Zabliak!



One of the best things about my new life in Montenegro is the school I'm teaching at, and what makes the school in turn so great are the families who comprise the school community. In many ways, this is the ideal international school situation. It's a small school, and yet the parents and children range from Nepal to Australia to Ethiopia to Japan. As such, we maintain a very cosmopolitan focus at the school and a genuine world view. (FAR better than the US-concentric schools that dominate elsewhere.)

What I'm saying is, we're all friends. Thus, when several of the families invited me to join them on an excursion into the mountains of Montenegro some weeks back, I was more than happy to join them.

The expedition began by following a thin ribbon of road that snakes and climbs about the edge of the winding Moraca river valley gorge. This is truly a sight to behold, as the cliff walls and the sheer mountainscapes about the emerald serpentine river grow only higher and more spectacular the farther you twine along the canyon. I am inclined to buy a car here in the country just so I can enjoy this road many more times in the future. (Sadly, no pictures of this particular leg of the journey. Hopefully next time!)


The road to Zabliak

We did manage to stop at a very scenic bridge along the way. I imagine that some enterprising tourist business will open this up for bungee jumping in the future. For now, it serves as a starting point for many rafting excursions.









After several hours of awesome mountain views, we arrived in the mountain village of Zabliak. Zabliak maintains much of the lifestyle and architecture of the traditional mountain towns of Montenegro and Serbia, despite quickly becoming a tourist destination.




Zabliak, with its traditional wooden farmhouses

The town really takes off in the winter as the hub for a small but successful skiing industry. Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy that soon! Still, despite being only autumn, we did get some snow. And for the kids (well, and for some of us childish adults as well) this meant an opportunity for sledding!



Zabliak is also situated at the edge of a vast national park. In fact, from the town, you can walk into the edges of the park, where we enjoyed hiking around the mist-covered Black Lake.



We also enjoyed a traditional lunch of slow-cooked lamb at a restaurant on the lake, which is dominated by a long fire pit that serves as fireplace, oven, and bar.





All in all, it was a great trip enjoyed with some great families and friends.