Off The Beaten Track: Durmitor National Park & Pec

May 23, 2006 (Press Release) -- Durmitor National Park
Near Montenegro's border with Bosnia, Durmitor's dramatic Tara Canyon -

100km long and 1067m deep - is reason enough to come here. Yugoslavian

tourist brochures claim this is the second biggest canyon in the world

after the Grand Canyon - whether it's true or not, it's certainly a top-

notch cleft. The Tara River, a seething cascade of clean, green foam,

races through the canyon and provides world-class thrills and spills for

rafters.

Durmitor's 18 mountain lakes make this a lovely spot for hiking - you're

never too far from a cool dip. Crno jezero, the largest of the lakes, lies

at the base of Mount Meded, which makes a good day's climb. To the east of

the park, Zabljak is one of Yugoslavia's best ski resorts.


Pec
Friendly, untouristed and picturesque, Pec nestles below high mountains in

the west of Kosovo. A visit to this region is not for the faint-hearted:

there is probably nowhere in Europe where human rights were so flagrantly

and systematically violated as they were in Kosovo. Control of Kosovo -

whose population is largely Albanian - was handed from the Ottomans to the

Serbs in 1913. Since then the people of Kosovo have endured decades of

repression and neglect, with a standard of living a quarter that of the

rest of Yugoslavia. Calls for republic status were met with purges and the

dismantling of the region''s health, education and governmental

institutions, and are now being met with silence from the new Yugoslav

regime. Kosovo has a distinctly Muslim air, and you''ll notice the people

are much friendlier and more curious than in the rest of Yugoslavia.

Pec''s oriental bazar bustles around the base of the 15th century Bajrakli

Mosque, one of the city''s eight working mosques. Just outside town, the

Patrijarsija Monastery was a stronghold of Serbian Orthodoxy during the

Ottoman regime. Inside the monastery''s walls you''ll find three 13th

century churches, all with high domed roofs and glorious medieval

frescoes. South of Pec, the Visoki Decani Monastery also has some

beautiful 14th century frescoes, and the walk from the bus stop is through

a very pleasant woodland. You can get to Pec by bus or train from

Belgrade.


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