{"id":9737,"date":"2019-02-01T10:44:56","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T18:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/?p=9737"},"modified":"2019-11-09T04:48:23","modified_gmt":"2019-11-09T12:48:23","slug":"the-sketchy-road-along-lake-skadar-national-park-montenegro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/01\/the-sketchy-road-along-lake-skadar-national-park-montenegro\/","title":{"rendered":"The sketchy road along Lake Skadar National Park, Montenegro."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This one wakes up before the rest of us and usually climbs onto the bench seat while she waits for us to get out of bed.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46015117915\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7858\/46015117915_e83c821fd4_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Last night we fed the cats a handful of Yoda&#8217;s kibble and this morning all three were waiting for another serving.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39964678193\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7857\/39964678193_9d0974f6d4_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Finally got the fluffy one comfortable enough for a quick snuggle.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39964833753\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4895\/39964833753_d00eac69a2_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Today we take off for our next destination but not before exploring the property&#8217;s abandoned village&#8230; and not before brushing teeth and hair outside too. Ha. Van Life, ya&#8217;ll.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46204514824\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7800\/46204514824_cfcd7245f4_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There is an abandoned little town on the hill above Camp Podkraj that our host has offered to show to us.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39964679093\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7903\/39964679093_774a8fc87b_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Moss covered walls along our path.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46877033822\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4855\/46877033822_2307aaf881_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46204654954\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4831\/46204654954_1404352dcf_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Look at the tree growing\u00a0through the small hole in this rock.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46015121785\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7881\/46015121785_388380539a_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Almost there.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"33053931298\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7814\/33053931298_e67611c035_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In the first house, you can really see the moss covered walls. In the olden days, moss was grown in between the stacked rocks before times of mortar.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46877206222\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4856\/46877206222_2ee82b06b1_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Luka taking a break on a moss-covered stone that made the perfect bench. I wonder how many people did this before him.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"31988408437\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7841\/31988408437_4538198c2c_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And Luka the entrance to the old village.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46206055114\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4872\/46206055114_b833b34434_c.jpg\" alt=\"Montenegro blog 5\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In the next home, you can see the arched alcove that acted as the cooking area on its second floor.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46929327801\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7881\/46929327801_7710122227_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And this triangle one that I can&#8217;t remember its purpose.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39964705793\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7907\/39964705793_0d2888fc2b_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The area in the middle of this photo was where they baked bread.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39964838943\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4880\/39964838943_845a2af6e3_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>View from the abandoned village.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46878421942\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4812\/46878421942_5bb4c6e3d6_c.jpg\" alt=\"Montenegro blog 4\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Our kind host helping us down one slippery section of the hike.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39964848513\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4907\/39964848513_81296475f1_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We loved our time at Camp Podkraj. It felt like an authentic peek into the lives of locals from Montenegro. Those that&#8217;ll\u00a0camp here in the warmer months when the flowers are blooming and the pool is filled with cool water will be in for a real treat.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46205946344\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7878\/46205946344_a7aa14d6dc_c.jpg\" alt=\"Montenegro blog 4\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Quick bite to eat in Virpazar at Hotel Pelikan.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39966145543\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7843\/39966145543_7dfe9130dd_c.jpg\" alt=\"Montenegro blog 4\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Instead of taking the regular road to our next destination, we decided to take the scenic road that follows the shoreline of Lake Skadar.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46876960952\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4823\/46876960952_da64cedfce_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"33055158888\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7803\/33055158888_ce412fba11_c.jpg\" alt=\"Montenegro blog 4\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"39964766173\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7923\/39964766173_c999fbb9b5_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46929289231\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7890\/46929289231_07c62383ff_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The road is super narrow. Not wide enough for two cars in most spots. Luckily for us, we didn&#8217;t run into another car during any of the real tight sections.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"33053862208\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7859\/33053862208_26a424413a_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Made a couple stops to throw a few snowballs and attempt snow angels.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46015113305\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4809\/46015113305_4057e7c992_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46016601045\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7871\/46016601045_38498b813b_c.jpg\" alt=\"Montenegro blog 4\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46015191735\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7811\/46015191735_4b27c8671e_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We did get stopped by the Montenegro\u00a0Police during our drive today. They asked for our\u00a0IDs and our van&#8217;s registration. They took it back to their truck and after a few minutes, returned them to us and sent us on our way.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46015312545\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7805\/46015312545_f10559c57d_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46877126682\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7863\/46877126682_af310dfd0a_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We did have extra added excitement on our drive when we ran into a herd of cows. Most of them ended up veering up a smaller road but this little family kept walking and running on the main road. They eventually got tired and stopped to graze. That&#8217;s we slowly shimmied past them. The dad kept his horns to himself.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"33055170848\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7908\/33055170848_a780b8f7ba_c.jpg\" alt=\"Montenegro blog 4\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The road took us to a stone&#8217;s throw from Albania and then took a\u00a0hairpin turn away from it.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46015310525\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4874\/46015310525_356ce5f1d7_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46204474464\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7829\/46204474464_0d33269f9b_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46929297251\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7858\/46929297251_15acc5d381_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The drive today was a little stressful and took way longer than expected. We ended up finishing up the last bit of our drive on an under construction road in the dark. Not the best but it turned out okay. Reminded us of Baja for a split second.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46015064315\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7855\/46015064315_e52827bf9e_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We ended up spending the night in the city of Ulcinj in Montenegro at a public parking lot overlooking the castle walls. It was a Saturday night and a couple of cars driven by teenagers did donuts a little too close to our comfortable but after that fiasco, we had a quiet night.\u00a0Tomorrow we head to another new country, Albania.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"46929476811\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7910\/46929476811_f73f1311fe_c.jpg\" alt=\"Camp Podkraj Virpazar Montenegro blog 3\" \/><\/p>\n<p><code><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZL5KD4Hs3fw\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/code><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for following along on our adventures,<br \/>\nMalrene<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This one wakes up before the rest of us and usually climbs onto the bench seat while she waits for us to get out of bed. Last night we fed the cats a handful of Yoda&#8217;s kibble and this morning all three were waiting for another serving. Finally got the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[215],"tags":[216],"class_list":["post-9737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","tag-montenegro"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/46204514824_cfcd7245f4_c.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pkBzA-2x3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}