August 2018
We arrived into Ulcinj in the late afternoon and walked in the stifling heat to our accommodation - Pirate Hostel. We relaxed and recovered from our transport, during which time we felt a minor earthquake and it briefly bucketed down outside. When it cleared we headed out to explore the old town.
It was quite a contrast after Albania to see how touristic Ulcinj is - though in honesty it isn't particularly touristic compared to most other places we've travelled to. We walked through the old town and had a beer at Sunset Bar, where of course we admired the sunset which was probably more impressive than that of Santorini - the sun was much bigger and more clearly defined as it sank towards the sea. The old town is nice to wander around. For dinner we ate at Downtown bar - a burger for Rach and Plisckovich for me which were both tasty and only 4.50 euros together.
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| Ulcinj |
The hostel has free beer after 9pm as a way for everyone to meet so we had one then headed off to bed. We also got to meet the hostel pets: Dom the dog, Dog the cat, and No-tail the cat with no tail.
Yesterday we spent the day at Ada Bojana, a compulsory nudist beach nearby. No clothes were allowed and there was even a lifeguard-looking guy blowing his whistle when clothed people walked through. It was nice to relax and swim again after almost two weeks since our last swim in Syros and also liberating to spend the entire day naked and surrounded by other relaxed naked people. I wonder if NZ has many nudist beaches? We paid 2 euro to get into the island and 10 euro for two loungers and an umbrella for the day. Rach did however get sunburnt (somehow) while under the beach umbrella.
We left around 5:30pm and asked at the gate when the next minibus was leaving. When they told us the next was at 8pm we were disappointed, and a taxi would cost 15 euros. When we asked if they could call a taxi, one of the men offered to drive us for 15 euros himself so we got a ride back to Ulcinj with him - very handy.
Dinner was at Hari's in the old town, a Greek salad and a whole sea bass between us accompanied by a half litre of white wine. It was a delicious meal that didn't leave us too full and was only 21 euros - great value.
Today we'll be catching a bus to Budva where we'll stay for 3 nights.
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It was a rather uneventful bus trip to Budva, apart from the driver who smoked most of the way, while sitting beneath a sign that clearly prohibited smoking.
We walked a little around Budva's very nice little old town and had some pizza for a late lunch. Then we spent most of the afternoon and evening trip planning, for our next steps from Bari onwards. Thankfully we were accompanied by a planning Somersby cider for Rach and a planning 2 litre bottle of beer for me.
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| Budva old town |
The next day was a half day trip to Kotor via bus. The old town is a little bit bigger than Budva but a lot busier. It was quite odd to be faced with so many tourists who spoke English - mostly Americans - and French. Many of them presumably came from the massive cruise ship in the harbour there.
It was very hot already and we did a very sweaty walk up the almost vertical steps to St John's fortress for stunning panoramic views of Kotor's bay and the town. After wandering through the town again and having a slice of pizza for lunch we swam at the beach not far from the old town. It was a pretty cool view to swim with, and the hulking cruise ship close by somehow added to the impressive view.
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| Great views at Kotor |
We got the bus back to Budva in mid afternoon and again wandered around the Old Town, looking for swimwear for Rach (so she could more stylishly swim and sunbathe topless). Dinner was a delectable meal at L&M, which felt old fashioned but cheap - a spaghetti fruits de mer to sate my seafood craving, and a cevapi for Rach with a Greek salad to share. All under budget at 20 euros.
Our third day was a designated beach day. The morning was spent at nearby Mogren beach - in actuality two beaches connected by a cave tunnel path - which had a lovely view of the Old Town to go with the beautiful waters. Lunch was a slice of pizza and a chicken roll then it was over got nearby Sveti Nikola island for the afternoon. We got the boat back around five and had a relaxing drink in the old town, then relaxed at our hostel for a couple of hours. Dinner at a nearby restaurant was nice enough - grilled fish and pork stew,. When we gave the exact change the waiter muttered loudly "no service, no problem, no service no problem". Clearly our 'no tips' approach to keep within budget riled some up.
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| Beach at Sveti Nokola |
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| View from Mogren beach |
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The next day was a very relaxing day. We slept in and mooched around the hostel til midday when we had lunch at Verde - a gyros and a salami sandwich. We checked out and caught the bus to Sveti Stefan beach to swim and enjoy the famous view for the afternoon.
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| Sveti Stefan beach |
Then a bus to Bar where dinner was an unexpectedly good meal of calamari and roasted vegetables followed by a tres leche to finish.
After dinner we waited for our ferry. Then we waited some more. It finally arrived about two hours later, and we boarded, saying a fond goodbye to Montenegro.
