thetrainfamilyGoodbye lovely Uzice and Hello interesting Podgorica
We bid farewell to the lovely town of Uzice and set our course towards the old Yugoslav railway station. The train bound for Bar – with a stop in Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica, where we were to disembark – was supposed to depart at 12:06. When the clock struck 12:10, there was still no sign of the train. No screens, no announcements over the loudspeakers. The other passengers waiting alongside us remained completely composed, so we followed suit.
At 12:25, the sound of a train’s horn reached our ears, and shortly thereafter, the platform staff emerged from their office. That was our cue to sling our backpacks over our shoulders. The train was older than the one we had taken from Belgrade to Uzice. It had high steps to climb into the graffiti-covered railcar. Fortunately, we had booked seat tickets, having visited the station the previous day to purchase them (as they couldn’t be bought online). We located our compartment relatively quickly. We had to displace two individuals who had taken our seats, but one lady remained.
Spectacular view on the most Magnificent Train Journey
Soon after departing from Uzice, the spectacular views began. The journey from Belgrade to Uzice had been impressive by our standards, but it paled in comparison to this. We pressed ourselves against the window of our compartment, taking turns exclaiming, “Look!” We attempted to capture the stunning vistas through photographs and videos, but we were constantly interrupted by one tunnel after another.
Tunnels and bridges over and over again
Throughout the entire 476 km stretch from Belgrade to Bar, there are 254 tunnels. The two longest ones, Zlatibor Tunnel and Golea Tunnel, are both 6 km long, and it took 6 minutes to traverse each. The journey became particularly mesmerizing when we crossed one of the 435 bridges. Some were so high up that I hesitated to get too close to the window.
Border Crossing between Serbia and Montenegro
We rolled quietly into Bijelo Polje station in Montenegro, and the train came to a stop for about 30 minutes. First, a man with a large handbag filled with cold drinks walked through the train. He was warmly received by others on the train. As always, we had placed water bottles in the freezer before departure and enjoyed refreshing cold water. Then, a Montenegrin customs officer entered the compartment and requested our passports. We all received a Montenegro stamp in our passports, and soon we were rolling again
The Mala Rijeka Viaduct
For most of the trip, I dreaded the Mala Rijeka Viaduct (which is a bridge), reportedly the most spectacular at 498 meters long and 198 meters above the ground. However, I found it far less intimidating than anticipated.
In other words, there was no reason for concern once we reached it. It was undoubtedly impressive, I must admit, but there were other bridges that felt much wilder and more uncertain, lacking the “iron posts” on the sides. From the mountain town of Kolasin at an elevation of 1032 meters to Podgorica, the railway descends to 40 meters above sea level in a short distance, resulting in a gradient of 25‰ on this section.
Ironically, our fellow passengers were either asleep or engrossed in their phones for most of this spectacular journey! On the other hand, we were absolutely elated after experiencing it all, once we reached Podgorica.
