Castles of Montenegro and Croatia!

Shkoder –> Budva –> Kotor –> Perast –> Dubrovnik

I entered Montenegro and found myself hypnotized by the waves approaching the coastal beaches beside the pavement I was pedaling on. I rode 67 miles from Shkoder to Kotor, and lucky for me, the road ran parallel to the Adriatic Sea for the majority of the trek. I was able to visit Budva, a beautiful town with gorgeous beaches that are great for a sandy and sunny vacation destination. Although it is more of a tourist spot, it is still relatively untouched compared to most destinations that Americans tend to go to for this type of vacation. It served as a great lunch spot.

Following Budva, I rode past Montenegro’s Sveti Stefan, a tiny island connected to the mainland by a beautiful bridge-like structure. This place is as exclusive as anywhere else in the Balkans region. If you want to see more than the outside, you must be willing to pay the big bucks and have some significant connections. Out of curiosity, I did some quick research and found that the pricing is not even available anywhere on the web. Very mysterious!

Finally, as sunset approached, I entered a tunnel that brought me to the other side of a mountain range and into the beautiful city of Kotor. I entered the old town walls and felt so excited to be surrounded by ancient stone structures, looking up at the mountain with a lit-up castle that ran along the ridges, peering over the Old Town area.

I stayed in Kotor for three nights at the Montenegro Hostel B&B. This hostel was alright, but if I were traveling there again, I would stay at the Old Town Hostel. The Old Town Hostel is located in the heart of the Old Town and has a very fun vibe. I spent quite a bit of time there with travelers I had met previously.

In Kotor, I hiked up to the castle twice. The views are breathtaking! The walk can be a bit tough, so I suggest staying on the main path. In addition to the castle and old city walls, Kotor has the Bay of Kotor, the St. Tryphon Cathedral, and a beautiful clock tower. Kotor is among my favorite cities that I have been lucky to travel to. This alone is a highlight, and I would suggest that anyone and everyone visit the city if given the opportunity.

From Kotor, I made my way through Perast and into Croatia, with my final destination being Dubrovnik. As I approached the town, I was jittery with excitement. As a Game of Thrones fan, I was approaching paradise. I spent four days in Dubrovnik. It’s worth taking many hours to roam the Old Town in its entirety. Strolling through the narrow streets, you will find many beautiful stores and restaurants. Each evening, I would go out to a different spot and watch the sun disappear behind the islands in the distance, surrounded by beautiful blue water. I also got the chance to watch the sunrise over the castle, which is equally special. These sunsets and sunrises were highlights of my time there.

My opinion of Dubrovnik is that the attention it has received around the world is well deserved, although this has resulted in an overflow of tourists. In 2017, Game of Thrones brought about 600,000 tourists to Dubrovnik. An additional 800,000 come from cruise ships. This naturally has resulted in high prices, making Dubrovnik an expensive place to visit. Although you should be prepared to spend some money, the history is fascinating, and there are many different tours you can take to get a better feel for the city.

ROSE

1. I met an interesting group of people from all over the world during my time in Kotor. I spent the next week or two traveling with a few of them. Although it was a bit different from my solo traveling, I enjoyed having some company. Of course, my traveling was a bit slower than theirs. While I continued pedaling on two wheels, they would take buses. We would meet again at the next destination.

2. Another highlight was my first day in Dubrovnik. I joined Matt and Brittany in the early afternoon and went to the Oyster Fest! This festival had live music and very reasonable prices. We were paying $5 for a dozen fresh oysters, and wine bottles were about $6. Supposedly, this was the best time of year for oysters from this region. It doesn’t get much better than that. If wine and oysters don’t cut it, we were also in the heart of the Old City and could walk in any direction to find a magnificent view.

BUD

As mentioned, I loved Kotor, and it is now one of my favorite cities in the world that I have had the pleasure of visiting. One thing I did learn, which I hope can potentially inform others, is about the “crazy locals” hoping to charge money at the castle entrance. I was informed upon arrival that it is free to enter the castle during the off-season, which runs until May. We were told that locals will sit by the entrances with official-looking signs and attempt to charge tourists 8 euros per person to enter. This is illegal, but I would imagine they make a killing off the many tourists coming off the cruise ships that park in the bay each day. For anyone who goes to Kotor, I would suggest asking the hotel or hostel hosts whether this site costs money at the time. We did find the locals sitting there just as we were told they would be. If you are a family of five, you may just save yourself 40 euros.

Montenegro is one of two countries, along with Kosovo, that uses the euro without actually being a part of the EU.

THORN

On day three in Montenegro, I got into a car for the first time in over a month. It was an odd feeling to be moving powered by something besides my legs. I rented a car to go to Dubrovnik to get the required medical examinations for my Chinese work visa. For anyone who ever ends up in a similar situation, I would recommend getting all of the medical examinations done before leaving the US. Cover all the bases for all the places you may end up going to. I had gotten a regular check-up and lab tests as required by Vietnam and Hong Kong but did not get the additional required chest X-ray and EKG/ECG that China demands.

These exams are not simple to do while you are in the Balkans, as many cities do not have these capabilities. Not only that, but the paperwork needs to be 100% in English or it will be rejected by the Chinese government. They have to be stamped and authenticated, and all of this has to be described in detail, which is a struggle with the obvious language barrier. You would think that Dubrovnik, as a very common tourist destination, would have facilities similar to most first-world countries. This was not the case. The equipment they had was old and falling apart. The room where I had my X-ray taken was leaking liquids from the ceiling, and the floor was ripped apart.

It is humbling to walk into places like this as you realize how lucky we are to have the extremely advanced technology that we do. We think that what we deal with is the norm, and we are so very wrong!