Bella Vista Hotel Becici

... and wool blankets. So we all got to sleep during the ride. (Well, Andre and the two guys got to sleep.) The train was really loud for some reason (between the tunnels we went through and the loud rail itself) so I didn’t get to much sleep. Also, we got woken up by police once at the Montenegro border for customs and then twice more at the Serbian border for passport checks and visa stamps and customs. It was a long night.

... the beachfront the guide pointed out the luxury hotels and named famous people who had come to stay there (tom cruise! madonna! pamela anderson!) Aside from starsightings, not much information was passed along by the guide, though she ...

... it over the mountain range, and the road crested an incredible ocean view. The coast north and south are green and emerald and beautiful, with mountains and tree lines that roll right up to the water. It took our breath away. <br><br>Budva was no different. The whole coast of Montenegro is basically along one road, and just runs through towns without really changing. The mountains go up and down, and the towns ...

... also. He laughed at all the things I brought with me to Beograd telling me that I had no idea how to pack. By the time I was done with that task Darko told me it was time to go meet some friends at a local café for coffee. It was late summer and the outside café's in Beograd were the best ! We met up with a few friends in some restaurant in Beograd; there was about five of us sitting there just chatting and drinking coffee when I noticed an older gentleman sitting a few seats down ...

... ing Ivans. But I am Constantine." Personally, I think Constantine is a bit of a sissy name, but I had to admire this man because, like all Serbs, he understood how to use the word "****" at the right point in a sentence- you just don't get that in some parts of Europe. I took another sip from my beer. "This is a good beer, does Montenegro have any other good beers I should try?" I asked. "No, only brewery in Montenegro ...

... only had out door very cold showers. We took a walk to the beach down a big hill and ended up at a nice small rocky beach. We were contemplating staying for another day here but they were charging 10 Euros a chair and the rocks were far too pointy to be lying on all day. We did drive in to check out Budvar's old town. It was worth the chaos, to get lost in the alley ways for an hr or so. The old town here had been destroyed just like in Bar, but it had been rebuilt completely, and ...

(C) I've had a very romantic image of Montenegro that goes back many many years and at least as far as the last James Bond movie where they played the million dollar poker game in a place called Montenegro actually filmed in Vancouver. But seriously I've always been curious to know Why. Why Montenegro? Why is it there? I'll tell you why - because nobody could ever get through these bloody ...

... what were these people doing out in the middle of nowhere?" Again, the scenery was that of a gorge, riding along a windy, twisty road, barely passable by two cars, the road hugging to the face of a cliff with a sheer drop on the one side. Again, we struggled with carsickness. Two hours later, we finally reached our destination - the town called Zabljak, which sits at the entrance of the NP. Initially, it looked quite scarce, and alex and I exchanged looks ...

... the summer. Maybe the winter/off-season would be better. I'm not one of these people that is always paranoid about places that are touristy (a word?), but this was on a whole different level. I've heard similar stories about Venice which is why I've avoided that city to date. If you don't mind that stuff, Dubrovnik is nice, if you do, I'd skip it and maybe check out Kotor which is about 3 hrs away by bus.

... bit cooler than in the main heat of the day. Oh my God. 1500+ steps and 1 hour and half later we reached the top. As two quite unfit people it was great to get to the top! You wouldn't have wanted to met us on the way down and we went straight home for a shower.. The next day we got the bus 1/2 hour down the road to Budva. We'd actually couldn't decide whether or not to stay in Kotor or Budva but in the end went with Kotor and I'm so glad we did. Budva is crazy in July ...