Roads less traveled...more summits....... missing Montenegro.... another border crossing...

We left Petrovac, Montenegro in a taxi, rather than wait 2hrs for a bus to take us the 20 minutes north to the beautiful smaller bay and village of Przno. Within minutes, we found a lovely sea view room one minute from the beach.

As usual, we don't book ahead.....we just get to the center of town and look for rooms. Usually, there are signs indicating rooms to rent. (Sobe, Zimmer or Rooms). If not, we just ask a waiter, bar tender etc, if they know of anything available. Most times they know of someone who has something and it goes from there.

There is no pedestrian walkway in Przno, but rather just a pathway that runs in front of the half dozen or so restaurants that line the beach. Prices are higher as of June 1 to kick off the official tourist season.  Too bad for us!! A beach chair is now 5 euros each instead of 2! Preparation continues everywhere for the upcoming tourist season... it's like getting ready for a carnival.

Speaking of the euro...the cost of everything has probably doubled from Albania ... a rum 'n coke and a rye 'n 7 cost 15 euros ($20 Can)......

....we are deliberately paying a premium when we look for rooms...in a beach town, we want to be as close to the water as possible, with a view, possibly a little deck and close to town center.....

...in an old town, we choose to stay as close to the historic center/plaza as possible, with some sort of view and up high, off the ground floor.

For those standards: we pay about 40 - 50 euros/night in Montenegro. In Albania, we paid a bit less...25/30 euros/night.   There are cheaper places - we looked at a hostel in Kotor for about 15 euros/person.

Cleanliness worry has been, basically, a non-issue, throughout our journey. Rooms are clean, most tiled, smell nice, and toilets/water work. Some get cleaned out daily, some provide breakfast. We look for small, family run places and have generally been rewarded with great digs. Very little to complain about!

Washrooms have been interesting.  In Albania and southern Montenegro, toilet paper is never flushed!! It always goes in a basket\garbage beside the toilet. Surprisingly, there is rarely an odour!  In some more public washrooms like bus stations or restaurants, there are no sit down toilets but rather squatters. These have porcelain footsteps and a hole on the floor to aim for. For those of us with knee problems these are always a problem especially because there are no hand bars either!

It is a good time to travel through this region in May/June, before the European invasion descends from south and from all points east to west.

Have not come across any bugs in rooms and very little mosquitoes anywhere. Although, we have seen some giant, black bee-like creatures on the flowers! We watch them!

Przno beach/bay north of Petrovac, is quiet and has some great snorkeling around the many limestone islets. We swim every day, several times a day, when we are on the coast. Waters are cool, clear, clean, for the most part, of garbage and plastics. Around Przno, along the cliffs, the water depth easily reaches 15-25 m, just minutes from our beach. No need to scuba here, as snorkeling over these clear, deep waters provides the same thrill.

Schools of little fish, all shapes and colors, hang before us in the water, like some massive school-wide art project to create hundreds of fish-mobiles. The fish don't scatter, but hover, still...from the shallows to 10m or more, hugging the large, tower like rock formations rising from the sea bottom.

This part of the Montenegrin coastline, bunched up near the Croatian border is rugged, filled with many bays of varying size, beaches of rock and sand, small, quiet coves, tiny, ocean side villages and old towns. In fact, the stretch of coast from the Albanian border to Croatia is ( again) spectacular. With views that are similar to our Gulf Islands or San Juan's (WA) on a road that winds its way like a Californian ocean road, it is beautiful.

Because of the ruggedness of these limestone shorelines,  many of these towns do not have beaches. So, to remedy this they have created 'concrete beaches'.  Simply put, they are slabs of concrete where people suntan, swim and fish.  Some hotels and restaurants even provide beach chairs or loungers for their customers.

And, this postage sized country, which has been at the crossroads for a lot of European history, has picturesque mountain villages and rocky crests all shoved into its borders, seemingly ready to burst.

One of these in the bay has a very old stone structure perched on top. Lovely to look at!

There is hardly any English heard here...mostly eastern European languages and some Italian.

