Kotor and Budva, Montenegro

Another bus trip down the beautiful Adriatic coast gets us to the Bay of Kotor, an amazing geographical feature, that seems more like an inland body of water, or perhaps a fjord, than a bay. The town of Kotor is well inside this bay, and the mountains rise straight up behind it. In pretty much every case, it is the "stari grad" or "old town" that are the attractions in these cities and towns and they are really quaint and historied places, still thriving with business and residences. Frankly, they all start to look more or less the same, having more or less identical histories of settlement and invasion. The Romans were everywhere, and their presence was a huge factor in the establishment of these forts and port towns. And they sure knew how to build things that last! Roads, for instance, and really high, thick walls.

When Carly and I were walking from the bus station in search of the hostel, we happened to cross paths with a wedding party. There was a small band of musicians leading the way, making a merry racket and stopping in the square for the guests and wedding party to do some dancing. It was such fun, and we felt really fortunate to have a glimpse of the local culture.

An interesting feature of Kotor is the mountainous terrain that nearly pushes it into the sea. There is a fortress 'way up high above the town, and stone walls running along ridges, supposedly for the protection of the town against invaders from overland. I have no idea who would even bother to attempt to come across the very formidable landscape of steep and crumbling mountains. I was never able to find out why the walls were built. We did hike up to the fortress and beyond. It felt good to get up high and to scramble around on the ridges, and spend a day off pavement and stone streets! There was an ancient abandoned stone chapel in a lovely meadow, and the sun was just right, lending a peaceful and almost mystical feel to the scene.

Once again, the hostel where we stayed had fabulous staff who were helpful and fun. When the staff is friendly, it's like all the guest are part of a family, and making conversation and travel plans with new friends is easy. We met an another traveler there, Carlos from Brazil, who was heading in the same direction as Carly and I, and we made subsequent travel arrangements together, booking the same hostel at the next destination, Budva.

Budva is a lot bigger that Kotor, and a lot more prosperous, I think. The marina there had some fairly posh looking yachts with flags from several nations, and the whole beach resort thing is more developed, with loads of bars and souvenir stores, now mostly closed up for the season. Again, the main event (other than the beaches and ocean) is the old city. We had a nice hostel inside the walls, and found it without too much difficulty. The first order of business is to claim a bunk and put the luggage aside. Then it's off to explore while there is still daylight. When we returned from our initial exploration, we were greeted by another traveler in our dorm, Luis from Spain. So we now had a happy foursome, and we spent the next several days together, enjoying the pleasures of Budva, and taking on the perils of Albania!