Down to Montenegro (Dubrovnik log 4)

Our schedule is one day trip, one day local sights; Monday was trip day, and the designated trip was a run down the Adriatic coast to the neighbouring country of Montenegro. We met the tour bus in exactly the right place and to our surprise and joy had the same guide as before (Ivanka). After driving up and down Dubrovnik in order to pick up fellow travelers, we hit the south road towards Montenegro. First stop was the seaside town of Cavtat, which I had been considering visiting - although I don't think that we'll bother now - in order to pick up a few more travelers. This road passes the airport so it was interesting to compare what we saw when arriving a few days ago to what our more experienced eyes see now.

Although there is only a single border crossing between Croatia and Montenegro, there are in fact two border stations: one on the Croatian side, where they are very particular and stamp one's passport, and one of the Montenegrin side where they don't seem too bothered about who arrives. The coastal road was very attractive with mountains on one side and the sea on the other. Our guide tells us that the Boka bay is one of the top 25 bays in the world and I can well believe this. 

After driving around the coast and learning about Montenegro, we stopped at the town of Kotor which has an exquisite walled old city, which I am not surprised to learn is under UNESCO protection. We had a local guide who showed us part of the old city and then we had some free time to wander around by ourselves. The only problem with such free time is either that's it's not enough or it's too much. Here, it was not enough. Unfortunately, one gentleman in the tour misheard the time by which we had to be back on the bus and took for himself more free time than was allocated. As a result, we had to leave Kotor without him, and frantic phone calls enlisted a few guides to look for him (he was eventually found and placed in a taxi which would meet us at our next port of call).

After Kotor, we continued around the bay until we came to the resort town of Budva. This, we are told, is the centre of Montenegrin tourist trade and is known for its sandy beaches, diverse nightlife, and beautiful examples of Mediterranean architecture. One of the hotels was used as a location for the Daniel Craig version of the James Bond film "Casino Royale", which allows the hotel to raise its prices without offering any extra amenities. We had a lovely lunch (fillets of sea bass supposedly grilled, but I think that they were fried) but apart from that, I wasn't too thrilled about Budva.

Coming back was almost the same way as arriving, but instead of driving all the way around the bay, we took a ferry which travels across the bay at its narrowest point: five minutes of sea travel instead of forty minutes of driving. Then back on to the main road and up to Dubrovnik, passing the border crossings again and earning a further stamp.

I much preferred this trip to our previous trip to Mostar and can heartily recommend it to everyone. The scenery is breath-taking.