Montenegro

Kotor is a small town at the head of a huge sound near the Croatian border. Since the war the Montenegran authorities have been trying to push Kotor and the surrounding areas as a tourist destination. While the landscape is spectacular and the old town of Kotor is quaint, it was incredibly dirty with litter spoiling many of the natural features. The authorities have a bit of work to do if they are hoping to create a �Montenegran Riviera�. The people seemed a lot poorer than their Croatian counterparts just over the hill.

Arrive

Buses run from Dubrovnik to the Croatian border. You then have to get off the bus and walk 500 metres past immigration and into Montenegro. The Croatians and the Montenegrans don't seem to talk to each other very much because buses running in each country don't meet up. In fact, on the way back we were dumped on the Montenegran side of the border in the middle of nowhere for two hours - there was't even a sign saying when the next Croatian bus might come! The travellers' plight was taken full advantage of by the overpriced, dirty cafe by the Croatian immigration office.

We witnessed some of the train and border guards making themselves some extra income that night by "fining" people for not having their tickets signed enough times (one guy missed one of the checks because he was in the toilet but this apparently wasn't a good excuse) and for putting feet on the seat. The fines didn't seem to be any more than about �20 but it is definitely something to watch out for on the night trains. Something tells me the money collected wasn't going into the coffers of the Polish train company......

Explore

The Old Town - Kotor was founded by the ancient Romans and developed into an important commercial and artistic center. Since then it has been controlled by the Byzantine Empire, the Venetians, Hungarians, French and Austrians. It is almost like a minature, less crowded version of Dubrovnik. Unlike Dubrovnik, you get the feeling that it is still a living, working city - while we were there we stumbled across a hairdressing/fashion show.

The City Walls and Fort - Kotor's old town is surrounded by medieval walls, which lead up the mountain to an impressive fortress. The walkway up to the fortress is open to the public (from memory I think we paid a nominal entrance fee) and, if you can struggle up the almost vertical pathway, you are rewarded with a breathtaking view over the city and the down the sound. br>

Rest

When we hopped of the bus in Kotor the bus station was almost deserted - this was unusal because in Croatia you are hounded by about 50 people offering you accomodation. Eventually a young woman pushed an tiny old woman in front of us who stood there and said "room". We quickly discovered that this was the only word of English that she knew. Our options limited, we followed the old lady to her apartment. Although the apartment was only several hundred metres from the bus station the journey took about 20 mins - the poor woman obviously needed a double hip replacement. The apartment building was soviet style and, typically, the lift didn't work. She showed us to her spotlessly clean apartment and then we went out, the old woman waving and grinning at us from the balcony.

We we returned that night we were disturbed to find (a) the old lady sleeping on the couch (she had given up her bed for us) and (b) that our room was unlocked. We were worried that her grandson had gone through our bags and stolen things but it turned out that she had gone into the room to make our bed and fold our clothes! In the morning the lady made us coffee and we made awkward conversation - she in Serbian and we in English. She was really sweet person and we felt bad paying so little so we gave her a tip.