Croatia & Montenegro (& Bosnia)

Slobodan Milosevic and his atrocities in the former Yugoslavia is so 1990s, and these days the region is pretty peaceful and enjoying a resurgence of the tourist population. Although it has now been a week since Montenegro has voted to split from Serbia - but it all seems pretty amicable so far.

Anyway, our trip started the usual way - Justin suggesting a random place and us following along. We got cheap flights early in the morning on 24th May into Split - about halfway up the coast along Croatia. Craig was wearing his Canada sweatshirt, and it was funny how many Canadians we came across on the way - 2 at 3am in the morning on the street who we ended up sharing a cab with, and some more in Croatia.

The trip was relatively uneventful - we needed to get down to Dubrovnik straight away - although this was a 5 hour bus trip away. Justin, who had gone the day before, had suggested we take the back seats so we could stretch out. However, Craig got a bit bus sick - so I guess in the future, we should think about going on those seats near the bus driver.

We stopped in Bosnia on the way - they have all of about 5 km of coastline - lucky them! It was here that we decided on the rules for collecting flag pins (I am collecting one for each country we go in). So the rules are, you have to be out of the airport, and contribute to the economy. So a half melted ice-cream counts then. BTW, does anyone know where I can get a pin for Tahiti?



(me getting a pin in a tourist shop).











We met Justin in Dubrovnik - a lovely typical 7th Century fortified town in the bottom of the Croatian coast. This was a city that was caught up in the conflict in the early 1991-1992, and did not have electricity or water for a couple of years. But the locals fought hard and managed to retain it. It is interesting that along the coast, you can see the odd reminders, such a bullet pocked signs, that there was war here not so long ago.




It was here that we remembered about European breakfasts - there is none. I think they survive on coffee - and if you are lucky some meats, cheeses and breads. So we are trying to convince Sam to immigrate there and start a restaurant that sells actual breakfast. There could be worse places to do this Sam??

We did a small obligatory tour of the town by climbing up on the walls and circling the perimeter. Even at the beginning of Summer, it was like 27 degrees, and were sweltering by the end of it. It was just as well that the Croatians make good gelati, (a by-product of being so close to Italy I suspect). There is also good, clean, warm beaches to be had. Although the beaches are pebbly, this means that the water is crystal clear.

After our swim, we hired a car and headed down the coast to Montenegro. It was Justin's first time driving in about a year, and first time driving on the right hand side of the road. What with the cliffs falling many metres into the water below, and Justin's tendency to drift towards them, left Craig and I with a few white knuckles.

Once we went over the border to Montenegro, you could tell that this country was Croatia's poorer cousin, but still pretty charming. Our first stop in Montenegro was in a place called Kotor. Another fortified medieval town in a harbour surrounded by huge mountains. It was fairly quiet and we managed to find a place (or sobe) at a lady's house in the village itself. These, we discovered, were the much better alternative to the hostel. It would always be an older lady running the show, who would have had rooms or apartments especially built into their property to let out to tourists for about £10 per person per night. I am sure that there is a government scheme running this, as these are pretty self appointed and clean and are everywhere! All you have to do is find a place you would like to stay, follow the sign, speak in sign language (as these people don't speak English), and stay the night! Simple really!





Sorry, I digress. We did a quick wander around the city, and a medieval church from about 10th Century (which I am sorry to say that the boys did not give the entrance fee and thus stole from God). I am glad to say, that the boys decided not to climb to the top of that wall!! (For those that can't see, the wall actually goes half way up that mountain - it is just in camoflage.




Exiting the city was fun, with Justin getting pulled over by the cops. They gave him an instant fine for not having his lights on, which incidently is not mentioned in the guide book. However, the cops English was not good, and our Serbian was even worse - so we got confused on the instructions on how to pay (at the time it sounded dodgy). So in the end the cop let us off. Whew!!

We kept driving around the coast to stop at a couple of beaches on the way. We finally found a little beach called Przno (near Tivat) - and stayed at another Sobe. This had to be the most gorgeous (developed) beach in the world. The sobe was overlooking the water where you could have a bottle of wine (around €2.50) and a beer (€0.75). After starters, you would wander down the path to the beach in about 2 minutes, and have dinner at one of the few restaurants along the sea wall. We swam a few times there, the boys went for a brief dive, and I went for an unsuccesful snorkel. The beauty about this place was that there was only one hotel and a handful of sobes and assorted apartments. It could not be built out. So if I could speak Serbian, I would have offered myself as a surrogate grandchild to the sobe owner just to have that magical property.










The next couple of days we were driving further down the Montenegran coast looking at sites and beaches. We stopped and had a look at the famous Sveti Stefan (St Steven), a rather up-market village on an island, where one of the hotels cost €1500 per night per room! It costs €7 just to go onto the island and have a look.





I guess if we had gone earlier, I would have had a swim at a pool overlooking the ocean (almost an infinity pool) and had a cocktail at the bar.



At this point, we needed to start heading back to Croatia as it would take us a couple of days to get back to Split. We realised that our timing was wonderful, as June 1st is officially high season. We could see a stream of campervans weaving down the coast. So we had got in with the weather being beautiful (and not too hot) and low prices. It is also noticeable that the coasts come to life in the summer, with a million tacky tents operating as restaurants, bars or souvenir shops. Some of the beaches can have a ton of rubbish from this sort of activity which is a bit sad. We really do appreciate that the beaches in New Zealand and Australia being not so developed is definitely a good thing.

We stayed at another little Croatian town on the way back up (I forget the name, Justin - can you help?) Despite the place being deserted (awaiting crowds of tourists for the next week) we had an awesome meal. I ordered the fish platter, but it seems as though I got two of everything. Craig had the same with the meat.

Another digression about the food though, it seems that the menu is both Croatia and Montenegro is limited. You have a choice of seafood, pizza, a couple of pastas, and salty beef - after a week this gets boring.

So it was back up to Split for our final day. We got majorly lost, but managed to find our way, after a couple of hours, to another sobe by the airport. The flight was first thing the next morning.

So verdict is - go!! - probably in the next couple of years before it gets too touristy. It kind of reminds you of a coromandel or far north new zealand beach holiday with extra amenities. I would love to go again, and go on one of the sail boats that travel along the coasts and amongst the islands.