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Published: February 29th 2016
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Hey, I'm back.
Let's continue where we finished.
After I left Mostar I returned to Montenegro. I based myself in the town of Kotor, lying on the bank of beautiful Kotor bay. Some have called it the southern-most fjord in Europe, but it is a ria, a submerged river canyon. Together with the nearly overhanging limestone cliffs of Orjen and Lovćen, Kotor and its surrounding area form an impressive and picturesque Mediterranean landscape. Kotor has one of the best preserved medieval old towns in the Adriatic and is a UNESCO world heritage site.
My plan during the stay was pretty straightforward. See the Old town and do some hike with the views over the bay. The day I arrived, I did nothing, I was just chilling and chatting with guy (Kokolo) from hostel's reception. It seemed I will be the only guest in the hostel until another guest, Japanese girl, arrived. My plan for next day was to climb city walls up to St Ivan's fortress (1350 stairs).
The weather was really nice in the morning so after breakfast I walked out heading up to a fortress. Seemingly during the summer visitors are
charged €3 entrance fee but in low season the entrance is free. I got up all sweaty but was rewarded by excellent view over Kotor and a bay. Once back in Old town I decided to walk a little bit more along the shore. It was a nice walk but apart of the water, there's not much to see. A church here and there but mostly houses offering aparments for tourists. I didn't realise that I walked over 20km until I returned to hostel and checked the map.
That evening I decided I want to do some decent hike and I chose Lovćen national park. That national park is known for its tremendou height and beauty. And I picked it for two reasons. To enjoy one of Montenegro's best views, and to visit the epic mausoleum and last resting place of Montenegro's supreme Prince-Bishop and poet, Petar II Petrović Njegoš.
Before I went to bed I prepared some light snack so I didn't need to rush in the morning.
Knowing that whole hike will take over 9 hours I left hostel just before 8am. There was 31km of walking in front of me and my destination was
Jezerski vrch, the peak topped by mausoleum (1657 meters above sea level). It was nice and warm in Kotor when I started to ascend but temperature was dropping the higher I climbed. There was still ice and snow visible around when I reached the peak. First four hours of the hike were difficult but I was amazed by the scenery so I didn't pay attention to the level of difficulty. After that I realised I was nowhere near physically ready for that hike. I started to question my own sanity with last kilometer before the summit being the worst. At that point I started getting cramps in both my thights. I stopped every few metres just to rest and stretch. But I did it, I reached the peak. And there was a surprise waiting for me there. Mausoleum was shut due to bad weather (lucky me). But I didn't mind as the views were absolutely magnificent. I spent some time there before I was ready for descent. I took it easy due to cramps. And I didn't even want to think that it will take me over four hours to get back, it seemed like an eternity to me. But
luckily I made it back to the hostel and booked one more night as I knew I won't be able to hitchhike to Budva next day. Exhausted but happy with my achievement I went to bed.
I woke up next morning and my feet were sore as I expected so I spent the day doing research about Budva and other places in Montenegro I wanted to visit. It was really lazy day but I felt good. In the evening I packed my backpack and went to bed full of expectations, what the next day will bring. I planned to hitchhike to Budva. But because it's not very far from Kotor I knew I don't need to leave early.
I was leaving the town knowing that Kotor will forever stay in my memory as one of the nicest places I visited.
Slovenska verzia
Hej, som spat.
Podme pokracovat tam, kde sme skoncili.
Z Mostaru som sa vratil spat do Ciernej Hory, do mesta Kotor, leziaceho na brehu nadherneho Kotorskeho zalivu. Niektori tento zaliv nazyvaju najjuznejsim fjordom Europy ale nie je to tak, je to vlastne zatopene ustie rieky. Spolocne
s vapencovymi utesmi Orjen a Lovćen, Kotor a jeho okolie vytvaraju malebne ocarujucu Stredozemsku krajinu. Kotor sa pysi jednym z najzachovalejsich stredovekych historickych centier na brehu Jadranskeho mora a je sucastou svetoveho dedicstva UNESCO.
Cielom mojej navstevy tohto mesta bolo vidiet historicke centrum a absolvovat nejaku turu v okoli, odkial by som mal dobry vyhlad na cely zaliv.
V den, kedy som docestoval do Kotoru, som nerobil nic, iba oddych a rozhovory s chlapcom z recepcie (jeho prezyvka je Kokolo). Chvilu to vyzeralo, ze v tu noc budem jedinym hostom ale neskor vecer sa pridala dievcina z Japonska. Moj plan na nasledujuci den bol vystup po hradbach az k pevnosti Svateho Ivana (1350 schodov).
