Mokra Gora
We are just inside the Serbian border in Tara national park. We picked this town, Mokra Gora , because it is home to the fabled Sargan Eight train . I say fabled but I had never heard of it till I started researching our trip several months ago. However, for train buffs a ride on this train is the equivalent of a hot air balloon ride over Machu Pichu at dawn with Megan Markle personally serving breakfast featuring her limited edition jam.
What makes this train interesting is not the train itself but the track it runs on. This 15.5 km piece of track is the remnant of the Belgrade to Sarajevo line which then went on to Dubrovnik. What is special about this remnant is the profile of the line which forms a figure eight as it ascends 300 meters around a mountain. The track passes through majestic scenery and mountain forests and is justifiably regarded as one of the most spectacular train rides in Europe.
The carriages are old rolling stock from the early part if the 20th century. Each carriage was different in its seating arrangement. One had bench seating down the entire length of each side of the carriage but luckily our carriage had some thin padding on the wooden seats.
The train passes through 22 tunnels and over 5 bridges to get to its destination after a 40 minute ride. On the return journey it stops at 5 stations so the passengers can alight and take photographs. One of the stations has an outcrop of rock sticking through the wooden platform which the conductor told everyone was a lucky stone for young, and not so young women, who wished to get married. They merely had to touch the stone and their dream would eventually come true. He also seemd to be suggesting that leaving a small sum of money in the rock would hasten the desired outcome. Gill and I strongly suspected that this was not an entirely disinterested suggestion as there was no money in the rock prior to our visit and we suspect there would be none when we departed.
Whatever the scam was, it was very discreet. The train departed with the money still in place so we could only assume that an accomplice was delegated to retrieve it out of sight of the hapless spinsters who were pinning their hopes on their financial donation to the rock.
At the next station we were treated to some real drama provided by an over enthusiastic selfie taker. The platform looked out over a dramatic deep valley dotted with traditional houses. All the passengers had got back in the train save this lone man who was photographing his head from every angle seemingly unaware that his face was distinctly less attractive than the view it was obscuring. Gill remarked casually "He's going to miss the train if he's not careful.' And so her prophesy came to pass.
The train slowly started to move as he busily clicked another dozen shots of his face. My window passed him and as the train gathered speed and I caught the exact moment he realised that the loud clanking and grinding which had only just penetrated his skull was the sound of a five carriage train complete with noisy locomotive leaving him behind. He threw his arms out wide with the expression of a man who has just realised he has been shot and lurched towards the train. He'd left it far too late for a 'Mission Impossible' stunt jump onto a carriage step. The last I saw of him was his hunched figure staring at the rear end of the train as it retreated down hill.
A few minutes later the train lurched to a stop. It would appear that some spoil sport passengers had taken pity on the selfie taker and had told the conductor we were a man short. I'm not a train expert but it seemed to me there was little chance of the train reversing up a steep incline to rescue the unfortunate traveller. I was proved right as soon after the train resumed its journey leaving selfieman stranded until the next visit by the train in about two hours.
Museum of buildings
We visited today. I put a YouTube video video of it up as it's easier than putting my own pics up!