One evening we check out some neighboring beaches and come across the very exclusive town of Sveti Stefan - an island resort.

This resort island charges 900 euro per night ($1400)!!!  Not quite in our price range!! Ha!!  But, so beautiful to 

look at!

Here some nice scenes from Przno...

We head north to Kotor. Located at the head of an inlet/bay that winds its way in from the coast, Kotor is said to be in the most beautiful bay in the world.

We look to stay in the quaint old-town walled portion of Kotor. We wander for a bit, then ask around for rooms. One of the restaurants we stop at, contacts someone with available rooms. Several minutes later, we get to our room.....looks good......only much later... as in 5:37am, as the church bells begin ringing, that our room is just metres from the bell tower. And, then at 5:54am, the bells are rung again.  These times are odd....not on the quarter or half or hour...but somewhere in between.

Looking out our window with the church on the right.

We tour old town, watch the cruise ship parade of passengers stumble zombie-like by, climb the mountain and all the nearly 1400 steps to the old fortress. 

Another summit in the bag....must be at least 7 by now....(Coba, Holguin, Pyramids of the Sun, Mausoleum).....

But, we are itching to move on. Montenegro has been wonderful. 

People we've met, like Svetlana, are kind and gracious.

 Language concerns are not difficult to overcome.  It is friendly, safe and has much to offer. Not a lot of tourists travel through the country. Transportation works fine, rooms to stay everywhere. 

We are heading into Croatia next, maybe Bosnia. But....bus schedules make it a bit of a plan......stay tuned..... see you on the other side - somewhere!

                              Cheers from us to you!  Take care!

Here are a few more random shots...

This One Goes Out to the One We Left Behind (Albania)...... Gooood Morning, Montenegro! ....... The Little Train that Could......The Spa Life.......Monument on the Mount...,and back to the beach....Clear waters - Old Towns

Welcome to Mysterious Montenegro.....the name alone, should make one want to go there!

 We crossed the Albanian/Montenegrin border without a hitch riding in a local furgon/van. Except for the 10 car wait which took about half an hour and 'beggar family' approaching every single car waiting in line, everything went fine.  It was interesting to us that the authorities didn't chase them away!

Our first town was the Montenegran beach town of Ulcinj; a small, quaint, cobblestone, hilly town built in a lovely bay.  Walking into the center of town, a local approached us asking if we needed a room.  Sure! So, he took us up a steep hill to a home.  (This form of hustle is very typical for these countries.  He probably gets a commission for waiting in town for tourists to arrive).  We looked at this room with a magnificent view of the bay and took it for 20 euros.

Our view

Our house

We walked around town and came across these sights...

Ulcinj

One of many restaurant views available

Such narrow streets

Walking through the downtown we noticed some activity near a mosque, and discovered it was a traditional wedding. When the bride and groom exited I tried to get some shots... then the bride motioned me closer and said I could take these shots. What a treat!

 

These two men were physically upporting her the entire time - perhaps her father and brother?

The bride wearing a golden headdress and very narrow pants such that her footsteps needed to be extremely small, almost like a shuffle. Maybe, that's why they were supporting her?

The intricate back

Thankfully the weather warmed enough for us on our second day so that we could go to tiny Liman Beach, 10 minutes from our room. Typical rocky beaches here... a little hard on the feet

On our return walk, came across these interesting trees that we think are a type of olive.

I couldn't resist this picture

While in Ulcinj, we heard about a spectacular train trip into the north to a town called Kolasin. So, off we went with some bus transfers to Bar. We walked down the street to the Bar train station and bought afternoon tickets (5euros/person) on the train for the 4hr ride into the back country of Montenegro. Several minutes later, we discovered an earlier train leaving Bar for the capital city of Podgorica. So, rather than wait around for the later train, we bought tickets and head to Podgorica.

 Spent several hours in the downtown before boarding the 2 hour train ride to Kolasin. Once again, the scenery was spectacular, reaching heights of 1000 meters above the Tara Canyon (2nd in depth to the Grand Canyon) passing through many tunnels along the way with the longest one taking 6 minutes to pass through!