Rano na mna cakalo prijemne pocasie, a tak som sa po ranajkach vydal smerom k pevnosti. Vraj sa za vstup na mestske hradby pocas letnej sezony plati €3 ale mimo sezony je vstup zdarma. Vystup mi dal celkom zabrat, ale nakoniec som sa cely dopoteny dostal az k pevnosti, odkial sa mi naskytol nadherny vyhlad na mesto a cely zaliv. Ked som zostupil spat do centra, rozhodol som sa, ze sa este prejdem popri zalive. Bola to dobra prechadzka, ale okrem vody tam
nebolo co obdivovat. Sem tam nejaky kostol ale prevazne vsade apartmanove domy ponukajuce ubytovanie pre turistov. Az ked som sa vratil do hostela a prestudoval som mapu, zistil som, ze som vlastne v ten den presiel vyse 20 kilometrov.
V ten vecer som sa rozhodol, ze by bolo dobre vyrazit na nejaku solidnu turu a vybral som si narodny park Lovćen. Stity tohto narodneho parku dosahuju vysku az 1700 metrov. Vybral som si tento park z dvoch dovodov. Aby som si uzil nadherny vyhlad a tiez navstivil mauzoleum a posledne miesto odpocinku, jedneho z najuctievanejsich osobnosti Ciernej Hory, Princa-Biskupa a poeta Petra II Petroviča Njegoša.
Pred spanim som si pripravil svacinu, aby som sa rano neplasil, a zalahol som do perin.
Vedel som, ze tura bude trvat priblizne 9 hodin, a preto som vyrazil tesne pred osmou rano. Celkova dlzka tury bola 31 kilometrov a cielom bol Jazersky vrch, na ktorom vrchole sa stitilo mauzoleum (1657 metrov nad morom). Rano bolo v Kotore celkom teplo (17 stupnov) ale teplota klesala, cim vyssie som stupal. Na vrchole bol este stale pritomny sneh a lad. Prve styri hodiny vystupu boli narocne, ale vobec som to nevnimal, kedze som bol
ocareny krajinou okolo mna. Az neskor som si uvedomil, ze som na tuto turu vobec nebol dostatocne fyzicky pripraveny. Zacal som sa sam seba pytat, ci som normalny, ze som sa na take nieco vobec podujal. Posledny kilometer pred vrcholom bol najnarocnejsi, kedze som zacal mat krce v oboch nohach. Musel som robit caste prestavky, len aby som dal noham trosku oddychnut a ponatahoval sa. Ale nakoniec sa mi to podarilo a dostal som sa na vrchol, kde ma cakalo prekvapenie. Mauzoleum bolo zatvorene kvoli nepriazni pocasia. Ale v tom momente mi to vobec nevadilo, kedze vyhlad samotny stal za to, aby som tam vystupil. Chvilu som stravil kochanim sa prenadhernym vyhladom a potom som sa pomalym tempom vybral na cestu spat do hostela. Nechcel som ani pomysliet na to, ze mi cesta spat bude trvat vyse styroch hodin, v tom momente sa mi to zdalo ako vecnost. Ale aj tato cast tury dopadla uspesne a stastne som dorazil do hostela. Po prichode som si zarezervoval jednu noc navyse, kedze som tusil, ze na druhy den budem bojovat so svalovicou a nechcel som si ani predstavit, zeby som sa vybral rano niekam stopovat. Zniceny, ale spokojny so svojim vykonom, som
sa pobral spat.
Tak, ako som ocakaval, rano som sa prebudil so svalovicou a tak som cely den stravil planovanim mojej dalsej cesty. Bol to velmi lenivy den, ale padol mi velmi vhod. Vecer som si zbalil ruksak a pobral sa spat, plny ocakavani, co prinesie dalsi den. Na plane som mal stopovanie do Budvy. Mesto vzdialene iba par desiatok kilometrov od Kotoru, co znamenalo, ze nepotrebujem byt na ceste zavcasu rano.
Na dalsi den po ranajkach som sa rozlucil s Kokolom a jeho kolegom, vzal ruksak na plecia a vyrazil k hlavnemu tahu, smerujucemu do Budvy.
Odchadzal som z Kotoru s vedomim, ze toto male mesto navzdy ostane v mojej pamati ako jedno z najkrajsich miest, ktore som kedy navstivil.
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