As we always try to discover some new places in Montenegro, we thought it a good idea to make a short road trip along the foothills of Mount Rumija this weekend.
The Route
We started this picturesque tour following the panoramic road ‘Between two magical shores’ from Virpazar to Bar, but after having passed Sutorman and Tuđemili we took the secondary road that leads to Stari Bar (15 km), with a detour to Dobri Do and the village of Veliki Mikulići.
I know, it is a short trip, but I can assure you that it offers picturesque landscapes, magnificent views and several surprising attractions.
By the way, the road is quite narrow and at some places full of potholes, but most of it is paved or covered with concrete plates (except for around 3 km of dirt road).
We were glad to have a 4×4, but I think that this trip can also be made with a solid passenger car.
At the road junction in the village of Sustaš we turned left, following the signpost to Velembuse. Around halfway, in Baltina – a crossroad of hiking trails – we turned left once more, in the direction of Dobri Do and Veliki Mikulići (around 9 or 10 km from the junction).
This was the final point of our trip – of course, hikers could continue to the plateau of Pajka or to the top of Mount Lisinj, the most southern mountain of Montenegro.
But we returned to the junction and then continued southwards through the olive groves of Velembuse and further to Stari Bar.
Attention: For the protection of olive groves, there is a concrete barrier on the road in Velembuse through which only passenger cars can pass (see photo).
Description of the Tour:
The narrow road leads through a very rough karst landscape. Some parts are covered with oaks, bushes and Mediterranean vegetation, but there are also patches of pine forests.
Salvia and broom can be seen everywhere along the road – how beautiful will nature be in the early summer months!
But high up in the mountains we could only see grey and almost white karst rocks, belonging to the barren mountain range of Mount Rumija.
When we arrived on the mountain pass of Dobri Do (around 1000 m above sea level), we were surprised to see a real Russian church with golden onion domes and a new monastery. This appeared to be the monastery of St. Sergej Radonješki, the Miracle Worker. Strange! Why was this church built just here, in the middle of nowhere? Unfortunately, I could not find any details about it. And honestly speaking, it felt a bit uneasy – why a Russian church in this typical Montenegrin landscape?
The climb to the top of the Mount Rumija starts just here, in Dobri Do. It is not an easy climb. Hikers have to conquer an altitude of around 600 m (2.2 km). In spite of this effort that takes at least 2.30 to 3 hours, this hiking tour is one of the most popular ones in the coastal region.
The picturesque narrow asfalt road that continues to the village of Veliki Mikulići offered another attraction: a 10 m high waterfall on the Vruće river. Somebody had made a kind of recreation area around the waterfall with a baptismal font made of stones, and we also saw a stone relief of St. Jovan Vladimir carved into a rock on the right side of the falls.
And then we arrived in the village of Veliki Mikulići, situated in a valley surrounded by mountain peaks. Abandoned, without permanent inhabitants, but well-maintained and clean. The white, renovated mosque, built in 1887, was surrounded by an old graveyard. According to a plaquette in the wall, it had been transformed into an elementary school in 1945. And now – total silence, no people around. What a pity for such a beautiful village!
We had to turn back to Baltina and from there we continued our trip to Stari Bar. Centuries-old olive groves stretched from the slopes of Mount Rumija to the Adriatic Coast. We had magnificent views of the port and city of Bar and the blue sea behind it.
Passing the unexpected concrete barrier on the road was rather demanding, even for a good driver. It was clear, this road was not meant for trucks or buses, the olive groves should be protected!
Soon we descended to Stari Bar and we had a great view of the ancient aqueduct and the old settlement of Stari Bar.
Back to civilization, it was hard to understand that the hinterland of the Montenegrin coast is still so pure, so lonely and so wild. Just imagine: we had not met a single car, a single person during this road trip!
Mount Rumija
What is so special about Mount Rumija? Well, it is quite exceptional that the 1595 m high mountain peak offers the possibility to see, at the same time, the Adriatic Sea on one side and Skadar Lake on the other side.
Around 11 or 12 years ago I climbed this mountain with two friends. I still remember the barren landscape and the hard and steep mountain trail full of rocks and boulders. After a climb of 400 m through stones and bushes I finally saw Skadar Lake on the other side. The difference between the color of the sea and the lake was astonishing.
After an ascent of another 200 m, we saw the mountain top with a small metal church in red and white colors, the church of St. Trinity. This church had been placed there by a (Yugoslav) army helicopter.
The top itself is a place of a 1000 year long tradition, the place where the cross of St. Jovan Vladimir is brought each year on St. Trinity Day by people from three different religions – Orthodox, Catholic and Muslims. Don’t ask me why an Orthodox church was placed on this multi-ethnic mountain top… a difficult question that is hard to answer, especially under today’s political circumstances. By the way, I heard that the church looks different today – it is surrounded by a constructed stone wall.
Today, I don’t climb high mountains any more, but I am so glad that I can still discover a lot of hidden places in Montenegro – like this road trip along the foothills of Mount Rumija!
P.S. A part of this road trip is covered by the PPT – the Coastal Hiking Transversal, a long distance hiking trail that connects three mountain massifs along the Montenegrin Coast: Rumija, Lovćen and Orjen.
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