This bridge used to be one of the highest in the world!

Kolasin is a small mountainous town that is famous for its skiing and hiking. Unfortunately, again, the mountain weather was cold (14C high) and wet. 

After a $20euro night in a guesthouse, we treated ourselves to a wonderful spa resort called Bianca Resort and Spa.  Google it for more info.  What a treat to have a 25 metre pool to ourselves in low season, jacuzzi, sauna, turkish steam bath and massage. Who said independent, non-tour backpackers had to always end up in a hostel. So nice!!

We decided to return part way to the coast via the train and bussed from Podgorica, the current capital, and ended up in Cetinje. It  is the old 15th C royal capital of Montenegro nestled in the mountains about one hour inland from the Adriatic Sea. 

 Cetinje is a lovely little town of around 15 000 has a large pedestrian way filled with coffee shops and restored buildings.  Our walk took us to the monastery with its bell tower providing a view of the city and nearby meadows, church and historical buildings that have been repurposed.

We spent a half day with a car and driver and toured the Lovecan National Park, one of many national parks, visited a magnificent mountain top mausoleum built in the early 70's on the park's 2nd highest peak at 1650 m.

 Location of the mausoleum on top of that distant mountain!

                   465 step tunnel entrance to the mausoleum.

Feeling on top of the world

The mausoluem was built to hold Petrovic Njegos, a Montenegran ruler during the 1800's, as well as a poet and philosopher. The Njegos clan, (one of 9 tribes/clans in Montenegro) ruled the country for some period. 

Petrovic wanted to be buried on the mountain top, overlooking his village. After years of political indecision, wars etc, the mausoleum was built. 

Look closely...

Our guide, a local park ranger, showed us some of the many trails and lookouts. From the summit, you could see Croatia, Serbia, and Albania in the distance. On clear days, Italy is visible!

Even found some snow slowly melting at the top.

And, for road bikers, looking for more challenges,  the road from Kotor to the summit and mausoleum, then down to Cetinje, provides more than enough. There's over 25 hairpins on either side of the 1650m mountain. Along with well paved roads, and eye-popping scenery, this ride can be attacked from either side. It should be on your bucket list!

After the great morning  in Lovecan, we hopped onto a bus and headed out of Cetinje only to be delayed for 30 minutes by a traffic accident, along the narrow, twisty road. Surprised it hasn't happened sooner, given the way locals drive, traffic, size of vehicles etc.

Anyway, finally arrived back on the coast and have found the lovely, little beach town of Petrovac. Hemmed in by a backdrop of rugged mountains, the Adriatic laps gently on the gravelly beach. At the moment, this town has been spared the rampant development that seems to be everywhere on the Albanian/Montenegro coasts. 

The town is sprucing itself up, getting ready for the maddening hordes that will descend ( we are told) in mid-June.

We found a wonderful 4th floor apartment, overlooking the water and old town center. Only 40euros/night. No discos, yet!

And here, we found....almost paradise... in the form of La Punta.

This beach bar/restaurant, located on the eastern end of the bay on the point, is heaven. This tennis court size slab of concrete has it all. Quiet, beer, food and deep water to snorkel in.

We laze the afternoon away under the blazing sun, watching airplanes high in the Adriatic blue sky crisscrossing above clear, cool seas like slow moving, shooting stars.

Petrovac and the surrounding coves/beaches have great crystal clear, rock strewn waters. Great for swimming or snorkeling, but not a ton of fish.

Albania and Montenegro seem to be lacking a lot of folkloric music. Instead, we listen to a range of 60-80s light rock.....everything from Elvis to Elton John. There's even Canadian content as well, with Shania Twain, Bryan Adams and Celine Dion! Haha!

Over the next week, we will slowly head to Croatia. The border is only about 2 hours, but there are still many bays, beaches, towns and mountain villages we may yet visit. ...

Some more random shots...

Cheers from our part of the world to yours!!😀