Kotor Bay

Trip Start Aug 25, 2007

Trip End Mar 25, 2008

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Where I stayed

Happy Hippo Hostel

(Kotor hotels)

Flag of Montenegro Kotor, Montenegro
Thursday, October 25, 2007

Toured Kotor and its surroundings. Caught a bus to Perast, a little quaint town just north of Kotor. The bus stop was on top of someone's house. It was marked by two plastic bottles on the ground. No signs, no colored paint. The bus stop was pretty scenic, overlooking the sea, fjord, church and two islands. Gospa od Skrpjela (Lady of the Rock Island) and the Ostrog Svetog Durga (island of St. George). Interestingly, Lady of the Rock Island was artificially created by locals over a period of 550 years. Every year, the locals would drop stones on an underwater rock, creating this island. Walked down to the Old Town and looked around. Pretty deserted if you don't count the four Americans from Michigan coming in a rented car. Watched locals fish with a string with no luck. The fish must be accustomed to the fishing string b/c I saw swarms of little fish in the bay around that string. But no nibbles. It made me remember the family off Newport Beach fishing with day-old bread who was pulling up bigger fish than Mr. I and me with our fancy fishing rod/squid baits. There were no private boats going out to Lady of the Rocks. But I gazed at it from the restaurant. Tried their fish soup. While I was washing my hands in the restroom, the once hourly minibus passed by. Bad timing. I had to hike back to the two plastic bottles on the ground to catch the upper bus. If bottles could talk, I am sure they were chuckling when I begrudgingly came back to them, initially thinking I could outwit them and grab another bus.

Returned to Bay of Kotor. Very scenic. If it wasn't for the most comfortable hostel, Happy Hippo in the next town, I would have definitely stayed in Kotor for a few days. I was satisfied to visit it on two different days. It is at the head of southern Europe's deepest fjord, with a fortified old town nestled at the foot of a cliff. I am a sucker for fjords. This was not as dramatic as Iceland's fjords but it was very beautiful. The sea was an indigo blue as is most of coastal Montenegro. I decided to climb the 1500 steps to the old fortifications on the mountainside above Kotor. It gave me good views of the fjord and the town below. There were many forts and rest stops along the way. Unfortunately the uppermost fort was quite run-down, littered with sheep and cat dung. Not sure when was the last time someone cleaned the mountainside. During the summer tourist season? Maybe that's why they did not collect the regular admission fee. At nightfall I met up with Tony and one of his friends who recently purchased a flat in old town Kotor. It was a good investment as the price of the apartment had doubled in the last six months, especially after the complete renovation for only $8000. It had a great view of the lit-up mountainside. We enjoyed some home-cooked spaghetti, cheese and wine like true Spaniards (though Tony is only token Spanish since he moved from Arizona a decade ago to open up a restaurant in the Pyrenees). After some good conversation and look into Kotor real estate, I hopped on the bus back to Budva.