Montenegro is a small country on the Adriatic Coast, nestled between Croatia and Albania, and it is where we explored over the past two weeks. It is well and truly summer now, and it was time for our summer roadie.
Podgorica, our first stop, is admittedly not the jewel in Montenegro’s crown. Podgorica suffered heavy bombing during the second world war, and therefore has a reputation for being a bit plain when compared to her coastal cities and mountainous towns. However, as the capital, it has great amenities, including plenty of rental car companies. We picked up our rental car, ready to head out and explore more of the Montenegrin countryside.
When I said Montenegro was small, I wasn’t kidding. Montenegro could fit in your pocket. It is one of the few places where we could start our day by driving in the completely opposite direction to where we wanted to end up, and then still end up on the other side of the country by that evening. So, that’s what we did.
We spent the first half of the day exploring Lake Skadar. Life in a rental car is pretty cruisy (especially for me, as the designated passenger princess, who did not have to drive on the other side of the road or learn the unspoken road rules of another country…) We could stop anywhere we wanted to admire the views. This proved slightly excessive, as there were views every few hundred metres. After a particularly windy gravel road, we found ourselves in a cosy lakeside town. We’d seen some people kayaking, so after enquiring with the first person we could find, we were loaded into a boat, and cruised our way over to a cafe on stilts over the water.
After our leisurely morning, we turned around and drove back to Podgorica, before heading in the direction of Durmitor National Park. Durmitor was a late addition to this trip, but boy are we glad we added it. We stayed in a cottage just out of the town of Zabljak.
During our first day, we decided to tackle the Durmitor ring road. Predominantly the width of one car, with plenty of steep cliffside drop-offs, I was extra glad that Jerry was in the driver’s seat. Thankfully, the views were so jaw-dropping, I forgot to look at the cliffs. It was the most scenic drive we have ever done, with an incredible mix of pine forests, steep ravines, alpine fields filled with wildflowers, and mountains with the faintest dusting of snow left on their peaks.
I learnt a rather persistent lesson during the first few stops on the ring road. Apparently, summer travel in the countryside comes with a new addition…or should I say 1000 little additions. Flies. We didn’t notice many flies when we were in Theth, so perhaps the extra couple of degrees had allowed these critters to flourish. We quickly learnt our strategy. The flies loved the car; they were like moths to a flame. So, to avoid the flies, you just had to get out really fast, and sprint away from the car, hoping the flies didn’t follow you. This worked about 70% of the time. Other times, it was a scene from FLY-MAGEDDON: REVENGE OF THE FLIES, and I’d watch Jerry get followed by an ominous dark cloud of flies as he ran into the distance. Thankfully, the flies preferred the first half of the ring, so for the second half, we weren't dodging flies; we were just dodging other cars on the (approximately) 1000 switchbacks.
We spent our second Durmitor day relaxing at the Black Lake, swimming and people watching. The Black Lake looked like the setting for a particularly heartwarming Hallmark movie - you know, the ones where the city man/woman falls in love with the small town life, saves the ranch, or learns the real meaning of Christmas. As the sun dipped lower into the sky, we decided we too could live our Hallmark movie life, so we hired a rowboat, so Jerry could paddle me around. Hey, I didn’t choose this passenger princess life, it was dictated to me by the man who rented out the boats. I will admit, I was quite stoked when he directed me to sit in the passenger seat and then literally leant me back to relax, and told Jerry in no uncertain terms that it was his job to row me around the lake.
As we wandered our way back to the car at the end of the day, we joked around about how the forests looked like they could be home for bears, and I hummed ‘teddy bear’s picnic’ for the next ten minutes. It wasn’t until we reached the entrance that we saw the wildlife warning sign for…you guessed it. Bears. Oh well, we didn’t see any.
It seems I was living a life of too much indulgence, so of course it was time to throw in another hike. This time, we were hiking our way up Mount Prutas. Despite it being a rather gusty day, we were in great spirits. It’s hard not to be, when the scenery looks like this.
Plus, the gusts had a bonus - we didn’t see a single fly!
We didn’t quite make it to the end of our hike, as the gusts on the ridge line created an impassable wind tunnel. We gave it a shot, but soon turned back. Over the next twenty minutes, we ate our lunches and watched five other groups attempt the same. Everyone turned back, eventually defeated by the wind. One man’s sunglasses blew away down the mountainside, as payment for attempting to beat Mother Nature. After lunch, we were pretty sure that the wind wasn’t dying down anytime soon, and we were feeling pretty content with the views we’d seen regardless. So, it was off back down the mountainside for an ice cream.
All good things come to an end eventually, so it was time to give up our luxurious car-based lifestyle, and hop back on a bus to Kotor. This was our first bus in a while that had actual seatbelts, so I guess we’ve kept some luxury amenities…
We arrived in Kotor in the early evening, to be greeted by our accommodation host at the bus stop. I want it on record that Montenegro has had the friendliest, kindest Airbnb hosts of our whole year. We’ve had welcome drinks, nutella and jam crepes, bus station pick ups, and both hosts offered to do our laundry. I can’t count how many times we’ve been asked if there is anything else that could make our stay more comfortable.
After settling into our accommodation, we wandered down to the water to watch the sunset. Jerry prides himself on not being wooed by advertising, but as we watched the sun set, he noticed a boat bobbing on the pier. Unbeknownst to me, Jerry then arranged for a private boat tour around the bay of Kotor, because he has recently fallen in love with direct messaging strangers on Whatsapp (the owner’s number was on the side of the boat).
We had a glorious day out on the water, visiting Perast, the Lady of the Rocks, and jumping off the boat for a swim. Over the past few weeks, it has been a joy witnessing Jerry discover his love of the water. For some context, Jerry grew up in Manila, and did not have a lot of water-based experiences early on, which meant he is not the most confident of swimmers. This, coupled with his eczema, means water has not been an appealing prospect for him, for most of our relationship. Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen him spend more and more time swimming, practising floating, and building his confidence in open water. At this stage, I’m having to drag him out of the water at the end of each day, when the desire for dinner finally wins out.
Our boat driver, Vale, was so lovely. We shared grappa shots (I had to quickly shoot back Jerry’s when Vale wasn’t looking, since the concept of not drinking was not a familiar concept for him…), fresh fruit from his family orchard, and we all participated in a rescue mission for a couple of women who had rented a boat, and jumped off the side, only to realise they couldn’t climb back on. Vale sent them on their way with some fresh fruit and fatherly advice about water safety.
As we made our way back into Kotor, Jerry and I sat on the front of the boat again, dipping our feet in the water and admiring the views of the bay. Jerry turned to me, and mentioned that if we weren’t already married, this might be the moment he would propose. It was very romantic, until we collapsed into fits of laughter as we realised with almost certainty that we would have lost the ring over the side of the boat. We then reflected on how many different moments we have had where Jerry might have proposed (were we not already married). Just so you know Jerry, the answer would always be yes.
Jerry seems very confident of the strength of our marriage, since he woke me up early the day before to hike the Ladder of Kotor, and into the fortress high above the old town.
Once again, exceptional views, but the heatwave was well and truly upon us at this point, so I looked like this for a lot of the way… I think I might need a break from hiking for a bit.
We’re now in Croatia. I’m a bit behind on writing, since I attempted to write in Dubrovnik, but could barely think straight thanks to the oppressive heat, coupled with us accidentally booking a place with no air con…Now we have an air-conditioned apartment, I’m back on my writing streak, so you’ll hear from me again soon!
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