The emerald Drina river
Encompassing Tara Mountain, the green Drina river has cut a magnificent canyon, reaching even up to 1,000 m in depth and being known as one of the most beautiful canyons in the world. Tara Mountain and the national park of the same name offer tourists various attractions, ranging from going to the belvederes with panoramic views of the Drina, mountain horse-riding to eco-tours making you familiar with the magnificent world of endemic flora. Tara is an ideal space for mountain biking and mountaineering. The Canyon of the Drina can be researched by sailing on tourist ships or boats; one of the spectacular tours, however, is sailing to Višegrad, paying a visit to Andrićgrad (the complex-town dedicated to Ivo Andrić, a Serbian writer and a Nobel Prize Winner) and the famous “bridge on the Drina River”. The surroundings are also decorated by two accumulation lakes: Zaovinsko and Perućaško lakes, and the natural phenomenon of the Vrelo (Spring) river – a Drina river’s tributary, which flows exactly 365 m on its way from its spring to the confluence with the Drina. Flowing into the Drina, it creates a waterfall, above which a “terrace for visitors to enjoy” has been built.
The small town of Bajina Bašta is the tourist center of this area and does resemble the name it bears: there are a lot of parks, tree lanes and floral alleyways. Here, you can rent a boat with a raftsman, who will, according to the tradition of this area, navigate the boat on the downward course of the river. You will become familiar with the famous, isolated “little house on the Drina”, too, the photo of which has been displayed worldwide. When it comes to the rich “Drina table groaning with food”, we recommend that you should have trout and huchen soup, whereas yet another specialty is also medicinal juniper brandy.
Among the meanders of the Uvac river
The view of the meandering course of the Uvac river is more beautiful than any photograph can evoke. In its struggling with stone, the water has modelled a creation of an unreal landscape consisting of a series of “clenched” meanders, some of which even have an angle of 270 degrees! Meandering and taking sharp turns, the Uvac has created a several kilometers long shore, and there are three lakes on its course that have been created by erecting dams. The river flows down in cascades across the Lake of the Uvac River, the highest-placed one, only to continue to flow across the lakes of Zlatar and Radoinjsko. “Special Nature Reserve – the Uvac” is responsible for managing this space.
Griffon vultures, the endangered species of the vulture-eagle of the imposing size and the wingspan, are the biggest attraction of the reserve. Apart from griffon-vulture watching, sailing down the meanders of the river is also very exciting. Here, you can walk for hours down the marked paths right alongside the circumference of the gorge. The nearby town of Nova Varoš is located on the slopes of Zlatar Mountain, which has been given the status of an air spa. The air here is rich in ozone and turpentine, and the roses of winds above Zlatar make a link between the Mediterranean and mountain climates. Zlatar is known for its developed cattle breeding and tasty full-fat “cheese from Zlatar mountain”, which many specialties are made with. The one that we certainly recommend that you should taste is “heljdopita” (“buckwheat pie”) – a pie made with buckwheat flour and stuffed with the cheese from Zlatar Mountain.
The holy waters of the Lim river
In its course, this fast mountain river flows by the high-rising lime-stone cliffs and valleys, brisk rapids and sandy depressions coming one after another; so, the river is attractive to go rafting and log-floating on it. The traces of the past testify of the value of living on its banks. As a pearl necklace, there are mediaeval monasteries all the way down the river: Kumanica, Davidovica, Pustinja (Desert), Mileševa, Mažići, Sv. Nikola (St. Nicholas)… Mileševa Monastery nearby the town of Prijepolje is known for its “White Angel” – one of the most beautiful Serbian mediaeval frescoes to have been transmitted to space as a message of peace and beauty for intelligent beings in space to see it. The repository of St. Nicholas Monastery in Pribojska Banja spa is also fascinating. This region is ideal for active rest in nature. We recommend that you should pay a visit to the waterfalls of the Sopotnica river, the canyon of the Mileševka river and the mountain village of Kamena gora (Stone Mount) with its 108 springs of drinking water. Apart from coming to Kamena gora to see the beautiful landscapes and its developed village tourism, one also visits it in order to pay reverence to the holy pine: the solitary luxuriant pine that, according to the legend, is at least four centuries old, is paid respect to as a holy being.
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