Montenegro – Kotor 8/8/16 – 12/8/16

Another bus ride for less than an hour along the beautiful coastal road and we arrived in Kotor. From it’s first impressions it’s a beautiful mountainous place, odd because we’re at sea level. The whole town is surrounded by mountains apart from a small inlet at the sea. We’re staying at Apartments Exclusive, yet again thanks to booking.com, exclusive by name and exclusive by nature. Kotor is set in a bay and we are staying on the left side of the bay which is right opposite the town centre, great because we can see the whole of the town from our apartment. Our hosts speak very good English and informed us of what was what in the area.
Our first trip into town, about a 10 minute walk, and we came across the old town. Leading up to this if you look at the mountains, directly in front of you, you can clearly see the walls of the old town cascading down the side of the mountain, which encircles the old town. There’s even a pathway for visitors to walk up, but it looks like a mammoth task to undertake as the mountain side is very steep. The old town itself is huge, full of winding cobbled narrow streets, all with old buildings restored to their natural beauty towering overhead. Most are restaurants, shops and hotels which have pretty flower baskets hanging from their windows, a lovely sight as its mid summer. Once inside the walled city don’t worry if you get lost, as we did, I suppose that’s it’s beauty, wondering around street after street each with the mountain as its back drop. Apparently Kotor had a huge earthquake in 1979, where all but 8 buildings out of 400 in the old town were completely destroyed, however there is no evidence of it today. Kotor is a beauty of a place, again with something for everyone, history and charm, mountaineering and outdoor pursuits, beautiful fauna and flora, the sea for swimming and sailing the list goes on. What makes it different from the other coastal resorts of Montenegro is that there are no neon bright lights, or open air night clubs.
The following day we strolled away from Kotor along the West side of Kotor Bay. A very beautiful, easy walk at sea level, however the road is small and windy and with the amount of traffic, could be quite hazardous. There are many small villages along the bay, each with their own natural beauty, and outstanding architecture. Churches are in abundance again with their own glorious carvings in stone, some on the roadside, others high in the mountains, some in a state of ruin, others restored all magnificent. We went in search of the mouth of the bay, but after 2 hours walking we were no where near. This road stretches km after km, and if like us you have no car, the walk is well worth it for as long as you can walk. We did spot a mini bus travelling along this road, so I suppose that’s an option, and of course there are many cafes to rest in along the way should you choose to travel by foot. Where ever you are in the bay, you get the view of the mountains, again in winter these views will be outstanding.
Wow what a day our 3rd day in Kotor was. We booked this trip hoping to go yesterday, but there weren’t enough punters to do it so today it was. We had to be at the Monte360 Travel Agents in the old town for 7am this morning. We were off on an adventure touring the North of Montenegro by mini bus. There were 8 of us on board the mini van. 2 girls from Hong Kong, 2 English sisters who had met up to travel the Balkans for 3 weeks – (one from the UK, the other now living in Australia), a young fella from Switzerland, us two, and the very lively and lovely Alison, a solo traveller from USA, who works for a Youth Development NGO, working in Montenegro, now on a wee holiday and of course our English speaking local guide. What a team we made, what an awesome day. Firstly we were driven 40 minutes or so to a lovely little fishing village called Perast to see “Our Lady of the Rocks” and St George church. These brilliant structures were in the middle of Kotor Bay, so we only had a photo shoot here. Legend goes that some fishermen coming back from a voyage saw an image of Madonna and child in the bay, knowing this was good luck, every time fishermen returned from sea they threw rocks into the bay at exactly the same spot. Over the centuries the rocks formed a small little island, and someone built a church on it. Very lovely to see. The other small island was naturally formed. Next we drove up the mountain passed a town called Risan where we had another photo shoot looking downwards over the Bay of Kotor. Stunning and beautiful in the early morning sun. Then onto Niksic and yet another photo op looking at 2 lakes high in the mountains – Lake Krupa and Sano Lake (Salt Lake). The Salt Lake is full of fresh water and so the legend states, an old lady who had bought lots of salt and spices from a neibouring village was on her way home on her horse and cart, when suddenly the horse got startled and tipped her cart full of produce into the lake! So the name stuck. Our guide was very informative in his local history and funny too. After a hearty breakfast we drove further northwards through the most amazing spectacular scenery. The mountainous scenery full of rocks very rugged and glistening with a slate grey colour for km after km, beautiful. Onwards we went until we came to the Tara Canyon. This canyon is the second largest in the world, after the Grand Canyon in USA. It’s size is mesmerizing, it’s sheer scale and beauty is beyond belief. As we got out of the mini bus, we all couldn’t help but notice the very cold temperature. Today it was 10’c, and we were certainly under dressed as we had shorts and singlets on. FREEZING it was! Anyhow our guide stated there was a Zip line across the canyon, so ever so spontaneously 7 of us decided to do it straight away. We only had to walk a few meters and we were stood there being harnessed in. Tina and me went first, what a thrill, what a buzz, what a blast. It’s 880m length, and 200m height meant we were suspended over the canyon for nearly 5 minutes, and boy o boy it was fast. We had to laugh as we watched the others cross 1 by 1. Me and Alison were the only 2 to make the full crossing unaided. Alison commented on our weight as being an advantage to thrust us to the finish line. The others got so far before they stopped and had to grab a rope to be pulled onto the finish deck. One of the girls from Hong Kong, only got half was across and was suspended above the river motionless for a few minutes until an instructor had to put a harness on and winch himself to her rescue, before she joined the rest of us. So funny, bless her.
The canyon has an alternative way of getting across it, this being the Tara Bridge. The bridge is 365m in length, has 5 arches with the largest span being 116m, the roadway stands 172m above the Tara River and was originally built between 1937 and 1940.
Tina and me went straight to a restaurant and ordered hot chocolate. To our surprise when it arrived, it was so thick we could stand our spoons in it, not only that I upturned my glass and the chocolate stayed put! It was so yummy.
After we all arrived back on board our bus we were driven to visit Crno (Black) lake, in Durmitor National Park where it rained a lot, however this did not spoil the splendour of its natural peaceful beauty as our guide had raincoats in the boot of the bus.
Ostrog Monastery the largest sanctuary in Montenegro was our next destination after a great lunch. It was built in 1650 and is located 900m above sea level, it houses the relics of St Basil of Ostrog which are reported to have healing powers. The monastery is built into a rock face and the drive up the mountain was very scary as the road leading to it was very narrow. The view from the right side of the bus was almost stomach churning, as we could not see the edge of the road, instead 100s of meters of vertical drops. Our day ended when we were dropped off in Kotor at 9PM, what a long day, but an absolute MUST DO activity, all for €39 per person – food and drink extra.
Kotor has been a wonderful place, Montenegro a remarkable country and we have loved every town here. It’s strange but it’s only a 4 hour flight from the UK, but I’ve never seen it in the holiday brochures. This former state of Yugoslavia has everything a holiday maker would want to wish for. It’s stunning natural beauty is like I’ve never seen before and we’ll worth a visit. Even in the peak of summer it wasn’t too over crowded, it’s a relatively cheap place to travel around and a great gateway to the rest of the Balkans. Spring, summer, winter or fall, you should defiantly put this country on your “must see” holiday places to visit. Each of the 5 towns we’ve visited has been unique in its own way but it’s coastal road is out of this world. From its capital Podgorica, with its capitalism and communism still about, to the old towns of Ulcinj, Petrovac, Budva and Kotor, each place will remain in my heart forever.