http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Montenegro/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Montenegro en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:22:42 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:22:42 UTC Chapter 3 MontenegroldquoFar too much free beerrdquo I was woken up again at about 3am. Another Serb guard this one looked a lot like a James Bond henchman. He requested all our passports and being the only nonSerbMontenegrin passenger in the compartment I was of course the one who got interrogated. ldquoYou speak Serbianrdquo he asked. ldquoNordquo for some reas http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Podgorica/blog-351020.html Took only about 45 minutes to get from Budva to Kotor. The arrival in town was quite dramatic for me through mountain pass and out of it you immediately see the fjord it was very cloudy and windy and when i got off at the bus station no one offered me rooms so i was forced to go to the old town about 1 km away there was a green market going just outside of the fort went in and looked around un http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Kotor/blog-340898.html The taxi driver in Tirana have family in Boston and have visited 3 times before so we had a good conversation about life in his country and how he still have no ambition to live with his parents in America he hopes Obama wins. The Shkodra bus took a good 2 hours including delays due to bad traffic accident. When I arrived in Shkodra taxi drivers immediately took notice of me and offering to take http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Budva/blog-339907.html Morrissey may well have written Everyday is like Sunday about the British seaside town but he really should come to Montenegro in the off season. Nobody else does.Ulcinj our first arrival point on managing to get out of Albania is heaving with tourists from June until August but in early October the only people about were the 10000 townsfolk. Many shops bars and cafes had closed for the wi http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-333522.html Zunchst seien an dieser Stelle noch ein paar Worte ber Ohrid gesagt denn auch wenn es bisweilen so scheinen mag verbringen wir ja nicht die ganze Zeit im Auto und diese schnuckelige kleine Stadt welche in einem pittoresken Bergpanorama am gleichnamigen See liegt verdient es wahrlich ein paar Worte ber sie zu verlieren. Neben zahlreichen orthodoxen Kirchen und einer auf einem Hgel gelegene http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Ulcinj/Ulcinj/blog-326058.html The next country on our journey was Montenegro which is one of the newest contries in the world after it recently gained independence from Serbia.We were headed for Budva for 2 nights Budva is the main tourist destination in Montengro and the Dalmatian coasts version of Ibiza. On the way we took a scenic drive along the Kotor Fiord and stopped for lunch in aptly named Kotor. Kotor was an unexpec http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Budva/blog-321271.html Our departure from Dubrovnik was fairly easy. After being dropped off at the bus station we proceeded to buy our tickets for the bus to Kotor which runs twice a day. We were glad we arrived early by the time we got on the bus it was all sold out. There were a mix of cultures joining us Australians Europeans Americans and locals as well. The well air conditioned bus departed on time and we we http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-319424.html In our quest to vist as many countries as we can on this trip we signed up for a group excursion much like the one we took to Mostar to the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. As it turned out we would have been much better off to rent a car and drive there ourselves as the tour was a total disaster. It was really a shame because the Bay and the city of Kotor were absolutely beautiful. I will try http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Kotor/Kotor/blog-305197.html We got through the border with no problem and immediately saw the economical differences between Albania and Montenegro Montenegro reminding me more of the Algarve in Portugal there were far more real buildings than there were in Albania and a damn sight more shiny cars. We were dumped on the side of the road and after counting up our left over euros from italy 7.70 we hopped into a taxi to http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Budva/blog-304829.html Going homeThis is it our time has come the curtains fell its time to pack everything away and head to the airport. Two and a half hours should be enough. Not remembering how long it took us to get to Prcanj in the first place. Our only real obstacle was the random queuing system they had for the ferry. Plus taking into acount queue jumpers and stationary drivers pulling forwards trying to run Tess http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-292345.html Sun is shinin' in the sky There ain't a cloud in sightIt's stopped rainin' Everybody's in a play And don't you know. It's a beautiful new day. Yes guess what itrsquos sunny and we are going to slob out on our last day at Jas beach. About a ten minute drive from our apartment. Jas beach is a lot quieter than round near Budva selection of beaches and the sea is easier to swim in with no rocks to http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-292344.html Rainy days on Wednesday We knew it would be too good to last. The sky is a gun metal grey and full of clouds The wind has picked up and the sea is battering against the old towns wall and wash upon the beach. There is no chance of laying on the beach today as all the loungers have been packed up and parasols put away. It feels like summer has packed up and taken a vacation today. Just as well itr http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-292343.html Well what better way to start the day than a morning boat trip out to St Nickola Island known locally as Hawaii and along the Budva Riveria. A little choppy as we got quite wet but the fresh air helped build an appetite so once back on teraferma we headed to the Juice bar. It a little on the Californian side but the food is great. Plus there is a great range of smoothies to choose from.Well not http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-290092.html If you do come and visit Budva bring some earplugs. They play really loud music until the early hours of the morning roughly about 4am. Perhaps if I was younger I might have been down there boogying But now. Ouch my back. Well I had a good night sleep as I had my earplugs left from when I went mountain biking around a month ago and I left them in my rucksack. If you're wondering why I had earplu http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-290091.html Morning again. Today is the day we travel to Budva. The weather is slightly cloudy and as usual it looks like it might rain. I