From Bosnia to Serbia

Mostar (Bosnia Hercegovina)-Podgoriza

The journey from Nevesinje (Bosnia and Herzegovina) lasts four hours, the border with Montenegro is very quiet and there are no problems. The scenery here changes drastically; we've gone from the plains of Serbia, to the mountains of BiH, all the way to the classic Mediterranean scenery of Montenegro. The first big city in Montenegro that we come across is Niksic, but first we drive alongside a fantastic lake full of little islands... exceptional, too bad we're only passing through. From Niksic to Podgorica it takes us 1 hour, and we arrive around 20:00. The bus station is far from the center and we don't have a guidebook, so we decide to sleep near the train/bus station, choosing the Hotel Europa (35 euros per person)... remember, in Montenegro the local currency is the euro, and the difference (in prices) is very noticeable.

We decide to go around and after about 10 minutes we're in the center, I have to say that Podgorica is awful, personally I think it's really not worth staying here for more than one night (even less). We ask about the trains to Belgrade, but we discover that the 11:00 one doesn't exist (another note: unlike Serbia and BiH where the locals would bend over backwards just to make themselves understood and help you, you can tell that money and tourism have poisoned these people who don't make the slightest effort to make themselves understood or to understand a guest... it's something I hate) and that departure is at 14:30 (there are two night trains at 20:00 and 22:00 I think), the journey lasts 7 hours (10 by bus).

Podgoriza-Belgrado (Serbia)

Since we have to leave late, we wake up calmly, anyway check-out is at 12:00. At 11:30 we go out and head to the station where we buy the ticket (14 euros plus 1 euro for the reservation). The walk through the center confirms yesterday's impression. Finally we set off, in practice even though Montenegro recently separated from Serbia there isn't a real customs border so there won't be any passport checks. We arrive in Belgrade at 22:20, get off the train, and head straight to the Hotel Postal where we fork out the usual 3150 din.