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Limerence Update #69August 2005Montenegro
The federation of Montenegro-Serbia was established in the late 1990's and affords each country a great deal of autonomy. During the elections in 2002 the ruling party gained an absolute majority resulting in a declared objective for Montenegro to become a modern European country in the near future. We found a distinct difference in the people as compared to Croatia. The language is Serbian with fewer people speaking English. Many of the foods are similar to Croatia, but with somewhat more variety. We checked into the country in Zelenika ($95E including a courtesy flag) and proceeded to the city docks in Herceg-Novi a few miles away at the mouth of the Boka Kotorska.. That's where we hired the mechanics who drained our fuel and cleaned the tanks once again. We were fortunate to find two talented mechanics who happened to speak a bit of English.
Herceg-Novi was packed with Eastern European tourists lounging on the stone beaches, rocks, and concrete sun piers. We rode our bikes for miles along the waterfront passing hundreds of souvenir shops, fast food stands with charcoal fires smoking, bars and cafes. We looked amusing on our demure fold-up Brompton bikes with small tires picking our way through the throng of strolling beach goers. People often giggled and pointed at us! When we stopped for a coke, people were intrigued as we folded up the bikes into a small package. Montenegro uses the Euro and we needed to get to an ATM machine. They are located in Herceg outside of banks in "Centro". The central part of the city is straight up hill about 150 steps. The climb is a heart pounding experience. There are restaurants and drink stands along the way to break the tension as you climb climb climb. We found Herceg enjoyable, but were ready to move on. The reason we wanted to visit Montenegro was to see the fjord of Kotorska and the famous walled city of Kotor.
While in Kotor, my concern was getting a haircut, provisioning the boat with fresh vegetables, getting our laundry done, and sight seeing in the beautiful town. Doug's major interest was climbing to the top of the mountain fort. We thought about this goal for two days as we gazed up at the San Giovanni Fort during cocktail hour. The vision of this challenge tormented Doug and he longed to do it. It's over 2,000 steps to the top, and most people who attempt it, quit at the chapel halfway up. Doug was determined to achieve the summit. Carrying water, camera, and a walking stick, Doug made it all the way to the top and back down in three hours!! A feat to be proud of! He said the view of the Adriatic Sea was worth the climb.
While in Kotor, I (Judy) got a haircut from the grumpiest stylist ever. What an interesting experience! Wandering through the cobblestone streets I found the open door of a salon filled with people, and disco music blasting. When I stepped inside I asked if I could have a haircut? Four salon chairs were filled with draped customers in all stages of primping while the attendants looked dour and didn't speak. The male owner of the shop turned from his customer to me with scissors in hand and shouted "WHAT? Not now. . . too busy!" I asked for an appointment and he informed me that he is completely booked until next week. I must have looked disappointed because he said if I waited he would work me in. As I sat in the crowded salon with music blaring, I noticed that it was designed to look like the inside of an old passenger airplane. Each salon station had an airplane door on the ceiling above the mirror and inflatable life vests hung from hooks.. None of the stylists chatted freely and it soon became clear that nothing in the shop happened unless the owner deemed it could. He chain-smoked cigarettes, and occasionally growled a command to his underlings who would jump to obey. He had a young male assistant in training, who carefully arranged and rearranged the nine combs the stylist had on the counter. After thirty minutes, I was called to the chair after an assistant washed and combed my hair in preparation for the master. Now, I will admit to you, he was not the friendliest person who has ever tended to my hair, but I got a wonderful haircut for $12 Euros. When I told him I was thrilled with my cut, he finally smiled and said "but of course".
Our next destination was out of the fjord and back into the Adriatic, and south to the busy holiday town of Budva Montenegro. We tied up to the city dock - no water or power. When you moor Med-style, you are handed a thin tether line from the dock which is attached to a heavy rope that is secured to a concrete mooring laid on the bottom of the sea. You pull on the thin line until the heavy loop appears, and then attach it to your boat. Since we go bow-in, we put the rope on one of our rear cleats, and then tie the bow off to the dock. We climb over the anchor to get to the dock, or rig up our passarelle boarding ladder if we are staying awhile. Throughout Europe we have used 3G-GPRS Vodafone in our computer with access to the internet. It's made it so convenient to email family and friends from our own boat. In Montenegro, there is no GPRS, so we had to go to an internet cafe to check our mail and the weather. Doug sat at a computer in a tent internet on the beach, with a bunch of shrieking boys playing video games.
We enjoyed a couple of days watching all the activity in the harbor. We've never seen a place with so many choices of things to do. There was the beach, the walled city, the beach town with hundreds of souvenir shops and food stands, a dolphin and seal show in the swimming pool, paragliding off the mountain, or paragliding behind a power boat, bungy jumping, internet game rooms, and our favorite. . . flying dinghy rides!! We heard the loud roar of an engine and suddenly a dinghy with a large red wing came rushing by our boat as it gained speed and took off into the air!! An ultralight flying machine with a dinghy as the base! It added a surrealistic touch to the whole place. A real surprise to us was that there wasn't a disco facing the harbor, so we could sleep at night in peace in the midst of this fantasyland. We must mention that we ate at the restaurant on the beach called "Jadran"s". We read in our SSCA -Seven Seas Cruising Association bulletin about a generous and friendly host named Krsto. Indeed, the elegant meal was the best we have eaten in Croatia or Montenegro. We enjoyed a platter of local seafood that was as beautiful as it was delicious. If you stop in Budva, don't miss Jadrans.
Our final stop in Montenegro was the forgettable town of Bar. It is a bleak industrial town in a magnificent mountain setting. It is the southern check-in and out point in Montenegro. It has typical pebble beaches and outdoor fast food cafes that grill your food as you watch. A few more bike rides, a visit to the internet cafe, and a couple of dinners and then we were ready to move on to Albania. Fair winds friends, Doug and Judy
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In mid-August we checked out of Croatia by
going into the Port of Gruz and tying once again to the large concrete dock with black
tire fenders in front of the Customs Building. The check out was routine, and soon we were
on our way bashing south with a light wind on the nose and confused seas. We expected the
seas to settle down once we were off shore, but they continued to build throughout the
day. Within several hours our speed dropped to about 4 knots and we endured an
uncomfortable eight hour ride to Montenegro. Our engine continued to act up causing us to
feel more tension as our speed slowed. We later found that we had water in the fuel for
the second time, which we told you about in our last update.
We motored for two hours through the rugged
fjord of the Balkan Peninsula called the Boka Kotorska. The stunning mountains are steep
and faintly purple. We started in calm weather, but experienced some gusty winds left over
from a strong thunder storm that morning. We were headed to the end of the fjord, to the
city of Kotor which is a World Heritage Site. It is a beautiful town of Venetian origin at
the foot of Mount Lovcen. As we approached, the San Giovanni fortress was shocking in
appearance! The medieval town of Kotor at sea level is completely surrounded with town
ramparts, rising from the sea and stretching to the fortress. Two thousand steps wind and
twist up the mountain to the top. It appeared like pictures we have seen of the Great Wall
of China. Because of its location on top of the steep cliffs, the fort has never been
captured. The Turks were especially interested in this place because if they conquered it,
it would remove the Venetian political structure there and give them rule over all of
Kotorska Bay. The most dangerous siege was in 1657. An army of 5,000 Turks and artillery
positioned themselves on the surrounding hilltops. The attackers were confronted by the
military crew of the town plus 1,000 soldiers. The Turkish artillery was imprecise, and
they had to withdraw after two months.
