What a sail in! Oh man - definitely worth getting up early for this one! It is breathtaking sailing through the little channel created between two peninsulas of land that make up the Kotor Bay. The sun is just rising, and the little towns dotting the landscape are swathed in mist. The water we are sailing through is so clear and still, with mountains rising up on either side of us. The weather behind us is beautiful, the weather in front, not so pleasant, dark clouds, no sun…we keep our fingers crossed. But we stay up top on deck taking pictures regardless of the weather – it’s just too incredibly beautiful and peaceful to do anything else.
We finally drag ourselves away, shower and head down to the priority tender meeting point. We are totally lucky today – we actually get on the first little tenders out. (They are using local boats that hold 36 people each for the tenders – oh – this will be an ugly disembarkation!) We hit the dock and begin to look for our rental car. We’ve emailed with them, but the last email was never answered, so who knows?
We don’t see anyone inside the port area so we go out to the street and wait by the curb – with all the taxi drivers! They of course converge on us, but we shake them off. One driver in particular is very insistent, even when we tell him we’ve got a car booked. Mr. insistent then says the roads aren’t good, we shouldn’t drive on them. Really! Another driver, who has been nice to us, gets into the fray, scolding the insistent guy, telling him to ask for details first before going into his whole spiel! It was really funny and sweet of him to get the other guy off of us. Then the nice taxi guy actually starts telling us all the places we should go. He shows us his map and points out all the good spots – including a couple we hadn’t planned on going to because, of course, the ship’s tours were going there. But, heck, maybe we will now with his advice!
After about 15 minutes, Ed goes back inside the port gates to see if we’ve missed our rental car folks, and sure enough – they are there. And, even more ironic, we’re standing right next to the rental car parked on the street! Weird. This car is not anywhere near new (which we’re secretly happy about) it’s really a beater, with huge dents, scratches and a broken sideview mirror – but the price is right! Precious young girl checks us in – in the car, handwriting all our info. Cash for payment.-Here’s Mom’s phone number, you can call her with any questions, about the car, or just anything, call her! Ok – cute - we’re good!
We decide to head away from the main town and in the opposite direction of the tours – with our sites on Herceg Novi – what has been described as the “alternative to Dubrovnik” – which we are very ready for (see last blog entry!). The drive takes us around the bay, basically back tracking where we have just sailed. The roads aren’t the best – they are narrow 2 lane affairs, winding around the coast with mountain rocks and rubble strewn across some areas. Ed has christened the roads “The Amalfi drive for children”. LOL.
It’s a totally different perspective from the ground though. Eye level with the wonderful little villages and picturesque churches; the two small islands we passed on our way in across from the town of Perast (Our Lady of the Reef and St. George Monastery) are even more beautiful at sea level.
We take our time driving almost all the way out of the bay until we finally find a parking lot at the bus station in Herceg Novi. We stop for a map at a travel agent, then walk down into town. Cappuccino at a café on the main square and we’re ready to explore. Herceg Novi doesn’t disappoint. It is truly a miniature Dubrovnik. A little walled city with winding alleyways and streets. Beautiful church in the middle, meandering streets down to the waterfront – and all blissfully empty. Devoid of the masses. It’s a lovely little place for us to decompress and just wander around.
We regretfully take our leave of the peaceful setting, and head back around the bay toward Kotor. We’ve got enough time, that we decide (against our better judgement) to head to Budva and Setvi Stefan, which our friendly taxi driver has said is the most beautiful village in the world. Budva on the other hand has been described as the Miami of Montenegro, and we certainly don’t have any interest in that! But, with time on our hands, we head back into and out of Kotor, winding our way into the interior of the peninsula then back again to the coast…..and the traffic! Budva IS like Miami, especially on the road where the traffic backed up for 15 minutes just trying to get through the one traffic light at the street leading to the beach. Ick. Get us out of here!
We continued out of Budva on our way to Sv. Stefan, following the signs (because Alice was of no use – she said we were driving on “a road” – again – thanks – very informative!). It’s a really confusing drive, and at most turns you think you are going the wrong way, traveling through fenced gates, arches and then through a forest that has maps of “public” areas and trails. Very odd. No parking – every place we found was “privat” (or so the guards kept telling us – but – oh – only after we had parked and were getting out of the car, heading down the trails – could you have stopped us when we pulled in maybe? Okie dokie….). We kept driving and finally did reach Sv. Stefan – at least from a viewpoint! Couldn’t quite figure out how to get down there or park – and we were running out of time, so we gave up on exploring Sv. Stefan – although it looks like a great little town to spend some time in – next time!
Ed successfully navigated our way out of the little confusing streets, and soon we were back on the main road through Budva (traffic gone now, how does that happen? In only a 1/2 hour?), then up through the commercial district to Kotor. We stop for gas, and then at a grocery store for a picnic lunch. Local salami, peanuts, cheese and water. We’re done. Back through Kotor – traffic on the Budva side is gone, but it starts up on the other side of Kotor heading toward Herceg Novi. We end up with enough time to make Debrota – a fabulous little outpost right on the water, with little docks jutting out into the bay. What a great place for a picnic lunch!
We make it back into town with a few minutes to spare. Our cute little rental agent meets us at the curb, we hand over the keys – and that’s that! A little time left to explore Kotor – which again, is another lovely little walled town. Great architecture, cafes, walls, steps up the castle (no we didn’t climb this time, but who knows? Maybe next time!).
We spent about an hour wandering around, taking pix, then partaking in our refreshing beverages and heading back to the tenders and the ship.
Sailaway was just as beautiful as sailing in.
Absolutely one of our favorite ports. Hopefully we’ll be able to come back one day soon!
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