I flew from Belgrade to Tivat, a quick 50 min flight, but it felt long as we had turbulent air for the whole trip. I wondered why the pilot didn’t change altitude to escape it, but as we went below the clouds to land, I realized that we had been going over mountains that were just below the cloud level much of the way. That would explain why he didn’t fly lower! My seat mate was this Orthodox priest who crossed himself and said his rosary/worry beads whenever we met a particularly strong air pocket, so I felt I was in good hands (though his body odor was less comforting).
I picked up my rental car and smoothly drove the short distance to Kotor until I reached Kotor when we got bogged down in a traffic jam. Even at low season, a small town like this is challenged to handle up to three cruise ships and all the resultant foot traffic, as well as all the other tourists that a stunning place like this attracts.
And it is truly stunning! The butterfly-shaped bay is surrounded by granite cliffs (up to 1000m) and the deep waters (as deep as 60 m) are crystal clear. Although fjords look similar, they are formed by glaciers, while this valley was formed by a river system and then “drowned”. My AirBNB was on the opposite side of the bay from Kotor town and had this beautiful view.
Although we are looking directly at the old town of Kotor, it is dwarfed by the newer construction all around it and is completely invisible. The building code must limit the heights of construction as nothing was over three stories and there were no large developments that spoiled the view.
In Montenegro you need to pay a tourist tax for every night you stay. This is not unusual and is a minimal amount, but in Kotor, they require you to show up in person in the old town with your passport, the name of your host and pay in cash. None of this was easy and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Why not deal with this within the hotel booking process they way they did in most of the other places I visited?
The old town is a walled city that has been there for 2000 years. It is full of beautiful stone houses facing each other on narrow streets, lots of small churches and tons of restaurants and shops to appeal to tourists.
It is also a world class attraction (hence the cruise ships) and can get very crowded. I strolled happily through it late in the afternoon and had a decent meal. I heard children’s voices singing and popped into a service in a tiny church. There are lots of stray cats, but clearly this is a signature element of the town as there are lots of cat themed things for sale
and the cats are taken care of. I saw little cat houses and lots of food bowls around. This cat at the top of a bush made me laugh, but he confidently made his way back down.
I did not climb the ladder of Kotor, a trail that goes up the hill above the old town as it is 5kms and rises over 500m, through 72 switchback turns! For the intrepid, there is the reward of a church and a castle as well as stunning views. I was happy to content myself with the great view I could get from somewhere I could drive to.
I could have done more, but the view from my balcony was so perfect, I just spent the next day on the terrace reading and catching up on my correspondence.
I headed from Kotor to the Dalmatian coast on a scenic route that skirted the whole Bay of Kotor. The drive was only supposed to take a couple hours, but I made it a leisurely trip, stopping to take photos and read on park benches. Really lovely!
In the town of Risan,I saw a sign for “Roman Mosaics”. I stopped to see, wondering, “Is there anywhere the Romans didn’t get to?”. The museum was the site of a seven room home from the Second Century AD. Apparently Rian had first been settled by the Illyrians, an Indo-European speaking people in the third century BC, but it was under Roman occupation from the 2nd-5th Century BC. The mosaics were in black and white and mostly patterns rather than representations. They were in pretty good shape and left me with the grudging admiration for the Romans who seemed to find all the best spots!
Once I left the Bay, it wasn’t far to the Croatian/Montenegro border. It took about 15 mins to get out of Montenegro and then another 45 mins. to get through the line into Croatia. Luckily I had paid the extra 45 euros fee that allowed me to cross borders with the rental car, so there were no problems. By the time I made it through I was hungry and needed to pee. The area is mountainous and there weren’t many options, but finally I found a road that indicated it led to restaurants. I drove about 10 mins, increasingly unsure that I was doing the right thing, until I came upon a great restaurant: Konavoski Dvori, housed in an old mill, next to the beautiful Ljuta River.
I had the best meal I’d eaten so far on the trip and started to understand why people talk about Croatia as a fabulous destination.
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