Day 11
11 June 2012
Weather: See Day 8 (somewhere in the middle)
T-shirt count: 2
Cat count: 10+
I woke to a stiff but movable neck. The cats had been in and
had towels on the bathroom floor for me. They did my laundry too. Not sure what
I’ll do about the hair clog in the sink.
I ran into a tour mate and asked if they had any aspirin. I
usually take Advil (ibuprofen) but aspirin is a better anti-inflammatory. She
gave me six which should do me the day. When I went down to breakfast, I told Gasper that I had slipped in the bathroom.
He looked at me with wide eyes and apparently thought I said
that I had slept in the bathroom.
Nope. Not last night. The cats slept there.
Breakfast was good again with a healthy dose of Twinings
English breakfast to get me going. Those going on the optional for Montenegro
are aboard by 9 am. One woman is staying behind to go to massage and the spa.
My neck wants to stay with her, but the cats have already
booked the other 315 spots for the day.
So, off to Montenegro I go.
We drive south and pass the Dubrovnik airport about a half
hour from the old city. The planes land right over the highway. Soon after the
airport we turn right off the highway onto what appears to be a smaller road
and we’re all curious. Gasper tells us that there is road construction on the
main road and that there are a lot of lights that take a long time so we’re
taking a shortcut.
All seems well until we stop next to a man on the road and
ask for directions.
Heh.
All seems well again as we take another right and a few kilometres
later the bus comes to a screeching halt. I’m in the very back seat (great pic
opportunities out the huge back window) so it takes a while for information to
filter my way. Apparently there’s a sign that says buses are not allowed on the
road.
So, they ask a farmer on the road about it and it’s a new sign, so the
bus gets to use his tiny driveway to turn around. We get back to the main
highway a few kilometres down the road and by then we only have to go through
one traffic light. Apparently, we learn later that other buses that had left
Dubrovnik before us go to the border crossing after us, so our short cut worked
despite the detours.
Oh, speaking of back seat, I forgot to mention that this new
bus doesn’t have a middle back seat. It’s like they’ve learned a bit about what
we like on the bus like no middle back seat and no curtains (has a pull down
instead) and handles on the seats so that we don’t kill ourselves walking along
the aisle. And a net in the seat in front of you instead of the cloth pocket
which won’t hold a bottle. It has nice trays too.
The total time to the border is about an hour. Gasper says
how long we spend there depends on the number of buses. It can take them 10 to
15 minutes per bus to get through.
But there are no buses at the Croatian crossing!
We wait a few minutes and a pretty handsome border office
comes aboard and stamps our passports.
Yup. He can stamp my passport any day.
Then we drive two kilometres to the Montenegrin border
through No Man’s Land. The Croats are not on good terms with the Montenegrins
(which is why Gasper thinks they waited until May to work on the road to
Montenegro. The more time the buses wait there, the less time they are in
Montenegro.)
There are no buses at the Montenegro crossing and we pass
through in about 15 minutes. Gasper said the border guard liked his watch so he
said we could go on.
Border security. Gotta love it.
And Gasper managed to hold on to his watch.
We stop at a gas station on the far side. There’s an ATM
there to get Euros – which reminds me, if you plan on doing this optional, hold
on to a few Euros to spend there. I got a 50 Euro bill out of the ATM and the
gas station didn’t want to change it. Just to check, I try my debit card and
voila! It worked.
I’m wondering if Canadian banks don’t have a Kuna
connection. It’s the one currency I could not get in Canada and the only
country where my debit card hasn’t worked. Maybe they’re not on speaking terms.
Obviously, Visa is.
There was a rare sight at this gas station too. A line-up at the men's room.
We meet our guide at the station and we start driving towards
the only fiord in the Mediterranean. Someone has put out a list of the 25 most
beautiful fiords and it’s on it. Unlike the fiords in Scandinavia which were
formed by glaciation, this one was formed by tectonics. On the map, it looks
like the letter T and on the way south, we’ll drive the whole fiord. On the way
back, we will take a 5 minute ferry that crosses at the bay at the bottom
portion of the T.
There’s a light cloud hanging on top of the mountains and
the rest is blue sky. What a great day to see the country. Not hard to see why it made that list.
