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| Bay of Kotor Montenegro |
Oh my God, a border! As we left Croatia in our rental car we actually came to a border crossing where one had to hand over their passport. And the line of cars was not short. An hour later we entered Montenegro for the first time. Our destination was Kotor, which is at the very end of the Bay of Kotor, a crooked pencil shaped inlet that goes on for miles. As we drove along the road got narrower with the beautiful inlet on our right and dramatic mountains on our left. We decided against the ferry and continued through several smaller towns whose focus clearly was on tourism. As we arrived in Kotor our usual search began for our Airbnb. The road was so narrow at this point a wrong move would put one in the water. When we finally found it we were pleased as the view from the front terrace was fabulous and it had all the basic requirements.
Kotor is known for its Old City. Though not new to us at this point we still enjoy the atmosphere, architecture, age, and scene that accompanies the narrow byways. On our first morning, instead of jumping right into the Old City, we decided to take advantage of our car and drive to the Lovcen National Park. The park itself didn’t get outstanding reviews but the road trip between Kotor and the Park did. Our friends Richard and Sylvia had highly recommended Montenegro (which they traversed by motorcycle) and now we could see why. The road was incredible including the long-haired goats determined to block our way.
As one went up, up, up traversing the many switchbacks and the one lane road the views just got more astounding. Looking over the steep drop off, first came the beautiful Bay of Kotor with the backdrop the shear rock mountain side. When one gets high enough the distant view turns into the endless Adriatic Sea. Quite the thrill. I, of course, wanted to pull over at every semi-possible opportunity but Cynthia, being a bit more sane, insisted on waiting for the safest spot. Plentiful they were not.
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| Sharing the Highway Montenegran Long-haired Goats Road from Kotor to Njegos Mausoleum, Montenegro |
As one went up, up, up traversing the many switchbacks and the one lane road the views just got more astounding. Looking over the steep drop off, first came the beautiful Bay of Kotor with the backdrop the shear rock mountain side. When one gets high enough the distant view turns into the endless Adriatic Sea. Quite the thrill. I, of course, wanted to pull over at every semi-possible opportunity but Cynthia, being a bit more sane, insisted on waiting for the safest spot. Plentiful they were not.
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| Road from Kotor to Njegos Mausoleum as indicated on the GPS |
By the time we reached the Njegos Mausoleum, which is the culmination of the Park road, the temperature had dropped and we were partially enshrouded in clouds. We decided it was time for a break and luckily found a place to park the car. Not that there were that many people there but again it was a one lane road with nowhere to go and certainly no “assigned parking”. We looked around, had a great bowl of soup, and marveled at the deciduous trees showing off their fall colors.
We took a different route back to Kotor and passed through Cetinje, the former royal capital of Montenegro. We took a leisurely stroll through the main walkway of the town and the fact that Montenegro is a poor country began to be apparent. Museums closed, buildings that had once seen glory days were sadly neglected, and it clearly didn’t have that revitalizing shot of tourist dollars to spruce it up. We enjoyed our peruse of the town but found little reason to return. Nor did Cynthia find anything worth photographing.
We are finding this Eastern European trip is not inexpensive. The Airbnb’s are a great value so we don’t feel we are getting gouged on that front ($45-$75 a night out the door) as a decent hotel is over $100 per the Trip Advisor research I have done (yes, hostels (hostiles) are less).
But the restaurants. Cynthia and I have been spoiled by India and South East Asia where two people can easily eat out for $10. And eat well. Not so in Eastern Europe. $20 to $50 is standard, usually closer to the higher end of the scale (can’t kick the wine or beer with dinner habit). Now I realize that in the States this is not a huge amount but when one is doing it every day it certainly adds up. We are eating one meal out as we always have breakfast “at home” and usually don’t do lunch. This is a preamble to a situation that I couldn’t imagine happening in many places. We were short on Euro when we went to the “Relax Restaurant and Bar”. It was very low key and we were ready to save a bit of money on our meal. When it came time to pay I handed our waitress a credit card. “Sorry, cash only.” We didn’t have it. I offered the 10 Euro we had and my drivers license and said we would return with the rest. She just smiled, said don’t worry about it, pay tomorrow. She didn’t even want the !0 Euro or the drivers license! The trust did our hearts good.
If one goes to Montenegro watch out for the speed traps. They were plentiful. And the speed limit is rarely over 60 kph (38 mph). We were heading to the Ostrog Monastery and suddenly there is a policeman standing in the middle of the road waving a stop sign. Rats!! 72 in a 60. I did my polite best and saw not a smile from the cop. In the end he took pity and off we went, at the agonizingly slow 38 mph! Well, it all turned out to be worth it. The drive was beautiful with the colors popping out of the rocks forming the mountain sides. As mentioned our destination was the Ostrog Monastery, which turned out to be a totally unique place.
