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"It's a little bit s***" - was Dale's first impressions of Montenegro. We had driven down from Dubrovnik, along a road which became increasingly poor (it felt like we were about to drive off the map altogether!) and behind a German towing a boat who refused to pull over and let us by. The border crossing had been painfully slow - we had sat stationary for a total of 35 minutes - made more annoying by the motorcyclists who repeatedly came up behind us to jump the queue. Eventually we had made it to border control and shown our passports, at which point Dale did his best to act drunk (parroting whatever the Croatian girl at the border said to him before finally admitting he spoke English), happy to be rid of Dale the nutter, she let us through. By the time we reached the Montenegro border security Dale's passengers had begged him to 'act natural', so when he handed over the passports for the second time he just grinned inanely and said nothing! Nevertheless, the grim looking Montenegrin man let us into the country (disappointingly without a new stamp to our passports) and we continued on our way to Budva.
It was quickly apparent that Croatia and Montenegro, despite their proximity, are very different countries. Suddenly our surroundings seemed a lot more 'Soviet', with large charmless buildings plonked haphazardly, billboards which displayed words in a different alphabet, and an unsettling randomness about the place. There was an obscure mixture of the run down and decrepit, with the ultra modern. One minute we would see a petrol tanker which looked like it was off the set of a WWII movie, and the next minute we'd drive by a gleaming two storey petrol station which was under construction.
I had thought the Croatians were bad drivers, but at least they'd had good roads. Now we found ourselves on narrow and poorly maintained roads with drivers who were just as bad as any of the Croatians we'd encountered. Adding to the confusion were the pedestrians, who were quite happy to step out in front of cars to cross a road or open the door of a parked car as the traffic swerved around them.
Town planning is non-existent here. Industrial buildings are interspersed with residential housing. Street names are not sign posted. We drove past a three storey car parking building in what appeared to be a rural area. Half completed buildings are dotted about the place and clearly haven't been worked on for some time (maybe this is one of the places hit by the recession?). Honestly, it was a lesson in ugliness.
We drove around the enormous fjord here (I forget what it's called) and slowly the scenery began to improve. We saw a few cute looking old villages by the water, small islands with monasteries on them, and more rugged hills in the background. At one end of the fjord an enormous super yacht was anchored. It had a slide from the top deck to the water, the back was opened up and six jet skis tied up there, and one side hatch was open where the speed boat had been launched from to take the passengers into town. I doubt the owner would have paid less than 300 million for this play-thing.
We saw more evidence of vast wealth as we drew closer to Budva. Tim spotted a red Maserati driving about, there were more super yachts anchored near Kotor, and when we went to visit the walled island town of Sveti Stefan (or 'sweaty Stevan' as we nicknamed it) we discovered that it is now a private hotel and the cheapest room goes for 750 euros a night (minimum three night stay!) But if you really want to splash out, the most expensive room will set you back 3000 euro per night...ouch!
Negotiating our way through Budva to our accommodation was a challenge without the aid of GPS or road signs. Tim did a brilliant job of map reading and ultimately we made it to hotel Oliva unscathed. Our welcome could not have been warmer, with handshakes all round, followed by the grand tour. Our kindly hosts insisted that we treat the place like home, enjoy a shower, and then have a drink in the garden. We did as they suggested, and after freshening up we went downstairs to find the garden - a lovely green area set with chairs and tables. We found seats near the fountain and ordered drinks. More large handles of beer for around $2.40. For dinner, the restaurant offered a set menu for 7.50 euros. A clear broth with bread was the first course, followed by fresh salad and a main course. Three of us chose the veal goulash with mashed potato, and Tim ordered the Montenegrin chicken with rice. The options for dessert were fruit salad, ice cream, or a syrupy pastry thing which Dale tried. The food was tasty and amazingly good value.
The old city of Budva was about a 20 minute walk from our hotel, past yachts tied up at the marina, waterfront bars and nightclubs, market stalls selling clothes, souvenirs, and knock offs, and hole in the wall fast food outlets and games arcades. The old town was walled and similar in appearance to Trogir, with an obvious Venetian influence to the buildings. For 2 euro each, we gained entry to the citadel and spent some time wandering the old battlements. One section has been turned into a library with glass cases full of books and big leather chairs. Interestingly, many of the books were English ones, so we could read the titles. All were written about the Balkans, and if the cases hadn't been locked I could easily have spent a few hours flicking through "Through Europe and the Balkans: The records of a motor tour", "Experiences of a military attaché in the Balkans", "Scouting the Balkans in a motor boat: An escape from the Dardanelles", or "An English girl in Serbia".
The beaches in Budva seemed just as packed as the ones in Croatia, and there seemed to be more super yachts than we have seen anywhere else. One beach we saw charges a 50 euro cover charge (that beach wasn't so busy). Despite the signs of serious money, our overall impression of the place was that it was run down and chaotic. It was a relief to escape from it (after an hour long border crossing and a hair raising drive on a road which was barely wide enough for two cars to pass each other and we encountered a bus!)
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