(Kotor, Montenegro)
I’m not literally off the radar, as this place is quite wired. But I think it is safe to say that I am off the Canadian tourist radar. Part of that is probably because Montenegro has only been independent since 2006. It also wasn’t in the headlines as much as Dubrovnik or Bosnia & Herzegovina during the war years, nor is it a very large country (in either size or population). What it lacks in size and profile, however, it makes up for in natural beauty and history.
My base for the next few days is the town of Kotor. It is almost as disorienting as Venice, although thankfully it is not as large and you can try to get some guidance from the surrounding mountains to help orient yourself. Those mountains are ridiculously steep and rise out of the bay like shark fins. While not technically a fjord, it looks and feels like one.
Like Dubrovnik, the old town it is also surrounded by a wall. But, as a bonus, the wall also goes up the mountain to the Fortress of St. John which looms high above the town. You can climb all 1500 steps – I suppose this is what the Great Wall of China would be like if it were built on the Norwegian coast. It took a millennium to build, although work was often suspended for long periods of time. I managed to climb it today, despite the misty and occasionally rainy weather.
A personal injury lawyer might describe the walls above Kotor as “a lawsuit waiting to happen”. All sorts of hazards and dangers lurk in the crumbling walls and buildings. But what a thrill to climb it! The views over Kotor, the fjord and the mountains are fabulous as well. The photo at the top is from about halfway up the wall – the old town of Kotor is on the left.
I also visited the nearby village of Perast today. There are only 300 people living here now, but 16 churches and 17 palaces still remain. It looks Venetian (minus the canals) and is good for wandering. There are also a couple of small islands nearby that you can visit. I took a boat to “Our Lady of the Rocks Island”, which is built on an island created by dumping rocks, shipwrecks, etc., where a picture of Mary was found hundreds of years ago.
As for being off the radar, I wonder if one reason might be the brutal border crossing on the main road between Croatia and Montenegro. It took the bus 90 minutes to get through yesterday, as all passports needed to be checked at two separate places. Montenegro wants to join the EU (Croatia is already a member) so hopefully this notoriously bad crossing becomes obsolete.
My accommodations are once again different. I had reserved a place at the Kotor Old Town Hostel; a highly-regarded hostel housed in a 13th century palace. However, I was “upgraded” to a private room with private bathroom in a nearby building (also called a “palazzo”) in the Old Town. I’m still affiliated with the hostel (they served a free dinner last night for all guests) and I will be joining one of their tours tomorrow to see the even-more-rugged mountains of northern Montenegro. After fairly solitary accommodation up to this point, it’s been good to meet more fellow travellers. A fellow from England joined me on the wall climb and the trip to Perast today. I’m not sure who will all be on the tour tomorrow but it promises to be a multicultural assortment of mountain-seeking people.