Montenegro stands for Black Mountain (which is like an
“ahha” moment – you don’t realize it till they mention it). The country uses
the Euro but is not a member of the EU. It was using the German Mark after the
Yugoslavian Dinar shrank from high inflation but when Germany switched to the
Euro, Montenegro decided to adopt the Euro as well. They have to get their Euro
from Germany. They’re not allowed to print their own.
The country is about the size of Connecticut and has about
630,000 people. The area just over the mountains is the rainiest in Europe and
the coast area benefits from the runoff. It also makes the bay less salty.
We stop for a photo and can see two islands. One is real and
the other artificial. It was built apparently to preserve a religious icon of
some sort. The real one has a church and cemetery. The scenery of the fiord is
beautiful!
We arrive in Kotor and head for the old town. And in this
part of the world “old town” means only one thing….a walled city!! An
unexpected surprise.
My like the 315 hungry cats at 3 am.
We walk inside and the guide shows us four or five town
squares like the Square of the Arms, Square of Sailors etc.
You get the drift.
It’s like a small version of Dubrovnik but the walls climb
to the mountain behind it. We won’t be climbing it today. But we can walk along
the part that goes along the canal.
On the tour, the guide shows us a 17th Century
fountain that was the only source of potable water in the city. It was a place
where the women used to gather and gossip. The name is not Montenegrin but
Venetian and apparently translates to “Old and Ugly Women.”
Gasper lets us loose on the city for 45 minutes. That’s
enough time to grab a pastry for lunch and do a little shopping. I go up to the
wall after my 30th visit to the bathroom this morning. I walked the
length of the canal and came down into a small square in the corner. There are
four cats sunning themselves there.
I dub it the Square of the Cats.
I learn later that there was a Cat Store there that I
missed. But I do get fridge magnets and a couple t-shirts. And my cat figurine
for Montenegro.
I have like 10 Euro left.
We leave Kotor by 2 pm and drive across a plain to the
Adriatic and along the coast to Stevi Stephan. It’s a small island connected by
a short causeway. It’s a hotel now.
It’s the hotel we’re *not* staying at.
LOL
Cheapest room (which is probably the former dungeon complete
with rack and chains) is 700 Euro.
We take about 30 gigs worth of photos and then head to Budva
and its old town.
Guess what it is?
It’s smaller than Kotor and the guide only takes 15 minutes
to show us around. The city was founded by the Greeks and the walled city was
built by the Venetians.
I’m really interested in the washroom right about now.
I have 6 litres left to get rid of.
After I make a deposit for the low price of 50 cents, I find
an ATM to get 70 Euro, but I only spend about 10. I spend the rest of the time
looking for cats to photograph. No shortage there.
I’ll have fun showing off the pictures to the cats.
We leave Budva and head for the border at 4:45. We get to
cross the bay on the ferry. It’s so short, I don’t recommend you use the WC on
the ferry. You won’t finish before you hear the bus start up and start to drive
away.
Just to make it clear. That wasn’t me. That was the version
from the man who did try the WC. He said it was an experience.
We get to the Montenegrin border by 6 and make a record
breaking passage through the border. Gasper got aboard with his watch still on
his wrist.
We get to the Croatian border and there’s three buses in
front of us.
You do the math.
When the car lane runs out of cars, they let us use that
lane. I guess they like Gasper’s watch too. We didn’t get a stamp though.
This time, we know which back roads to take back so that we
only have to go through one set of construction lights. We zip through the back
roads and enter Dubrovnik around 7:30. Then Gasper’s phone rings. The woman who
spent the day in the spa texted Gasper and was wondering where her husband was.
We wanted to tell her that we left him on the ferry in the
WC.
As I noted, I almost didn’t take this optional in order to
have more time in Dubrovnik but I am very happy that I did take it. Not only
because I enjoyed a day in an air conditioned coach, but the fiord and the two
old towns were well worth the visit. Unless you really want a day at the hotel
or really want a second day re-walking the same streets of Dubrovnik (or if the
weather is crappy on the Dubrovnik visit and good on the second day), then I
highly recommend this optional.
I mean, there are so many cats down there. Go see them!
But don’t tell my cats that. I need them to drive north
tomorrow. Not south.
