Montenegro

By Pete
Like the rest of the Balkans, Montenegro has had a turbulent recent past, Modern Montenegro is only 13 years old after seceding from Serbia and Montenegro in 2006 yet it history dates back thousands of years.
The plan, as it stood, was to work our way down the coast of Montenegro toward Albania then visit its hinterland as we returned north in a couple of months. Our first destination was Kotor a small medieval town we had recently read about on Culturetrip (one of our go to websites when it comes to researching our next destination)

Kotor is set at the very end of Kotor Bay which is 28km long and has over100km of shoreline. In fact it is sort of three consecutive broad bays linked by narrow channels, geographically quite incredible and pretty easily defended from invaders.
We encountered the bay at its north west corner and turned east following its northern shore to a ferry that crossed close to its narrowest channel only 340m wide. According to locals this last passage was defended by a massive chain that they would draw up across the channel, effectively garrotting uninvited ships, the number of wrecks in this channel attest to its defensive effectiveness.

Leaving the ferry we hugged the inner western coastline along a single lane, two way road, that Bea assures me was spectacular, I was busy avoiding oncoming traffic haring around the hairpins as if it were their own private F1 circuit!

As we approached Kotor we discovered the campsites we had intended to stay in were closed. In town I parked up and Bea asked the Tourist info where we could camp... closest 10km back, at the ferry crossing.. bollocks to that. We had seen a bus parking area right on the edge of town so went and asked if we could park up for the night.. no problem.. score! Less than 10mins walk into the heart of the old town.

The picturesque old town is enclosed by a wall that starts at the port, wraps the town then rises dramatically up the shear hillside behind the town to enclose a couple of chapels high on the hill.
We spent the afternoon and evening enjoying the vibe of the old town, there was a cruise ship in so it had a buzz without being too crowded, in the peak period when five or more ships could be in the bay it would be hell

On the drive around the bay, while I was playing moving chicane for aspiring Grand Prix drivers, Bea spotted what looked like a church floating in the middle of the bay and described it as spectacular. The next morning we decided to take a boat ride out to explore it a little more. We joined an English family on a speed boat and headed to the ‘Lady of the of the Rock’ a church built on a man made island. Legend has it that two fisherman found an image of the Madonna and child floating there and were so in awe decided to build an island using old boats and rocks from the mainland then a church to commentate it, It happened to also be the deepest part of the lake.. go figure.

From the island the boat took us to explore Perast a Venetian era town on the lake shore before taking us back to Kotor past 2 more cruise liners that had arrived overnight, time to head out of town!

Directly behind Kotor is one of the most important peaks in the country, the ‘black mountain’ of Lovercen or ‘Monte-Negro’ in Venetian.
Looking at google the road to the top seemed a little precarious so I asked at the tourist information office and she assured me it was no problem, she obviously doesn’t have a drivers licence! The road starts pretty comfortably, two lanes and wide turns, then you turn off onto single lane, two way road, with 28, very steep switchbacks. Bea assured me it was spectacular,

I was busy avoiding oncoming traffic haring around the hairpins as if it were their own private WRC stage! This road made the trollstigen in Norway feel like a cruise on the A1. At one point I had to reverse the van back 150+m around the turns to a pull off to allow a bus past, the car behind the bus actually clapped my performance, Bea just sat there frozen forgetting to even film it!!

At the top of switchbacks is a small cafe with views that make the journey up totally worth it, stunning!
While the drive up Lovercen had been breathtaking, literally, the rest of the afternoons drive to Skadar lake was glorious passing through ancient rural valleys, over sheer mountain passes and narrow, winding, forrest lined roads, it was slow going but when the scenery is this mesmerizing you wouldn’t want to go any faster.

Lake Skadar, the largest lake in the Balkans lies across the border between Montenegro and Albania and is an important fishing resource with abundant carp, bleak and eel. After winding our way down from the final pass we followed its northern shoreline through its national park to a campsite that sounded interesting.. and open! The site was in the front yard of a fishing family’s home. They had decided to use their spare land to generate a little additional income and were in the process of building 6 small chalets and a new toilet block. They were really hospitable and apologised that the facilities weren’t fully operational. They offered to cook us a fish dinner which we happily accepted at which point they escorted us to the rivers edge to select our fish from their live holding net. They were lake carp so I was a little dubious about the meal. I needn’t have been, simply seasoned, shallow fried whole and served with fried potatoes, fresh salad and a mug of local red wine, the fish was delicious, as was the entire meal, rustic goodness.

The next morning we continued our journey south, rejoining the coast at Ulcinj, one of the oldest settlements on the Adriatic coast founded in the 5th century BC. It is now a summer tourist hotspot due to the Veluška Plaza, a sandy beach that is over 12km long!!! one of the longest in Europe. We drove to the beach where we found a campsite that allowed us to dump our toilet and grey water.

Interestingly in the estuarine rivers large drop nets were in use similar to those popular in SEA and India!
Also interesting is if you go to an auto electrician to try and solve your tail light issue you can end up with no tail lights!! Bollocks!
We rang a citroen service centre in Tirana (capital of Albania) who said he could sort our issue out if we were there at 8.30am the next morning.
We took one final spin through Ulcinj then bolted for the border.