Montenegro: My Place of Peace

Montenegro will forever hold a special place in my heart. ❤️

It was almost perfectly placed in the middle of my trip. My original plan was to continue through Macedonia into Kosovo and then enter Montenegro from the east side and make my way to the coast through the National Parks and mountains. Due to the rains in Macedonia and eventually Kosovo, I detoured to Albania and began my Montenegro experience on the coast. I wasn’t ready to leave Macedonia and was very sad that I had to leave due to rains. I could have spent ages in Lake Ohrid. I really loved it there.

That’s the thing about solo travel; it’s not always rainbows and unicorns. I wish it was but…it’s not. The best part of solo travel is making decisions and choices last minute and not having to worry about how it might affect someone else. Raining? Skip it. Sunny and beautiful? Stay longer. Meet cool people? Get to know them. Don’t like a place your staying? Change it.

The bad part of solo travel is having to make a decision. There are days I wish someone was with me to say “let’s go, let’s get out of here!” Or even “let’s stay here longer, this place is amazing!”. There are definitely times I doubt myself, sure I’ve made the wrong decision. Worried about if I’ll have enough time to see everything or too much time and wish I was home. That’s kinda the point though, I chose to put myself in this situation and it’s up to me and only me to be satisfied with my decision. Honestly, so far I’m pretty happy with the choices I’ve made.

Let’s get back to Montenegro, shall we? Have you heard of Montenegro but didn’t realize where it was until I mentioned it? Have you checked out Google Maps yet to see where all these places I’m going to are yet? If not, do it now!

I took a bus from Tirana, Albania across the border bound for Budva, Montenegro. I had seen lots of photos and heard from a few other friends and travelers that it was a good place to stop and worthy of checking out. The bus trip was incredible! As soon as we crossed the border into Montenegro the landscape immediately changed. What was very pretty and full of rolling hills and mountains in Albania all of a sudden took a turn and we first headed through lush vineyards and soon after, mountains! Not just rolling hills but jagged mountains, looking down over deep, green valleys and back up even higher mountains. The road was full of switchbacks (they call them serpentines here) and we climbed and climbed. Fortunately there were only a few of us on our bus and we must have looked like a ping ball machine going back and forth across the aisle to see more of the landscape. It’s times like that when I wish I was in a car and could stop for some photos or a quick hike (or glass of wine at a vineyard) rather than on a bus. We finally made it up and over the pass *Note: driving “laws” are different around here. Our bus driver, driving a stick-shift manual bus was holding onto his cell phone and talking the entire journey. Serpentines and all. It’s just the way it works around here.* and down to the coast. Seeing the mountains make their way down to the blue turquoise waters was truly breathtaking. We made our way past the overly priced Sveti Stefan (€1,000/night room anyone?) and finally into Budva. I booked a hostel in Old Town and made my way into the little maze to find my home.

Budva is an interesting place. I’d call it high end from a backpackers perspective. There were several large yachts in the marina from a variety of different countries, including the USA. I was hoping one was hiring but they all appeared vacant at the time. Long strips of white pebble beaches and gorgeous clear waters. The main promenade was full of restaurants offering menus in multiple languages, primarily Russian and English. I had read about Budva being a popular vacation destination for Russians but wasn’t expecting quite a large amount of them in late September.

I spent 2 nights enjoying the area before taking a day-long Bay cruise to Kotor. It would be a perfect way to see the coastline and take a break from bus travel. For only €12 I spent the next 8 hours enjoying the views of a truly gorgeous bay! One nice thing about traveling in off season is that prices tend to drop. Just last week and all summer the trip was €20. Might not seem like much if you’re traveling for a short period of time but when you’re traveling for newly 2 months, €8 can be used doing other things! The majority of our boat were Russians and the guide would go on and on in Russian and then say a few sentences in English. This was the first time English wasn’t treated equally on a tour and instead of complaining about it, I pulled out my Rick Steves guidebook and read about the places we were seeing. It was even better since it provided some cool history and other tidbits about the places we weren’t stopping at! The tour was carrying on back to Budva but I jumped ship (can’t say that too often!) and stayed put in Kotor.

I booked 3 nights through Airbnb in the area of Dobrota which is a 20 minute walk from Old Town Kotor and 100% worth staying in. I reserved a private room in a house on the Bay and could have asked for anything more perfect! The house was owned by a couple named Maria and Nenda (called Nasha). Maria’s great grandfather had the house built 130 years ago and it has been in the family ever since. It’s a big house with six bedrooms, 4 of which they began renting out just this year. My room overlooked the narrow Bay and mountains and the gardens below. It was perfect. My very own space! No snoring, no farting, no doors opening/closing, lights on and off, nothing. Just silence. It was PERFECT.

