St Basil of Ostrog

I had gone to bed around 2130 last night feeling really tired despite a “nothing” day. Hence I woke at 0530 with the sun streaming into my room. I decided to head off early to Ostrog on the 0700 train.

As the train pulled away on time, my alarm on my phone rang. I had set it for 0700 so that I could take the 0800 train. As I didn’t have a chance to grab a proper breakfast (not much open), I bought a bag of mini choc-filled croissants to bring along.

After about 50 minutes on the nice near-new train, I hopped off at Ostrog station. I declined a taxi ride and found the path to the monastery which was marked with one sign in Cyrillic and subsequently with a white dot encircled in red. It took about an hour to get to the lower monastery where I rested briefly. In terms of wildlife seen along the way, there were a few bright green lizards in the bush, about 9 inches long excluding the tail.

Some locals invited me for a drink of monastery grape juice. I declined the offer of a brandy as it was only 0900! I continued for another 30 minutes to get to the upper monastery which is built into the cliff face.

As I approached the upper monastery level I noticed lots of blankets tied up to the railing, then lots of seats covered by more blankets. I never got to know why there is a need to cover plastic seats in blankets.

The upper monastery that was open to the public consisted of a souvenir/icon shop, a shrine for visitors to light their candles and a small cave-like room where the bones of St Basil of Ostrog are kept. In the latter, people go in to kiss his cross or coffin and make a prayer. Many believe that prayers through St Basil can cure the most serious of illnesses.

I walked back down to the train station. Nearing the station, I saw a snake on the side of the path. I paused and it slithered past me narrowly missing my foot by about an inch. I didn’t have time to back track or run anywhere. I screamed but as there was no one around, it doesn’t count.

The journey from Ostrog station and back took about 4 hours without rushing. I had about 50 minutes to wait for the train but that went quickly sitting in the shade and enjoying the perfect temperature and admiring the scenery. It always amazes me while in the Balkans how many contrails I see in the sky from overflying aircraft; it must be on the major air routes.

I grabbed lunch at the bus station. It was a very good burger. Once you place your order, the man opens the fridge to grab a fistful of mince and makes it into a patty to put on the grill; he washes his hands before and after 😉

After a rest, I decided that the sights of Podgorica wouldn’t be too worthwhile. I grabbed dinner back at yesterday’s restaurant, having grapevines stuffed with meat and rice.