Hotel Teuta Kotor

Again another spectacular bus ride across two counties (this time with stamps.. yaay!!) - the coast along here is just beautiful and I'm not too sure what to expect from Kotor as I've encountered many people who have been here and recommended it but there is very little about it on the web. My bus stops at an obscure bus station at what appears to be a back water and I start to wonder where I am ...

... in the 14th century. The views from this vantage point were amazing and had we known these views were going to be the best, we would have stopped here and headed back to sea level. But we didn’t know that, so we continued the arduous climb for another 30 minutes or so to the very top – here is the Castle of St John – an Illyrian fort. The views across the Bay of Kotor were breathtaking, but we were so high up ...

... at the Five Points MARTA station and asking where something is? I can see the scene now.

I paid my $3 for the hour and a half ride to Shkodra and was praying there would be a Furgon or bus there to Ulcinj across the border in Montenegro. A Furgon is like a collectivo in Latin America...a van that leaves when it fills up to the driver's satisfaction. That usually means people hanging out the windows and sitting on the floor ...

... in the spot to say thank you and from then on grateful sailors would drop a rock there to give thanks for safe passage. Four hundred years of rock dropping led to an island and today there is a flat mosque built atop the spot. In this picture you can see the two islands in the background, the man made island on the far right.

We parked the car in the shade and went for a walk in the town. It was nice, but similar to what we ...

... kilometres. The scenery however, made up for it. The winding road ran through mountains and beside huge sea inlets with small fishing towns spread out along the water. One highlight was the tiny town of Perast with its church steeples and small off-shore islands. Such a charming looking place. It would have been great to be able to stop and explore for a while.

Kotor itself is an unusual place. It is divided by ...

... whatever they wanted in Budva if they had the correct amount of money with them. Montenegro was to me akin to a luxurious playground for the ultra rich, famous as well as infamous. We then walked back via way of the tunnel, stopped at a small outdoor restaurant all ordering a type of delicious pancake we enjoyed by dipping it in chocolate syrup and drove back to the hotel to get some rest. The next day Darko took merely us to another gorgeous beach. It was reminiscent of Greece ...

... I had to hoist myself over this massive boulder blocking the way. But I eventually met up with the real path and made my way back to the bottom. Throughout most of the hike I was the only person I could see on the ruins, but there were plenty of goats around. At first I was a bit apprehensive with all the goats there, but as soon as I realized they'd run away from me as I walked near them I eased up. It was rather smelly at points with all the goat **** there.

... Durmitor. It is most certainly a great tourist town all year around (though as Tammy said, you wouldn't know it by the bus stop). I would love to come back to this destination in the winter, where I am sure it is even more beautiful covered with snow and the skiing would be phenomenal. Nearby is the deepest canyon in all of Europe, the canyon of the Tara River, which we would raft on later that day. Another little factoid, this region ...

... As our meal concluded, the waiter spilled a full glass of red wine on the German diner to our left, who was clearly not pleased with the experience. Suffice to say that Levanta has something great going on in the kitchen, but could use an upgrade in the customer-facing staff. It is strange that none of the staff spoke good English (or German), given the tourist population here, and the fact that there is no shortage of very adept speakers in the local population. We were ...

All that's left of Yugoslavia are the two Provinces of Serbia and Montenegro. (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Hecegovina have gained independence, while Kosovo and Vovodina are semi autonomous states of Serbia) The rebel province of Montenegro doesn't require it's visitors to have a visa, so we decided to try and check it out. We caught a bus to the border and had to walk for a half a mile in the mountains past a long lineup of trucks waiting to cross.(engines off, no movement) Then ...