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Dubrovnik is a tourist hell hole.
I've spent the last two days trying to avoid crowds and crowds of snap happy tour groups.
The ferry from Korcula was really pleasant. Some great views of the Elaphate islands, calm Adriatic sea and enough time for me to finish 'The Life of Pi'.
My hostel was actually a guest house with individual beds available. I had a two bed room that I shared with a rather loud Bolivian and an extremely loud American. Next door were three loud Italians.
Notice my emphasis of loud. My main activity in Dubrovnik was snoozing. Having had a look around the city - admitedly it is very impressive - I retreated to bars and cafes for some tranquility.
Bars in Europe are beautifully set up for the casual, peaceful drinker. If we took the same attitude to bars in the UK there would probably be a lot less binge drinking.
I lazily supped a pint for an hour and a half.
After dragging myself from the tourist trap with temper intact, I headed out of the centre towards the hostel. 15 minutes out of the centre, the pace slowed and I had a beautiful meal of grilled squid and wilted spinach.
I snoozed the rest of the time away, indulging in some Ernest Hemmingway short stories and have now awoken to find myself in the airport (early!).
Montenegro, Albania and Croatia all done then.
Montenegro is a stunning country that thankfully hasn't realised its own full beauty yet. Its coastline, though nice, is slightly spoiled by becoming the budget holiday resort of choice for Serbians, Russians, Italians and assorted other Eastern European countries. This gives towns like Herceg Novi and Budva a Benidorm type atmosphere. Kotor is a true gem. Impressive on a par if not more than Dubrovnik without the overbearing tourists.
The true Montenegro is with the locals away from the coast. The locals are far more friendly than Croatians and the mountains, rivers and lakes of the north are truly spectacular. I would love to come back with a car and explore this further.
Albania. What can I say that I haven't said already? A truly, truly magnificent feat of human ingenuity, perseverence and guts. This place needs further exploration before the country is able to achieve what it is striving for - westernisation. It has been one of my favourite experiences of the trip.
Croatia just has something. Something that I can't place my finger on that makes it the perfect place to explore. Korcula is a (potentially) relaxing haven. The south of the country is in the middle of a tourist boom; good for their economy, bad for explorers. I thought Split was about tolerable last year but Dubrovnik is awful. Zadar, from last year, remains my favourite city, but keep that quiet! It doesn't need anymore travellers than me.
So I have done my two weeks here. You've read where I've been. Out of the countries I've visited, where would you go?
Rate them first, second and third in the comments.
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