The high country behind the Drina is Tara, a wide, forested mountain that stretches for kilometres, and it holds one of Europe's best-known tree stories. The Serbian spruce, the omorika, is a tall, narrow conifer that once grew across much of Europe, before the ice ages squeezed it into a tiny range on the Drina's slopes. It survived here, and Tara National Park protects it, along with a rich forest of fir and beech, brown bears, chamois and wolves. A second Mramorje stands in this landscape, a village scatter of stećci near the settlement of Musići, a medieval graveyard with large carved stones leaning in the grass and half buried by moss.
The riding here is a joy for those who like quiet, winding mountain roads. The route climbs from the river in long bends through forest, with occasional hairpins and wide views over folded green ridges, and the surface is a mixture of good asphalt and patched sections. Weather in the mountains changes fast, and mist can drop in summer, so pack a waterproof. Autumn colours are glorious, and spring brings fresh green. Summer weekends are busy with visitors heading for the lakes and viewpoints, but on weekdays you may have the road almost to yourself.
Fuel needs a plan. Ðurići, a few kilometres away, has about a thousand people and probably little more than a small shop, and Bajina Bašta, seventeen kilometres off, is the proper town for stations, workshops and food. Fill up there before heading up the mountain, and carry some water and a snack. Along the way, village houses sell honey, jam and cheese, and the generous hospitality of western Serbia often means you will be offered coffee and a glass of something stronger.
Stop at one of the lookouts above the canyon, if the weather allows. The view across the Drina gorge is magnificent, with the river a green ribbon far below and the forest dark on the cliffs. Tara has its own kind of silence, deep and resinous, and it holds the sound of your engine for a long moment after you switch it off.