Montenegro onwards

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Hi its Jenny again. Dont expect too much eloquence off me now. its been three months away and im beginning to forget how to type spell and text!!

We arrived at Bar in montenegro at around 9am, around 2 hours late. Thats not bad for a former yugoslavia train. Suppose thats why they leave at least 3 hours between connections. We were hungry tired, and nerves were frayed as we made our way into town in search of a cash point and some food. We had maybe 5 hours of broken sleep on the overnight train from sofia. We had just left our french canadian friend jean Phillipe at the previous train stop of podgorica, anbd enjoyed some spectcular early mornihg views from the trainline which was high up on the steep sided montenegran hills. You could see straight down to the road and green river snaking through the valley bottom.

Anyway, back to bar. Its a bit of a strange modern town with a shopping centre shaped like 3 spaceships. The first cafe had a very rude waiter. The second cafe had another rude waiter and didnt serve food, but we were soon tucking into omlette frites and orange juice at the 3rd cafe.....After a buying in session at the spaceships we decided on a short ride to the resort town of Budva along the coast road.

The route was quite hard work and hilly but i hardly noticed as we were treated to some of the most spectacular coastal views ever!! The steep sided hills/mountains come right down to the sea leaving hardly any room to sqeeze a few small villages at the waters edge. The sea is the most beautiful clear green. On the way to Budva we looked down on the small town of petrovac arranged around a small cove and Sveti stefan which has a tiny island connected to the mainland by a bridge. Its covered with houses, that I learned later are actually a hotel complex, but you can pay to go and look round the island. Wierd.

In Budva we did our best to find a camp site. but to no avail. Theyre all shuto. Cue nice hotel. Great. Asked some teenage lads for directions and the conversation spilled onto football (as it usually does when you mention youre from near Manchester) then they asked us what we thought of Serbia. But its Montenegro we replied!! Just goes to show how new the country is that even the inhabitants havent readjusted!

Ian was totally weak by this stage and suggested we have another day off in Budva, using the train journey and lack of sleep as an excuse. I didnt need any encouragement. We spent the day wandering around the "old town" and i got to paddle in the sea. Which surprisingly isnt that cold despite the cloudy weather. The old town is a small walled area filled with churches, cafes and small bijou shops all built of the pale limestone of the area. Its a really great place to just hang out and drink a few beers or coffees, but magnet to american tourists and the like.

In the evening we were feeeling extravagant and went to a seaside pizza/fish restaurant. i was feeling adventurous and tried the black risotto. It tasted alright at the time but it was only later i discovered it contained at least a bulb of garlic, and the whiff lasted for 3 days...

From budva we headed along the coast and over a headland to Kotor. Kotor is on the edge of an amazing fjord. I know ive gone on about views but this was the best yet. (its featured in the best of photos for the eastern europe lonely planet) At Kotor is another very cute walled town. Ian left me in Kotor to go and do the 1100 pass above kotor. i spent the aft paddling and reading on the edge of the fjord. While waiting for him to come back to the meeting spot (for an hour) i was approached by a few people offering rooms for the night. This is quite the usual around here as the hotels are quite expensive and out of season there are loads of private rooms available. we decided to stay in the old town, but it was quite odd. The room was in the old couplles house and you had to walk across their living room to get to the bathroom. Ian stated it was "the worst shower hes had in his life". Like i said, soft.......

The next day was spent cycling around the fjord. And yes you guessed it more great views, and picturesque villages. (Its our number one fjord DC!!) The coast road continues after the fjord and although very pleasant its not easy! There was a long climb up to the border check and then we were in croatia! Montenegro really is tiny. Small but perfectly formed!

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