Serbia and Montenegro

From MaxTravelz

Serbia and Montenegro is a country that was part of Yugoslavia. It is in the Balkans, in Southern Europe. It has a coastline on the Adriatic Sea in the southwest, and is surrounded by Albania to the south, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west, Bulgaria to the southeast, Croatia to the northwest and southwest, Hungary to the north, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the south, Romania to the northeast.

It controls one of the major land routes from Central Europe to Turkey and the Near East; strategic location along the Adriatic coast.

Contents 1 Regions 2 Cities 2.1 Ports and harbors 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 4.1 Climate 4.2 Terrain 4.3 History 5 Get in 5.1 By plane 5.2 By train 5.3 By car 5.4 By bus 5.5 By boat 6 Get around 6.1 By thumb 7 Talk 8 See 9 Do 10 Buy 11 Eat 12 Drink 13 Sleep 14 Learn 15 Work 16 Stay safe 17 Stay healthy 17.1 Depleted uranium 18 Respect 19 Contact

Regions

• Serbia - republic (republika)
• Kosovo - autonomous province (autonomna pokrajina)
• Montenegro - republic (republika)
• Vojvodina - autonomous province (autonomna pokrajina)

Cities

• Belgrade - Capital
• Nis
• Novi Sad - Provincial Capital
• Podgorica - Judicial Capital
• Pristina - Provincial Capital (under UN administration)

Ports and harbors

• Bar - Adriatic
• Kotor - Adriatic
• Novi Sad - Danube river
• Belgrade - Danube river
• Tivat - Adriatic
• Zelenika - Adriatic

Other destinations

• Staro Selo 3 kilometers south of Velika Plana, it has an all wooden 19th century church, build by Vujica Vuličević, with then ruler of Serbia, Miloš Obrenović, in repentance for killing his godfather Karadjordje (Djordje Petrovic) in the near vicinity, the leader of the first Serbian uprising against the Ottoman rule. The reason for its wooden structure is so that in the oncoming attack of the Turks, it could be easily dismantled and moved to a safer location. Regarded as national Serbian treasure.

• Guča a village in Dragačevo district (about 20 km from Čačak) where a famous brass music festival (Trubaci-festival) is held annually. (http://guca.co.yu/)

• Zlatibor is a very famous mountainous tourist site in South-Western Serbia.
• Kopaonik, mountain and ski-resort in South Serbia.

Understand

Climate

In the north, continental climate (cold winters and hot, humid summers with well distributed rainfall); central portion, continental and Mediterranean climate; to the south, Adriatic climate along the coast, hot, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall inland

Terrain

Extremely varied; to the north, rich fertile plains; to the east, limestone ranges and basins; to the southeast, ancient mountains and hills; to the southwest, extremely high shoreline with no islands off the coast. A natural hazard is destructive earthquakes.

Highest point 

Đaravica 2,656 m

History

The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in 1918; its name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929. Occupation by Nazi Germany in 1941 was resisted by various paramilitary bands that fought themselves as well as the invaders. The group headed by Marshal Tito took full control upon German expulsion in 1945. Although Communist, his new government successfully steered its own path between the Warsaw Pact nations and the West for the next four and a half decades. In the early 1990s, post-Tito Yugoslavia began to unravel along ethnic lines: Slovenia, Croatia, and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia all declared their independence in 1991; Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. The remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro declared a new "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" (FRY) in 1992 and, under President Slobodan Milosevic, Serbia led various military intervention efforts to unite Serbs in neighboring republics into a "Greater Serbia". All of these efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. In 1999, one year after the conflict in the Kosovo province between the Albanian separatist movement and the Federal and Republic armed forces started escalating, NATO started an extensive bombing campaign across the whole State Union which lasted several months. This conflict resulted in the placing of Kosovo under UN administration. Federal elections in the fall of 2000, brought about the ouster of Milosevic and installed Vojislav Kostunica as president. The arrest of Milosevic in 2001 allowed for his subsequent transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague to be tried for crimes against humanity. In 2001, the country's suspension was lifted, and it was once more accepted into UN organizations under the name of Yugoslavia. Kosovo has been governed by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) since June 1999. In 2002, the Serbian and Montenegran components of Yugoslavia began negotiations to forge a looser relationship. These talks became a reality in February 2003 when lawmakers restructured the country into a loose state union of two republics called Serbia and Montenegro (SCG). An agreement provided for the possibility to hold a referendum on independence after three years of the promulgation of the constitutional charter. This referendum will be held in Montenegro on May 21, 2006.

