknamed "Alcatrin Montenegro". In a powerful earthquake hit Montenegro, and in particular the Skadarsko Jezero area in 1905, the Grmozur fortress was severely damaged and has not been used until today, with only the remains of untouched land lived by many birds.


At the last weekend we were there, they took us to a very special place, the Starceva Gorica Monastery on Starceva Gorica island next to the western shore of Skadar lake. To go to this monastery, we experienced a crooked and winding but beautiful passage with beautiful little villages, leafless vineyards and panoramic views from above. Far away the mist still covered the mountains.





And when we arrived at Murici beach we went kayak to the island. It was our first time kayaking in winter. Fortunately, that day was very beautiful. The lake was quiet with clear blue. The sun shone brightly as it encouraged us to paddle faster.



We approached the pelicans. We tried to paddle slightly to get close to take some photos but they also found out and flew away. Emma said it was strange that they were still in the lake. Often they only referred to be there in summer.



We finally reached the monastery. Some priests and nuns were living and working there. On the island in the summer there were many pomegranates. They harvested them and made juice to bring to the city for selling. They also made souvenirs or paintings to sell to visitors. The money they used to cover the cost at the monastery.


We were invited by a priest and a nun for a pomegranate juice and eat tomato carrot cake. That was the first time I had ever heard of a carrot and tomato cake. It sounded strange but just ate a piece only and then we want to eat more. I was lucky enough to receive a piece of cake with a heart-shape in the middle.



They also took us around the monastery and visit the pomegranate factory. There was a spot to enjoy the panorama of the monastery and the beautiful lake. Emma took a limestone picture of us here. That's our cover photo.



We had an enjoyable experience for the time at Virpazar. I do not know if the lake has the same beauty in the summer as it does in the winter but I want to come back here in the summer to try other activities, especially to go with the boat into Skadar Lake national park, which shouldn’t be miss here.

17 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page