If you haven't already, please read my brother's excellent recounting of our night train from Budapest to Belgrade. As he mentions, we did not stay in the Serbian capital for long as we were only there to catch a connecting train down to Podgorica, in Montenegro.
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| Leaving Belgrade |
This was the part of our trip we were least informed about. I knew I wanted to get to Montenegro - my favourite restaurant in Ixelles, where my dad lives, is run by two brothers from Montenegro. One autumn, when they had recently returned from their summer home, they showed me pictures that convinced me to visit this beautiful little country as soon as I had the chance. So I added it to the itinerary.
The thing about Serbia and Montenegro is that the trains do not run to a schedule. They arrive when they do, they take as long as they please, stop pretty much wherever they choose and pull into the final station at an undetermined hour...usually far later than expected. Our train journey was supposed to take 7 hours. In the end, I think we were on the train for just under 10. There is a very limited catering service on the train; this means plenty of booze with unfamiliar brands and very little in the way of food. At every stop, random people get on the train carrying rucksacks or sports bags offering you beer and mini liquor bottles. Great entrepreneurial minds in this part of the world!
Luckily, the countryside we were going through was absolutely stunning. Southern Serbia looks gorgeous, lush leafy valleys that seem completely untouched by the pollution that has affected a lot of Western Europe. The train went across bridges that were high up in the hills, meaning the view to either side was of a sheer drop, against a background of greenery. If you love the outdoors, this is the place for you. It was absolutely stunning.
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| Serbian hills and valleys |
When we pulled into Podgorica just before 10pm, our journey wasn't over. There is hardly any budget accommodation in the Montenegran capital, and very little to see there to boot. So we hopped on the bus (very frequent and very uncomplicated) heading to Kotor. This was the best decision we ever made.
Kotor is a little town right at the top of Kotor bay at the southeastern end of the Dalmatian coast. The Old town is surrounded by medieval walls, in a similar fashion to Dubrovnik. The difference here is that there are far fewer tourists. And the tourists that do go tend to be Serbian, Croatian or Bosnian, making for a very different, but very friendly and laid-back ambiance.
From the bus station, we made our way to the hostel, at the center of the walled old town and were greeted by pumping techno music... It was Saturday night after all, and the crowds were still very much in holiday mode. We were completely exhausted from our sleepless night on the train to Belgrade and our 12 hour journey to Kotor, so we found our beds and crashed.
The next morning, I awoke to this:
This was the view from the hostel's reception. Kotor is nestled in between the mountains along the coast which are stunning in the morning light. To the other side of the town is Kotor bay, which we didn't get to explore but which provided absolutely gorgeous views as we walked around the harbour.
I found a bakery selling croissants and stuffed my face. The train ride the day before hadn't been too vegetarian friendly so, understandably I think, I was completely starving. When Sean woke up, we sat on one of the terraces and soaked up the sunshine. We had finally made it to the SUNSHINE! Later on, we took a little tour of the old town with one of the other guys from the hostel who introduced us to 'cat square' which was populated, not too surprisingly, by cats. I don't think that this is the actual name of the square, it's actually a plaza near St Mary's Church near one of the bridged entrance points to the town. But there sure were a heck of a lot of kitties around. It's the thing about Kotor that you won't learn in guidebooks. It is a city full of cats.
I love cats, so I found this to be a good thing. I'm guessing you wouldn't feel the same if you were a dog lover. In any case, one particularly fierce cat stood his ground, despite being surrounded by a guided group of tourists. He was sitting where he was sitting and nothing would move him. I felt very proud of this stubborn little feline. That was one tough little dude. Or lady. I didn't check.
We were leaving that afternoon, so we didn't get a chance to walk up the hill that overlooks Kotor to the fortress above. Apparently, it takes about an hour and a half and the views across the fjord from here are breathtaking.
We saw the church in the main square, whose bells had woken me up that morning.
I will definitely come back to Montenegro; after all, we only saw Kotor and the little bit of the coastline between this town and Dubrovnik, our next destination. There's so much more to see and do in this country. But I can highly recommend it to anyone wanting to visit the Montenegran coast on the cheap. Our hostel was just 13 euro a night and we were in the heart of the old town. Get here quick before the prices go up!
