What a fabulous day! Keen to escape the city and see more of the Serbian countryside I had pre-booked this day tour again with Viator but this time operated by Serbia Inspired Tours. Places visited today were: Manasija Monastery; Resava Cave; Lisine Waterfall and Krupaj Spring.
The small mini bus arrived on time at 08.05 and I climbed into the back together with 4 other guests. Our guide for today was (another) Jelena and driver was Bogdan. The drive to the first stop, the monastery, took nearly 2 hours. Almost as soon as we left Belgrade we were driving through hilly green countryside along the E75 an international road stretching from Norway and running south through Finland, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, North Macedonia and ending in Greece. (There’s a thought for a future road trip…)
We entered the gates into the mediaeval 15th century monastery and it was quite spectacular! The church in the middle was surrounded by a fortress of huge stone walls and towers which were built to defend the monastery.
The inside of the church was also spectacular with its marble floors and fresco painted walls. Many of the frescos are damaged as a result of neglect throughout centuries of Ottoman rule. The original lead roof was removed which let the rain in and later the church was damaged in an explosion.
But most impressive was the singing of the choir which was a real treat! As we entered the church we learned that a Sunday service was on and we had the pleasure of listening to the children singing with their proud parents watching.
While inside and once the choir had finished Jelena gave us some interesting information about the history of the church and monastery.
As Jelena showed us around I began to get to know more of the other 4 members of my group. Jason, an American student who was living in Belgrade and learning to speak Serbian; Lana, a Russian who had been living in London for 22 years; Lana’s friend, also Russian and a lovely lady who didn’t speak much English and a young Kurdish woman who was travelling on her own using some of the free hotel nights she receives as an employee in the hospitality industry.
We were able to climb the steep steps as shown on the right of the above picture which gave us a great view of the church. These steps were quite narrow and with only one handrail not advisable for anyone afraid of heights!
We had another treat next… Jelena led us into the refectory where we sat at the long tables and were given strong Turkish coffee, some Turkish delight and a shot of rakia. Jelena explained the coffee and Turkish delight were influences from the past Ottoman rule but proudly pointed out that the rakia, a strong 40% proof plum-based drink was Serbian 🙂
Our next stop was the Resava Cave (or Resavska Pecina). This is one of the largest cave systems in Serbia and is estimated to be 80 million years old.
The cave was discovered relatively recently in 1962 by local shepherds. It was opened to the public in 1972 with an 800 meter pathway through. The fully researched and explored section of the cave is 4.5 km.
We had been advised before the trip to bring a jacket as the cave temperature is a constant 7 degrees.
Tunnels had been cut through the cave system to enable tourists to visit.
Jelena guided us around the cave pointing out features and formations.
Overall, the cave was really impressive and well worth visiting.
As we left the cave it had begun to rain heavily and Bogdan, our driver was kindly waiting at the exit with an umbrella for each of us!
From the cave, Bogdan drove us to the Lisine Waterfall. We had a short walk from the car park to see the waterfall and Jelena explained we were lucky it had been raining as often in the summer, the falls are not much more than a trickle!
It was another short drive to reach the Krupaj Spring and even in the rain the colour of the water was a vivid turquoise. Jelena explained that today it had a cloudy appearance but often the spring is a crystal clear mixture of vibrant blues and greens. The spring is part of another cave system and is over 70 m deep!
To reach the spring we had to walk past a trout farm – occasionally people have been known to catch one from the water with their bare hands!
Our final stop, after another short drive was for lunch! By now it was 3 pm and we were all hungry! I tried Homoljsko a local beer from this region which was tasty.
I also ordered some local bread which was served warm.
And finally my main meal was trout served with roasted vegetables… I wanted to try a local dish but felt a bit mean eating it having just seen live trout in the farm… but it was very fresh… The cost for the beer, bread and main meal was only £9.00.
The group of 5 of us had bonded well throughout the day and we all sat together to enjoy lunch, chatting like old friends. The youngest member of our group was a 23 year old Kurdish woman. She had ordered soup and was served a huge cauldron of a bowl! She asked for a small bowl for each of us and explained that it is Kurdish tradition for the youngest member of the family to serve everyone.
Summary
Overall I had an incredible day with spectacular sights and wonderful company. Jelena was an excellent and enthusiastic guide who really went out of her way to ensure we had the best experience. Bogdan the driver was kind and caring and the rest of the friendly group were amazing. Small group tours are best 🙂
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