Montenegro

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And off to Montenegro the land of the second tallest people in Europe apparently - or so we thought!

Not long before we were due to catch the ferry to Bar we found out we needed the original V5 documentation to travel on the ferry - which of course we didn’t have. An hour or so later and after a call to Chris he kindly searched their house to find the original - once found he sent us a pdf and we tried to use that.

Clearly it’s the info on the document they want not just to see a piece of paper but no! First the ferry agents berated us for not having such an important document in the car. Then checked they asked us to send the PDF to them and after talking with the police said we can’t use it. We then drove and spoke with the police ourselves who confirmed the situation but said the problem is not here but in Montenegro. After then talking with Chris about posting the original to us in Italy and then going over later ( having lost the monies on the ferry and some accommodation) we had a bright ( well reasonably bright) idea. Having just passed a car rental we thought their docs would be fine so let’s ask if we can hire a car in the next hour and leave ours in their locked parking lot.

And it turned out we could, so that was that- except it wasn’t.

They had problems with their system and it took an hour and a half but eventually they managed to sort it out - the boat should have gone by then but as luck would have it everything was running late and we still had to wait an hour or so to be loaded. We earned that drink when we got on!

What a way to end our stay in Italy!

PS the ferry crossing is not supposed to be good either but the crossing was fine and we woke up in Bar, Montenegro.

However as we drove off and approached the border controls we realised we had left our International driving licences in the car we intended to use and not this one. A minor panic ensued but no one asked us for it so on we went to Sveti Stefan.

We got there and they allowed us to have breakfast in the restaurant overlooking the bay as our room wasn’t ready. An hour or so later we went up to the room. Brilliant! With a balcony overlooking a small island linked to the mainland it was just what we needed. Once we had checked in and dropped the bags we went straight out to the beach.

The water was crystal clear and warm and we spent most of the day there reading real paper books. swimming in a beautiful sea and having no idea of time - bliss.

We got back later than we expected to the hotel and once in the room and sitting on the balcony watching the sun go down we decided to order in and eat there. Nice way to end the day.

So good we basically did the same again the next day.

After leaving Sveti Stefan we drove to Lake Skadar where we were immediately set upon by a guy trying to sell us a boat trip. Good thing was he gave a price point so when we did buy from the stalls in the town we got a better deal. We had 3 hours on the water crossing the lake with the mountains all around and lilies across parts of the lake - very nice.

Then on to Kotor via Kotor Sepentine the windiest road I have driven on so far - that was fun!

Kotor itself a small town wrapped within a huge set of walls with a castle on the top of the mountain - great to wander round and not too busy.

We checked in to our Airbnb just a few hundred metres outside the town walls. The host greeted us and advised they have a problem with flys in flat. They weren’t a major problem but that evening we found the air conditioning not working and WiFi was intermittent. However after mentioning it next morning the hosts were great. First they tried to fix it and when they couldn’t they upgraded us to a better apartment with a balcony overlooking the bay and where everything worked - walking into air conditioning was great.

Another walking tour the following morning then a hike up outside the fortress walls to the fort in the mountains. A good hike up with fantastic views on the way and at the top. We certainly deserved the beer at a bar we found off the main drag and away from the crowds - Dusko

As an aside when eating out the Montenegrin restaurants had an interesting way of showing ingredients in menu - everything was liisted and the weight of each item within a dish shown separately, eg 10g onion, 20g tomatoes on a pizza.

While at Dusko that night we met a lovely couple from Edinburgh who had been on a cycling tour, Andrew and Helen Mackie. They described their trip with climbs of up to 1300 metres a day - not sure that’s for me! It also transpired Andrew had a brother that lived A couple of miles away from us in Onslow Village ! As a result of meeting them we ended up cooking pasta at after 11pm - a tad late but hey ho.

Next day we managed to get on a boat trip organised by Miki Tours which involved a trip out to Our Lady of the Rocks, a small man made island then onto Perast where we stayed for a few hours before being picked up again.

Then off to Croatia via a trip round the coast to Porto Montenegro before catching a ferry across to the mainland and heading north to spend the afternoon in lovely Cavtat and then out of Montenegro.



There were lots of stories about how bad the border crossings were but we found them ok. Probably took best part of an hour to get through both checkpoints but otherwise good.

And so Croatia....

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Beautiful
I hope we get to Montenegro sooner than later.