Snow and sun

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Hi guys, Hope you are all ready for christmas!.

Since leaving Tirana we crossed into montenegro! WOW what a difference. firstly they have roads and people know how to use roundabouts and nearly park where they should. Montenegro is VERY up market, very affluent and very pretty. They have some how managed to adopt the Eruo even though they are not part of the EU yet!? It is expensive compared to Albania.

We visited Stari Bar the first place on the coast. It is a 11th Century fortress with some churches and buildings still standing. From there we followed the coastal road to Budva - thank god the weather was nice as the views were lovely. We stopped at Budva for a hour (we paid for parking for the first time in ages and we were going to use the full hour!). Budva is a holiday town for the rich montenegrians and is very nice. It has a re-built walled town that we walked around for a little while.

From there we drove around the edge of Europes most southernly Fjord! not as extreme Scandanavia but still impressive and has some nice villages along the shore. Kotor itself is at the end of the fjord and has an impressinve walled city. It is one of the largest we have seen and spent a while getting lost walking around the little alley ways.

From here we went north and into the mountain area. We somehow managed to get on a road that lead stright through the gut of the monutains. (our sat nav and road map are useless). The road was well signed and in good condition so we carried on. Up we went higher, higher on an ever winding road. "oh look there is some snow" I said excitedly. This soon changed to concern as the snow around us got thicker and thicker. However this was ok as it was raining and the roads were still clear. We had a look around one place but some of the roads were not happening and after a few hairey moments we decided to call it a day and look for somewhere to camp up. We found the start of an open quary up a steep slow and fell alseep to the sounds of heavy rain. At 4am it got very chilly and by 6am we were covered in snow!!!

We set off very early - partly as I was so excited about the snow and secondly as it gets dark so early now we are aleep by 9pm!. Driving through the mountains covered in snow was like driving through a real life christmas card!. A real WOW moment for me. I loved it. Although the roads we slippy (well done Scott) and we are always thinking (maybe snow chains wouldnt have been such a bad idea!).

We headed back towards the coast and crossed into Croatia in the lovely sun. Croatia is a bit of a culture shock. Drivers follow road rules, people que to get on busses and it is 3 Euros for a beer!. We are currently in Dubrovnik. Another walled town.............there are a lot of them and they are very nice. We have stayed for about 3 days as there is a nice hostel and although it is expensive we are staying in. It started off nice and sunny but is quickly getting chilly.

We head to Bosnia tomorrow. We have been told that a coke can on a stick means land mines! Hopefully it will be cheaper then here.

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