Kotor & Budva, Montenegro - 23 July 2007

I joined a small (and cheaper than usual) tour to visit Montenegro while I was in Dubrovnik and got my money's worth - it's not what you think as the lesson there was clearly "you got what you paid for". There were about 10-11 of us on the tour but guess what our ride was? A mini van. It was a good thing that the driver picked me up last which meant that I got the first seat next to the sliding door. I felt sorry for the people who had to sit in the back row as it did not seem very spacious back there.

On the 1-hr drive south to Montenegro, we realized that the van's air-conditioning system was down. The fanning system worked but it was circulating HOT air only. The van's windows could not even be wound down and there were only a few small gaps that allowed some outside air to flow in on each side of the van. It was torturous inside the 40+ degree celsius van. I tried to calm myself down and to stay cool by not moving much from my seat, and by focusing my thoughts outside. Still, I literally saw sweat droplets forming from the top of my hands and arms and my face was dripping wet with perspiration. I was essentially in a moving sauna - it was SO bad that it became a funny situation for me. The guide, Vladimir, might be multi-lingual but he was bad at his job. He was disorganized and impersonable. All in, we had a recipe for a distressing tour.

Montenegro was unique. Newly independent from Serbia in 2006, Montenegro's main attractions were mostly populated on the Adriatic coast where luxury resort hotels and condominiums were developed, typically in Budva. Seafarers would also fancy a sail on the beautiful Bay of Kotor. The old town of Kotor was interesting with historic architecture and culture that were unique to the major Balkan ethnicities of Montenegrin, Albanians, Muslims, Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks. A great number of Russians holiday in Montenegro as well and many of them have been investing in coastal properties there with their new-found 'commodity-based' wealth. Can Montenegrins completely shake off their communist past? Only time will tell.

Bay of Kotor Pictures:

Above: Our Lady of the Rocks - a man-made island




Above right: Vladimir

Kotor Pictures:

Above: Kotor Old Town

Budva Pictures:

Above right: Budva Old Town