A Montenegrin Adventure

The Bay of Kotor

Driving in from Croatia, it wasn’t long before we reached the entrance to the enormous bay of Kotor. We followed the waterside road that weaved through small towns that had been squeezed between the steep mountainous walls and the azure waters. Eventually, in the sheltered reaches of the bay, we arrived at the historic town of Kotor. How historic? I still have no idea. In fact, even as I write this, the motivation to find out on Wikipedia is nonexistent. So this town, of an age unknown to us, was to be our home for the week and despite the masses of tourists that arrived on the enormous cruise ships, it was a beautiful place to return to everyday.

The time we spent in Kotor was mainly orientated around eating, I know, what a shock. Whether it be breakfast from the bakery every morning, or meals out in the small squares at night. The food wasn’t exceptional but was tasty on the most part. My favourite meal was swordfish with a creamy sauce served with freshly made bread.

When the “I’ve spent too much time eating and haven’t seen a thing” guilt gets to you, you can always waddle to Kotor’s beach. Truth be told it was pretty small and I only visited it at night for swim in the dark. This was all while Tom was throwing up in our shared bedroom on his birthday, AJ was failing to chat up some girls and Rangga was sleeping? Chatting? I don’t know, he was and still is an international man of mystery. Also, obviously, there were lots of old buildings to visit, but the town was small so getting out of Kotor was essential for us.

After exploring the spooky abandoned fort on one side of the bay, we went up the other side to the highest mountains in the area. 17 consecutive hairpin bends and some breath-taking views later, we were at a relatively flat and straight road, where we could stop safely and take photos.

However, we were only getting started, the Fiat Panda was purring like a beauty and AJ was blasting around corners like a madman. This dreamy combination meant we were ready to head to Lovćen National Park. The roads got worse but the views continued improving and eventually we reached the car park for the mountain. To reach the top we walked through a tunnel and up over 400 steps, but the burning legs were worth it for the panoramic views of forested mountain slopes.

The Coast

Our first experience of the coast was down past Budva, which is the main tourist hotspot of the country. The beaches around there were long and sandy but inevitably packed. As a man with antisocial hardwiring, I was keen to find some quieter and more secluded places for snorkelling and swimming. So, we headed further south (on the map we had spied a few small beaches and went to check them out). To our horror, these lovely beaches were all private, on the nicest there was a private spa and then next to it was beautiful beach where it was 120 euros to just be there. After contemplating stealing beach time from the rich, we turned around and managed to find a small beach that didn’t come with a price tag. It was very busy and the sea wasn’t clear. Nevertheless, we had fun splashing about but were keen to find somewhere to snorkel and swim properly.

After some research, we decided the Lustica peninsula was our best bet for dodging dirty humans. The peninsula is distinct from the main tourist beaches due to its relative isolation, small roads and endless little rocky coves. On our first visit, we went to the tiny village of Vesla because we had seen that it sat by an isolated cove. The roads to get there were sinuous ribbons at the mercy of the landscape. Each narrow but graceful sweep of tarmac took us careering through shaded farmland, rising over rocky hills and speeding through old villages. With my rally navigator skills honed over the last few days and some blind luck we made it. We were rewarded with clear water and no people. Heaven.

Our next visit to the peninsula was a success too. In a cove south of the tiny beach at Mirista we parked at the road side and walked down a long gravel path to find that the turquoise waters of the secluded cove were private. We asked the owners of the house if we could swim and they said, “Yes, as long as you go further down onto the rocks.” Happy with not having to walk back up the track immediately, especially since two separate pairs of flip flops were broken on the way down (I didn’t learn from my mistakes), we quickly got onto the rocks and dived in.

The water here was clearer and the fish were more plentiful and diverse. The most exciting occurrence was seeing an octopus which I’d never seen in the wild before. Squid and cuttlefish I had seen, but the eight-legged fiend had eluded me. If ‘Finding Dory’ is as factual as it seems, then I should’ve expected a long wait to catch a glimpse of a pesky octopus. Hank was one slippery customer.

Warning. There are lots of sea urchins, or as AJ refers to them, “little creatures” in the water around this area so unless you want spikes in your feet then should probably watch your entry and exit from the water. Also, do not drive down the long gravel path, we were lazy and tried to use the car to pick us up about half way down. This resulted in the car getting stuck. So, we had to push the car barefoot (broken flipflops) up a hot, dusty and gravelly hill while dodging the flying shards of rock coming from the rear tires. Not ideal.

The North West

We booked a day of white-water rafting on the Tara river in the north of Montenegro which was only 45 euros each. Compared to the white water rafting I had done in Costa Rica this seemed like a steal.

The drive there was a quick jaunt through the mountains behind Risan, then onwards through wide flat valleys bordered by mountains. After Nikšić we got back into the mountains and from Plužine onwards we were following the azure blue waters of the reservoir and river which was at the bottom of the steepest gorge in Europe. An innumerable number of tunnels later, some rain and some amazing views we arrived at the waterfall rafting centre.

Getting out of the car in our t-shirts, we realised once again that our unwavering dedication to the world of fashion had cost us dearly. The mountains were quite a lot colder than the coast (by about 10°C) and we were freezing. After our free breakfast and getting changed into wetsuits, we got in the buses and set off for the Tara river.

Now, we were a little concerned when gaggles of small children were also getting ready to raft too. But I had made sure of the level of whitewater on the river and it had said levels three and four. The rafting I had done in Costa Rica had been level three and that was far beyond the abilities of the children I could see.

I gave it a while to get going. “Maybe it will build up to the big rapids,” I told myself. When whitewater rafting I want to fear for my life. These rapids hardly even splashed into the boat and only once or twice did the water splash above my waist. Bored and disappointed we went for a swim when the vaguely bubbly water dissipated, but quickly realised that the water wasn’t as inviting as it seemed. The water was mind-numbingly cold. However, the shivering yelps of Rangga and AJ did make a sadistic warmth rise in my heart. Back on the boat and shivering so violently that I was sure my bones were rearranging, the thought of entering that evil turquoise blue water again was about as far from the forefront of my mind as possible. But then we were told about a place to jump off a big rock. We needed to make the most of the trip. It was about 8m high and falling to those shivering waters was a beautiful spectacle. Every detail of every stone on the river bed was as clear as day. The water was so clean, so clear that for a moment I forgot about my impending hypothermia and enjoyed the view. Soon after Tom jumped, landed on his arse in front of everyone and gave the whole tour group a hearty laugh. What a selfless man.

A quick stop at the least interesting waterfall in the world and then we finally finished. We just wanted to get out, get warm and get our free lunch. Lunch was really tasty but it was a small consolation.

It’s important to say that the gorge and the river are truly beautiful. The river contains the clearest water I’ve ever seen and is the most perfect blue colour. All of this is contained by the gorge which is crazily steep and deep. However, if you’re a thrill seeker it’s not worth the money to go white water rafting here.

The drive back was beautiful because we saw the gorge in the sunlight, it was very difficult to find places to take photos but they don’t do it justice anyway. Around every corner was an incredible view. We got back to Kotor as the sun went down. It was a fun day, with music playing in the car, breath-taking views and laughing at Tom, but disappointing in terms of the rafting.

Final thoughts

That was a long post. Not even sure if anyone is reading this far. Either way, there is a lot to say about this extremely picturesque country. Between all four of us around 1200 photos were taken (even some of me which is rare) and I think that speaks for itself.