What was originally going to be just 3 nights easily turned into 5 nights. It felt as though I had come home. Maria (75) and Nenad (77) were like spending time with my family. That first night they showed me the beautiful terrace overlooking the Bay and we sat out drinking wine from Montenegro and talking about everything! Nenad was in the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow for volleyball representing Team Yugoslavia. He and Maria just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They are active skiers, hikers, boatsman and travelers. They spend their summers in Dobrota – where Maria swims 1-2 kilometers a day in the Bay – and have their full time home in Belgrade, Serbia. Together they physically built a beautiful ski cabin on the border of Kosovo (Maria was an architect for many years in Belgrade). They love spending their winters downhill skiing with their kids and grandchildren. Not only did they feel like family to me, they kindly treated me like their own family too. ❤️

I spent my days working through a stuffy nose and cold trying to combat it with exercise, sweat and fresh orange juice. One day I rode a bike to Perast and back which was lovely – until cars came speeding past. I think they spent so much time thinking I was crazy wearing a bike helmet, it became more of a hazard for both of us than a safety measure! And yesterday was the best part of my stay, I hiked up 33 serpentines to the top of the Old Road. The view from the top was absolutely stunning! I did end up taking a bit of a scenic route and was hoping the Big Guy upstairs was paying attention to my requests as I scrambled up loose skree to the top of the road. It was a fairly steep section but very clearly marked with the same markers I had been following all along. I checked my GPS at a junction and it showed I should continue straight, so I did. A little while later I checked it again – as I was praying I wouldn’t have to go down this bit and saw that the gps showed I was not on a trail but just in the middle of the mountain, somewhere. Fortunately not long later I heard a bus on the road and thought, ok, this MUST take me there, right? Fortunately it did.

After dining at small restaurant, having some tea and hot soup, I headed back down the trail with some new friends I made. It was much more enjoyable not only hiking with other people but staying on a relatively smooth trail where I didn’t have to pray for my life. The trail led down to the Old Town Fortress and I wandered through on my own to spend my last little while on the mountain appreciating the beauty I was surrounded by. When all was said and done I made it back to the house with 13.4 miles completed. I felt pretty good about that!

Kotor is a really special place and it’s location is very uniquely located far within the Bay. Long ago there used to regularly be large sea turtles that were frequently swimming around. Dolphins used to play in the calm waters and there were an abundance of fish in the area. Over the last 3-5 years cruise ships have been introduced to this quiet little Bay. Every year they become more and more frequent and start earlier and stay later. Some days there are only 2 of these monstrosities in the port where other days there are up to 4! Coming into the Old Town area which has a population of maybe 2,000, each one of these ships releases between 2,000-4,000 guests into town. People don’t wander the city because there isn’t much of a city. They stay within the Old Town walls and if they are physically able to, might walk the 1,000+ steps it takes to reach the fortress. Boats begin arriving at 6:30am and leave sometimes as late as 10pm. Some are sounding their horns upon arrival and departure and all are giving their announcements over loudspeakers. On my hike I heard one boats announcements all the way to the top! Being in an enclosed Bay, the mountains are like a giant amphitheater! The noise is SO LOUD and the boats are SO BIG!!! There is no possible way to avoid being smothered by the boats and visual destruction they incur in an area like Kotor. It’s very sad. As much as the country and city love the influx of Euros, the community is feeling the weight and destruction of the Bay waters, landscape, marine life and community. Rarely do they see turtles or dolphins anymore. Sunday nights are disturbed by sounding of horns at 10pm as children are trying to sleep for school the next morning and dogs are barking and babies are crying. So long are the days of true peace and quiet in Kotor Bay, the times have changed. And unless Montenegro chooses to look at the longevity of tourism and how it’s affecting their communities, it will continue to be overrun and over polluted.

I do hope for their sake they realize how precious this area is and how important it is to preserve their natural resources. It’s a magical place and I encourage people to come see it! Spend your money on souvenirs, invest in the local communities and stay in a local hotel or guesthouse, eat their wonderful food and drink their tasty wines! It’s absolutely worth the visit!!

My personal piece of advice; don’t do it on a cruise ship.