Hotel Vardar Kotor

... br><br>We ate a casual dinner with most of the crew and afterwards they had several birthday party games for us to play. Usually these types of games are really cheesy and silly, but they weren't. The crew had raided his iPod so they had a long list of his favorite songs that they had playing the entire time.<br><br>After some of the games, and before Jeff drank too much, the crew had setup a video conference call with his ...

... resulting in a cacophony of uncoordinated Arabic chanting. Few dining options so I do as the locals and get a fast food kebob. I look around for a place to drink but it is full of men only. Out of 300 or so people, maybe 6 women are to be found (and they are with men). The men are mostly drinking coffee, playing cards &#8230; This is an extremely Islamic neighborhood. <br><br>When I return to my room, I encounter 2 electricity failures, apparently a regular occurrence.

... is very appropriate.<br><br>About 1 hour into the journey we reached the Montenegro border. About 45 minutes of passport control later, we were officially in the country of Montenegro! The border crossing was painless &#8211; we didn't have to leave the bus and we got stamps in our passport! Our first city of mention in Montenegro was Herceg Novi. Nothing much to look at, and it became clear how prettified Croatia is compared to ...

... not as quaint or big as Kotor's. The much quieter old town is priced for tourists and the surrounding city is a highrise strip of hotels and condos serving mostly Russians and Serbians. It was much too touristy (and expensive as a result) for my tastes. <br><br>Watching Russians like Boris and his girlfriend Svetlana in her leopard print tops, tight white pants with visible black thong and high heels got old after a while. Picture Peg ...

... night we had a quite one sipping rose whilst dining in a restaurant that sat next to a tranquil stream with an amazing view of the mountains, marina and sunset on the bay. It was an ideal way to finish a great week and to begin the slow process of recovery. <br> This morning I bid the lads farewell and caught a bus to Kotor. Funnily enough, I had the same crazy driver from the Mostar to Dubrovnik rollercoaster last week and, knowing what I was in for, wisely chose a seat right ...

... and grinned stupidly at the terrified young woman, who suddenly became very grateful for the glass screen between us. I tried to smile reassuringly "When's the next bus to Belgrade?" "Twenty minutes" Problem solved. As I climbed aboard I felt vaguely satisfied with the brilliance of my plan. Certainly more satisfaction than a man should feel for coming up with the idea of catching a bus from the bus station. The bus roared off towards Belgrade.

... village called Perast and thought that we would love to have more time to wander around the town. At this time of year though, it was all but shut down. Just off the shore is a remarkable man-made island called 'The Lady of the Rock', built by some fishermen to commemorate a miracle that had occurred. On to the walled city of Kotor, a UNESCO listed treasure. As soon as we approached I realised it is featured on many of the posters of Europe that ...

... starting holding free elections (no longer under any 'rule' per say) less than 2 years prior. So, after settling into Zagljak, we made our afternoon plans in Durmitor National Park. The National Park was created in 1952 and includes this massive mountains, the amazingly beautiful canyons of Tara, Susica and Draga rivers. Durmitor National Park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. (UNESCO by the way, stands for United Nations ...

Today in Kotor, Montenegro, Commanderbeth and I woke with straw and pine needles lodged in our feet and heavy, sunscorched eyelids from the hellish day before. We'd planned to make a brief stopover in Dubrovnik on the way from Mostar, and hitch hike south to Kotor from there. Sure enough the slick marbled infrastructure of Dub'nik didn't quite extend to manageable routes out to ...

Having never seen a fjord in my life the lure of another stamp and another walled town was just too much to resist, we had to investigate! Our mates Tadek and Karin had mentioned Montenegro was great and the Kiwi we had met on Korcula had also mentioned it. So recommendations taken, off we went. The scenery during the coach trip from Dubrovnik was breathtaking! Kotor had alot to live up to! We were a little anxious about accommodation prospects but we didn't need to worry because ...