Independence 

4 February 2003 (when changed from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to State Union of Serbia and Montenegro)

National holidays

• Serbia : 15 February - Start of First Serbian Uprising 1804
• Montenegro: 13 July - Uprising against German occupation 1941

Constitution 

4 February 2003

Get in

Getting into Serbia and Montenegro does not constitute a problem for most European nationals. You don't need to obtain a visa for entering Serbia and Montenegro. Check with your nearest SCG embassy for current and detailed information.

By plane

• Belgrade The main airport of SCG is Belgrade - Nikola Tesla Airport, just a few kilometers from down town Belgrade. Major European airlines fly to Belgrade. Serbian national airline Jat Airways flies to all major cities in Europe, nothern Africa and the Middle East. After a break of nearly 15 years, Jat will re-introduce direct flights to New York and Toronto mid 2006.{br}

TIP: If you want go by taxi to the city center of Belgrade, don't take one of the taxis that are offered by men in and around the airport. They are much too expensive. Just take one that arrives with new travellers. They will be happy if they don't have to go back on their own. The average trip is between 550 and 800 Dinars (January 2005: 1400 Dinars){br} Make sure that the taximeter is switched on. Tarif 1 is the correct one Monday to Saturday from morning till 10 am. Or better take one of the several bus lines, check the Belgrade section.{br} You can change money at the airport. There is an ATM in the luggage collection area which accepts most major banking and credit cards.

• Nis {br} Serbia's second international airport is in Nis, Nis Constantine the Great International Airport. It's connected with Zurich as well as some other European cities during the winter months, serving as the airport for the near by ski resorts at Kopaonik.
• Pristina (Kosovo) {br}Several airlines fly to Pristina airport (PRN), including British Airways, Austrian Airlines and Alitalia. The airport is located about 20 km from the city itself, in the direction of Peč. The only way to get to the city is a taxi. The drivers may ask as much as 30 EUR for the ride, but the normal price is about 15 EUR.

• Podgorica & Tivat {br} The Adriatic coast of Serbia and Montenegro can be reached with direct flights to the Montenegrin capital Podgorica and the town of Tivat.

By train

Several international trains from Belgrade to Budapest and Vienna and to Zagreb-Ljubljana-München/Zurich. Usually, they should not be too late (seldom more than 1 hour), and I (frequent traveller on those trains) was never reported about security problems, made bad experiences or saw strangers having problems (unexperienced travellers may get their money stolen in France or Germany as likely as in Serbian trains...). The night train to Budapest was very regularly overcrouded in summer 2005 (only 1 sitting car). Furthermore, there are direct (day or night) trains from Belgrade to Skopje - Thessaloniki. Trains to Sofia and Bucarest however seem to be often very late (several hours). Trains to Macedonia-Greece, Bulgaria and Romania are allegedly reported to be unsure; however the author never was reported concrete problems. For international travelling in Europe, see timetables on http://www.reiseauskunft.bahn.de.

By car

Be sure your Green Card has an uncancelled "YU" or "SCG" box.

By bus

Pristina (Kosovo) - Bus terminal is located about 2 km from the city center. It serves several connections in Kosovo as well as international ones (Skopje, Belgrade). Buses are fairly cheap - for example, 80 km trip to Skopje, which takes 2-2.5 h is 5 Euro. Hungary: When you take an international bus from Belgrade towards Germany, be not surprised when a collection is hold inside the bus for paying the Hungarian border guards a fee to let the bus go faster over the border. This is what you would call a bribe. On your way into Serbia it seems 'cheaper'.