It is reminiscent in ways of the monasteries we visited in Spiti, India. Built in seemingly impossible locations basically glued to the side of a sheer cliff. As we ascended the mountain by car we saw people walking up the mountain trail carrying their belongings. What on Earth? We parked the car in the provided lot, saw that we still had a serious climb ahead of us, and stopped to ask the lot attendant about our the best route back to Kotor. He spoke virtually no English but motioned that we could still go further up the road even though there was a barrier. He managed to say the word “old” and we got it. Seniors were allowed to drive up another 1/2 mile and park nearer the monastery. So much for our youthful look!
Though the monastery itself was impressive it was the scene that got to Cynthia and me. The faithful took this place seriously. Families with their children, older people, a scattering of the young were all there. It was a pilgrimage for many. They would bring their blankets, food and whatever other essentials they needed and set up camp right on the concrete area in front of the monastery. Blankets apparently were supplied to the needy free of charge. Pretty much any place that was sleepable was taken.
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| One of Our Airbnb's Prague, Czech Republic |
But the restaurants. Cynthia and I have been spoiled by India and South East Asia where two people can easily eat out for $10. And eat well. Not so in Eastern Europe. $20 to $50 is standard, usually closer to the higher end of the scale (can’t kick the wine or beer with dinner habit). Now I realize that in the States this is not a huge amount but when one is doing it every day it certainly adds up. We are eating one meal out as we always have breakfast “at home” and usually don’t do lunch. This is a preamble to a situation that I couldn’t imagine happening in many places. We were short on Euro when we went to the “Relax Restaurant and Bar”. It was very low key and we were ready to save a bit of money on our meal. When it came time to pay I handed our waitress a credit card. “Sorry, cash only.” We didn’t have it. I offered the 10 Euro we had and my drivers license and said we would return with the rest. She just smiled, said don’t worry about it, pay tomorrow. She didn’t even want the !0 Euro or the drivers license! The trust did our hearts good.
If one goes to Montenegro watch out for the speed traps. They were plentiful. And the speed limit is rarely over 60 kph (38 mph). We were heading to the Ostrog Monastery and suddenly there is a policeman standing in the middle of the road waving a stop sign. Rats!! 72 in a 60. I did my polite best and saw not a smile from the cop. In the end he took pity and off we went, at the agonizingly slow 38 mph! Well, it all turned out to be worth it. The drive was beautiful with the colors popping out of the rocks forming the mountain sides. As mentioned our destination was the Ostrog Monastery, which turned out to be a totally unique place.
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| Ostrog Monestary Montenegro |
It is reminiscent in ways of the monasteries we visited in Spiti, India. Built in seemingly impossible locations basically glued to the side of a sheer cliff. As we ascended the mountain by car we saw people walking up the mountain trail carrying their belongings. What on Earth? We parked the car in the provided lot, saw that we still had a serious climb ahead of us, and stopped to ask the lot attendant about our the best route back to Kotor. He spoke virtually no English but motioned that we could still go further up the road even though there was a barrier. He managed to say the word “old” and we got it. Seniors were allowed to drive up another 1/2 mile and park nearer the monastery. So much for our youthful look!
Though the monastery itself was impressive it was the scene that got to Cynthia and me. The faithful took this place seriously. Families with their children, older people, a scattering of the young were all there. It was a pilgrimage for many. They would bring their blankets, food and whatever other essentials they needed and set up camp right on the concrete area in front of the monastery. Blankets apparently were supplied to the needy free of charge. Pretty much any place that was sleepable was taken.
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| The Pilgrimage Ostrog Monestary, Montenegro |
I did read that one could rent a dorm room but hundreds were just making it on their own. No restaurants so bring what you want to eat. No roof so be prepared for the rain and sun. It was a captivating scene and Cynthia and I basically hung out and wondered. The line to get into the monestary itself was long and we decided to take a pass. To us what was fascinating was outside and the inside could remain a mystery.
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| St. Luke's Orthodox Church Old Town Kotor, Montenegro |
The morning we left Kotor for our return to Dubrovnik and our flight to Romania we cruised the Old City of Kotor. Really enjoyable. Not crowded, old fort walls that ascend an almost sheer cliff, the classic narrow lanes where the stone paths are made of stones that are as smooth as a baby’s butt. Hundreds of years of footsteps have done that. And, oh yes, the cats. Strange to focus in on that but it was unavoidable. Cats galore and Cynthia loves them. We came upon one bench that held no fewer than eight cats all entwined.
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| A Passel of Cats Old Town Kotor, Montenegro |
We exited our one-night-stand room near the Dubrovnik airport at 4:30 a.m. to make our early flight from Dubrovnik to Bucharest, Romania, our last destination on the trip. More from the land of Vlad Dracul in our next and final blog. As always thanks for reading!
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| Staircase Old Town Kotor, Montenegro |
Fantastic! That image of the GPS is enough to instill anxiety here in the safety of my house. How in the world did they build that beautiful monastery! Great blog as always. Thanks for bringing us with you. Jeanne
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