Karling klub Vukovi

The excursion, carried out by the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship this August, was marked by two exclusivities.

On Sunday, August 4th, NUSANTARA took also His Excellency, Mr. Mochammad Chandra Widya Yudha, ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, to its excursion to Podrinje. Accompanied by the distinguished guest who, from his part, took also his family, the members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship first visited Banja Koviljača.

In the “Royal thermal springs“, in its time the most prestigious place within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the excursionists found themselves in „Kur-salon“, trade mark of Banja Koviljača. Within the magnificent, freshly renovated, building, they entered conference rooms, meeting rooms, „The Ivo Andrić Lounge“, „The Njegoš Lounge“; they took a walk along the park, reputed to be one of the most beautiful in the country. “The Hercegovina Hotel“, “The Dalmacija Villa“, “Bosnia“, a mudbath … The design of Banja Koviljača, so imbued with the sentiment of monarchism and Yugoslav atmosphere, just revived the spirit of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the visitors, still so typical of these still prestigious thermal springs.

What followed was a visit to “The Underground Town of the Karađorđević“ in Mali Zvornik. “The Secret Town of the Karađorđević“, constructed under the auspices of king Alexander I, represents an exclusive destination by all criteria. A lecture in English, telling the story about the Karađorđević dynasty and explaining who king Alexander I had been, was prepared especially for His Excellency and the other guests from Indonesia. For someone coming from the country traditionally attached to Yugoslavia by the most heartfelt relations, the guests from Indonesia were surprised to get familiar with a part of the national history from the time when Yugoslavia was a monarchy.

Along the labyrinth of underground hallways of the military complex covering around 5.000 m², the members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship were discovering, one by one, the rooms available to visitors out of the total of 75, existing within the shelter: ”The King’s Apartment”, ”The King’s Cabinet”, a space foreseen to be a chapel, already used as a chapel from 1931 to 1934, a water spring, three royal fountains. The military shelter of enormous historical value, built under encrypted name of “The Stone Maiden“, did not leave indifferent either domestic visitors, nor the guests from remote Indonesia. Mr. Vojislav Stamenković, former member of the Guards who led the members of the NUSANTARA Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship through the third part of “The Underground Town of the Karađorđević“, open for tourists, invited NUSANTARA to tour the only complex of that kind built by the royal family of the Karađorđević on the territory of former Yugoslavia next year, as the explorations of the complex are still on.

In Mali Zvornik NUSANTARA had a surprise for His Excellency and the guests from Indonesia – it took them to a mosque. Apart from the opportunity to pray in the only Islamic temple in the town on the right bank of the Drina river in Serbia, the Indonesians of Muslim religion wished to give the mosque a contribution in cash. From its part, NUSANTARA had a gift on its own for the mosque – Nedžad-bey, local muezzin, was given an edition of the Quran in three languages. Not even bigger Muslim places of worship across Serbia possess this unique and in our country difficult to get edition in English, Arabic and Indonesian, since August 4th owned by the mosque in Mali Zvornik thanks to the Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship’s generosity.

What came next was a lunch at the “Gučevski vajati“ ethno village, and after the break, a tour of Crni vrh and the memorial containing mortal remains of Serbian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers killed in the First World War in the Podrinje county in 1914. The guests from Indonesia were deeply impressed by the view from the top of the Gučevo mountain, showing the whole region of Podrinje.

The Sunday’s excursion was completed by a visit to the Čokešina monastery. While enjoying some refreshments, prepared by three nuns taking care of the monastery’s estate, His Excellency and the rest of the excursionists heard a story about the monastery whose construction had been initiated, as legend has it, by Miloš Obilić before the Battle of Kosovo and the tale of the legendary Battle of Čokešina in 1804, which explains why Čokešina has been known as “The Serbian Thermopylae“.

Biljana Đorđević

Photo: Vladimir Ilić i Biljana Đorđević