Balkans

Day 7 - Thr 24 Sept 09

Kotor

An eventful day - up to the bus station for 08:00, tried and failed to hire a car so took a bus to Cetinje instead. Had a quick look around this town, grabbed the ingredients for a "brunch" and sat in the local park eating it. After that it was a walk up to the Cetinje Monastery one of whose claim to fame is the right hand of Saint John the Baptist. Luckily it was in a sealed cask so I didn't get to see it in the flesh.

Budva Boats

Decided to head back to the bus 'station' which is an interesting affair, there's no timetable, office or tickets. Nothing apart from a bunch of taxi drivers trying to drum up trade. The bus to Budva appeared after about ten minutes, and the drive is spectacular as it climbs over the mountains and folds it's way down to the coast.

Budva seems to the very 'new money' and a bit brash but the old walled city is a delight - however it's all shops and boutiques, no-one seems to live here and that means that there's something missing.

Back to the bus station were a Mercedes Benz mini van pretending to be a bus heads back to Kotor. Back to the room to chill out and plan the next move. Back up to the bus station at 17:50 to catch a bus back down the bay to a pretty little village called Perast. It's tiny and perfect, and has two islands just off shore. One holds a museum and the other church. By the time we get there the tourist boats have stopped running for the evening. However I get chatting to a bloke with a boat and he agrees to ship us over to the island. It's perfect with the sun setting over the bay We land and have a quick look around the church and then jump back aboard.

The next challenge is to get back to Kotor, we walk back to the main road where we were dropped off, but no bus seems to want to stop - and it's proper dark now. Decide to walk down the road to see if there's an official bus stop, and on the way find two guys by a car (Ryan and Nick). I ask about the bus, but Nick says not to bother and that Ryan is heading in that direction and will drop us off in Kotor. Which he did. Supper in the old town and into bed by 10:00