Montenegro
What have you done to counterweight the worst year of your life? I hope you never had one that felt like this and wish you never will but in my case I searched for answers (as usual) on the map. Not that if you "leave it all behind" they actually "leave you" as well but yes, the road does quite a job as a laundry of negativeness. So, here I am, end of an autumnal May, ready to take me and my troubled mind for new adventures out there. West Balkans, here I come :)
I must admit I experience the shortest funniest chat with an immigrant working at a filling station. He saw my bike fully loaded so asked:
"Where are you going?"
Moody as I was I didn't bother to list all the countries of my itinerary so I responded "Europe" instead. Then he goes:
"Where's that?"
I am at Bari Italy waiting for the ferry to take me to Bar Montenegro and since I had 10 hours to kill I tried to keep myself busy in all stupid ways possible like for example thinking how many tourists have confused the names of these two ports. Weather was hot cloudy and unstable so I find a place outside with some shade to make my stomach happier - it's Italy so I let my picky self to sleep. Wrong! I had the first crappy food in Italy. I tried to distract myself from that by using the local crappy wifi. After what felt like an age I go to the port to get my tickets and finally I find myself in the ferry. I can't wait to see what my cabin would look like since I have booked one of the very few single ones on the high end of their price list. And...that's their high end:
After an overnight trip the arrival at Bari reminded as of how unstable the weather was at that time.
Weather was about to rain anytime and it was time for another funny chat, this time at the customs of Montenegro. Let me remind you that I was travelling without a passport taking advantage of the fact that Greeks can travel through Balkans (and the rest of Europe of course) without one. So the guy asks for ym documents, I give him my national ID and he goes: "When does this expire?" I say "It doesn't - it's an ID card". So he goes "Oh, are you gonna stay young like this forever?" The queue at the customs was very long and slow and I was trying not to think that I might have to wait forever under rain that would start anytime soon but luckily I had to wait much less being a biker cause they were busy checking out cars. What helped was a friendly officer lady who asked me what I was doing at Montenegro. I told her "I am a journalist doing a travelogue about your country" so she sped up the process with a smile.
Happy to leave customs behind, I drive North and yes, it finally rains. Some times a lot. I manage to make it up to Tivat where I was kindly hosted by 3 girls at their house. We had a walk all together at night commenting on the fact that clubs had their summer openings that night but either they cancelled or they didn't but those who attended them were wearing jackets. Same as we did. Not the beginning of June I was hoping for.
Fortunately next day's weather was much better. My hosts made a really nice breakfast so I go to my bike with a "can it get any better" feeling. Well, it could definitely get worse and...so it did: For the first time (and last so far) in my travelling career I got things stolen from my bike. I had it parked under a tree a few steps away from the door and someone at night cut with a knife a few small bags I had on it with some useful things of no value (tire repair kit etc). I found them torn and spread around with a few things missing. "What a fucked up thug" I thought but didn't allow it to spoil my day further. Kotor, here I come. I wouldn't miss this town. My hosts proposed it, my good old friend Sanda from Beograd did too. Ant they were all right - it's a must. I loved it.
The historic center of Kotor is also really nice. Try to pick a day without much tourism (difficult) in order to enjoy it more. After some nice riding around I returned back to Tivat and we enjoyed some time at Tivat's seaside with my hosts.
Next day I decided to ride around the mountains up to Cetinje, convinced that it would be impossible to regret it. Montenegro already really felt like a compact beauty both for its sea and mountains all in a super value for money package. And the ride just confirmed it. I'll let the pictures do the talking:
Amazing ride. Except a minor accident. Up on the mountain at some narrow part, two car drivers were struggling to make their way without scratching one another nor falling in the steep ditch so I stepped out of my bike in order to help them. As soon as I finish I rush to my bike to make way for the cars queuing behind me, it was a steep uphill a tiny bit of gravel under my right foot acted as a bearing with the tarmac and...I slip and drop the bike which resulted in a broken brake lever. I rode the bike like this and...how could I know that it would fit me better and would keep this shorter lever for the rest of my km up to now! I just filled the lever later to make it more "touch friendly". I make my way back to Tivat via Budva which looked so gorgeous from the top but was too crowded for me to stop and explore it. In the evening I indited my hosts for a night out so we made it to Porto Montenegro.
We enjoyed our time at the local wine restaurant and my hosts told me they were sorry for the place being so pricey while...it felt to me like a medium priced place in Athens. I hate to repeat myself but...yes, Montenegro is great value for money. Since repeat is the mother of learning I won't stop praising my hosts. Next day they took me for a hike up to Kotor's castle and around. What a great day it was! Have a look:
Next images give you an idea of how steep the hike was:
When you finally make it to the top, the view is beyond rewarding - it's EPIC:
Kotor is such a gem but Montenegro in general really is. Small and reasonably priced everywhere, ready to satisfy your eyes from scenic rides and hiking in the mountains up to nice places by the sea. After a few days around though I had to leave this and my lovely hosts for Croatia. Dubrovnik was waiting.
Stay tuned for part 2!