Blogs from Montenegro, Europe - page 20

Montenegro is a beautiful many-mountained country with a gorgeous coast-line. If like me you hadn't heard of this country prior to Casino Royal, thats because it's only been an independent country since 2006 and was the newest country in the world prior to Kosovo declaring independence in 2008. I was based at the Hippo Hostel in Budva for the week, about half way up the coast where it's easy to travel to everywhere else in the country within a few hours: Ulcinj near the Albanian border is 2 hours away; Sveti Stefan was a 2hour walk and then a 15min bus ride back; Kotor is 30 minutes on the bus. Kotor Bay is the 2nd biggest fjord in the world with some stunning views especially after a walk up the 1000+ steps of the old city ... read more

Dubrovnik It never ceased to amaze me that I can travel "alone" & yet never really be alone!! mostly I see this as a blessing... though, there were times that I truly cherished my 'alone time'--- Dubrovnik gave me that after a loooong time of travelling with others.... well at least for one day it did.. haha!! Ola, Ange and I split up in Barcelona... Ola headed for the only corner of Spain she hadn't seen yet - the north-west part; Ange flew to Belgrade to meet up with Effie & Dragan who were travelling in Montenegro from Australia; and I flew to Dubrovnik to mee Ange & co 2 days later... If taking a cheap flight from Spain, its common to fly Vueling Airlines - despite their many strikes & known delays :p I found ... read more

We got up early this morning for the five hour drive to Montenegro. We were headed for an ancient fortress in the hills in Kotor. It was pouring down rain and the drive was very slow but the views were beautiful. The Montenegran coast line was scattered with little old villages and churches. In the middle of the bay there is a very old Cathedral and Monastary on two small man made islands. The islands took over 200 years to make and they made them by sinking over 130 ships filled with stone. Once in Kotor we found our hotel and took advantage of the break in the down pour to climb up to the fortress. There are over 1500 steps from the base to the fortress on the mountain. We got halfway, where there is ... read more

From Bosnia and Herzegovina i went once again to Croatia to the much talked about Dubrovnik. an incredible city full of perfectly restored buildings and saturated in history, only slightly spoiled by the hoards of package holiday makers swarming everywhere. i made the narrow winding mountain road into Montenegro in a 16 wheeler lorry - a ride which proved very frightening every time we had to reverse and edge next to the cliff whenever there was an oncoming truck. it was here in the peaceful and non touristic town of Kotor i met Audrey from America, and we ended up hitchhiking together for about a week. we made it through the mountains to a small village where we camped in a secluded spot by the river. it was really scary hearing wolves howling not too far ... read more

Montenegro - in the mountains and along the coast We continue our story from Montenegro where we left off in the previous blog entry, with Durmitor National Park. By the way, doesn't the name "Durmitor" sound funny? It doesn't sound like the name of a national park, does it? It sounds like a lot of things but not like a national park. Allow us to give a few examples of what we mean. "Durmitor" could be an evil character from a really bad action movie from 1989. Durmitor the Evil says with a deep voice: "I am Durmitor, Master of the Universe. I hereby declare the Earth to be conquered." "Durmitor" could be a place in Lord of the Rings: Frodo: "We have to travel to Mount Doom in the middle of Durmitor because it is ... read more