By boat

Get around

Thes some general tips at the Serbian Travel Club

By thumb

Sometimes difficult to Hitchhike, sometimes easy. Novi Sad seemed hard to get out of. Numberplates have an indication of where the car is coming from (or going to), NS is Novi Sad, BG is Belgrade, etc.

Generally, it is easy to hitch-hike through Vojvodina and it's much more difficult to hitch a ride from Belgrade to south, both Macedonia and Montenegro directions.

Talk

Languages 

Serbian 95%, Albanian 5%, Hungarian (? %)

In Kosovo, the spoken language is almost entirely Albanian, although Serbian is usually understood. You should generally try to avoid using it though except in areas populated by Serbs, Roma or Bosniaks. Due to the high number foreign aid workers and NATO soldiers, English is also spoken quite well especially by younger people.

The Serbian language is almost identical with Croat, Bosnian or Bosniak (differences are mostly in vocabulary [bread = cro. kruh, sr. hleb, bo. hlijeb and similar], but almost all inhabitans understand all versions). Before the era of aggressive nationalist cultural and linguistical policies in former Yugoslavia, it was known as Serbo-Croat, although today people in former Yugoslavia do not use any more this general expression for their common language.

See

There are two rivers which go through Belgrade: Sava and Danube. There are a lot of old buildings on all four banks, including a fortress from the Turkish period (Kalemegdan), variuos towers and ports, and two long walking/biking paths along both rivers.

Do

• In the Serbia Travel Club website, you can find some tips on what to do in Serbia.

Buy

Eat

When ordering a burger ask for 'pljeskavica' (pronounced: plee-eska-veetsa), and ask for cheese curd (like sour cream) (pronounced: kei-mahk) it tastes better than it sounds. Also try ćevape (pronounced: che-vapay), they are small parcels of minced meat, grilled with hot spices. It is considered a local fast food delicacy. Highly recommended to carnivores.

Burek (pronounced Boor-ek) is very delicious. It is made with either meat, cheese or sometimes apple. Not for dieters as it is quite oily. Morning is definitely the best time to eat this (sometimes sold-out by afternoon).

• Kiflice (key-flee-tse)are lovely little crescent rolls.
• Paprikash - stew with paprika often with chicken
• Gulash - stew with paprika with beef
• Sarma - stuffed cabbage
• Gibanica -(gee-ban-eetsa) - phillo pie with spinach and cheese or just cheese (like spanakopita)
• Punjene Paprike - stuffed peppers (Poon-eenay Pap-reekay)
• Pasulj - (pas-ool-ye) - beans-a national specialty. Often cooked for a long time with onion and paprika. Delicious.

Drink

• Rakija (there are many flavours, like plum (pronounce like she-lee-va), quince (dun-ya)...
• Loza (from grapes, a type of rakija)

Sleep

Learn

Work

Stay safe

Stay healthy

Depleted uranium

Zones where there is still depleted uranium from the 1999 war include places near Serbia's southern boundary with Kosovo, near the towns Presevo, Bujanovac, and Vranje, as well as in Montenegro.

Respect

When toasting in Serbia, as in many countries, you must look the person in the eye as you toast. It is rude not to.

Always greet people with good morning (Dobro jutro) /afternoon (Dobar dan)/evening (Dobro vece) /night

In Serbia they say "molim" which means a variety of things including: pardon me, excuse me, forgive me and can also be used for you're welcome. Do not say "šta" (pron. shta) which translates to "what" as is often used in English to get someone to repeat something. That would sound rude.

Learn the polite version of "you" and use it, especially when addressing older people.

Therese a brief Serbian Phrasebook at the Serbian Travel Club-site.

Contact

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