know I moaned quite a bit about Zabljak and most of it is understandable. Especially the bits about being watched all the time but there are some good point some nice people and I will miss them and their charm and smiles. He we go it's 1000am and time to set off on o http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-290088.html Rain again Morning. It was make or break day today. Wake up and its sunny we stay. Rainy we travel down to Budva and find a hotel for the night before we go to our prebooked accomodation which we still had not heard from yet. So first job of the day is to find an internet cafe. Our travel guide book mentions three in Zabljak but can't we find any. To cut a short story shorter if you do travel t http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-290083.html Morning guess what. Go on I dare you. Yes itrsquos sunny. Warm and dry. So today we plan to go for a walk you could call it a hike but we didn't bring our boots. Our plan was to head to the black lake again then head to Ziminje Jesp for a picnic. The paths are supposed to be marked out with red and white lines or circles of the same colour. Easy enough I hear you say. But when you are in the for http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-290082.html Getting bored He we are again another day in the mountains today we plan to do a bit of gorge walking in the second biggest canyon in the world. The Tara canyon but first a drive over the bridge. This is a very impressive bridge called the Durdevica tara Bridge. Then we parked the car and set off for a walk the other side of the bridge where there was a sign for whitewater rafting but after t http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-287243.html Royston Vasey To our surprise the place didn't seem any better in a different light of day so Tess decided we should leave them here locals and move out before we were made into the next mixed grill. Baggsey me Tess' kidney. So we checked out and started hunting for a new apartment. So after we settled our bill which took all our Euro as they don't take credit cards even though they display a va http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-287242.html Its too hot Well I never. Or I don't believe it we are moving on today into the mountains and its hot bright and sunny out only problem is we are leaving today and heading for the hills. Would you believe that after driving round for 90 minutes we were still in Kotor looking for the road out to Podgorica we had been miles in one direction then back again and the road works didn't help. In the http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-287238.html Guess what Yes its raining again. But this isn't going to dampen our spirits so after breakfast we start our journey of driving round the bay. Hope the roads are better the other side.The roads were flooded as we drove through Koto it hard to believe they started building this place around 800 BC but never got round to building drains We drove round to Perast which is a very pretty coastal vi http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Kotor/Kotor/blog-287234.html Saturated Souls II The weather today looks a little more promising so we decided to make another attempted to climb Kotor's wall after yesterday's attempt was rained off. We started this climb with a rucksack full of high hopes and even higher optimism and ended up with a rucksack full of water. Very reminiscent of Hadrians wall. It is a good climb to the top. 1020 feet roughly. Zig zaging up http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Kotor/Kotor/blog-287232.html Saturated Souls After a good night sleep we wake up to what is reminiscent of the weather in old blighty. Cloudy and overcast but we have breakfast and put our lives in the hands of the gods and drive to Kotor. We had been in Kotor for no more than an hour when we were enticed into the Citadella roof top restaurant for pizza' due to the yummy smell coming from there. The Citadella Hotel has a gr http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Kotor/Kotor/blog-287231.html Here we are at last. After a short stint on the plane we arrive in Croatia and drive the fifteen minutes to the border to what use to be until a short while ago the planets newest country. This will be my fifth journal. Three of them along the Adriatic. Croatia. Slovenia and now Montenegro. I use write them for my own pleasure something to read back on in years to come. But hey I thought. I could http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Kotor/Kotor/blog-287229.html Monteregro I a beautiful little country wedged in between croatia Albania and Serbia oh and dont forget Kosovo. I entered into Montenegro via Croatia and the road was amazing you follow a mountian overlooking the Adriatic ocean. The water was so clear and green it made the best view. I stayed in the only hostel in Montenegro in a town called Budva. The people running it were amazing and even http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Kotor/Kotor/blog-286855.html Well here we are again with just a few days before we start our journey. The weather outside is rainy. Hope thatrsquos not a Prelude of things to come. Itrsquos been a while since we have been away apart from Bruges and walking the lsquoHadrianrsquos wall. Last year We have almost packed our bags. Our passports are at hand and we are all set for another exciting journey this time to Mont http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Ulcinj/blog-283668.html Having abandoned all hope for a meaningful stay in Budva I am now in a much better place. Then again any place is better than Budva. Barrow Alaska would be better. For Montenegro Kotor is that town. Though its popularity with visitors and limited number of beds almost had me call of my entire interest in exploring the area and head elsewhere. All hotels within walking distance have been http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Kotor/blog-278117.html I have been fortunate enough not to have made too many poor decisions since leaving Ternopil for Odessa. Coming to Budva was one of them however. I should have listened to the three young French tourists who implored me not to come to Budva. Yet I said that it would be OK since I needed a more mindless destination. I wanted to kick back for a while and look at the Adriatic. Anyway I was to http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/blog-278112.html Leonardo Di Caprio is lost on the backpacker trail in Bangkok when he hears word of a magical Beach located off the Southern coast of Thailand. Like most backpackers without a plan would he follows this secret advice and is justly rewarded for his search. And though he narrowly escapes death gets chased by a shark is exiled from the hippy commune and is driven mad it makes for a good story. S http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Montenegro/Kotor/Kotor/blog-266713.html