Croatia and Montenegro Trip 2024 - PART 3
Staying in the picture postcard Old Town of Cavtat, exploring the City Walls of Dubrovnik and venturing across the border into Montenegro!
A day trip to Kotor
After doing a bit of research, I discovered there was an opportunity for a day trip to the “Black Mountains” of Montenegro and Kotor Bay, which sounded idyllic and would give me a contrasting landscape as well as a new country to tick off.
After purchasing my ticket through GetYourGuide (used throughout the world), I met the coach at a rather non-descript meeting point in Cavtat at 7:30am, and away we went.
Of course, as we would be crossing the border, we all handed our passports over to our guide to prepare the necessary documentation - a quite nervewracking experience to part with such an important document, but it was well looked after.
Our coach guide for the day was a bubbly and very knowledgable 30-something lady called Orly (not sure of spelling), who entertained and informed us in equal measure throughout the day, and rolled her eyes slightly at the prospect of doing border control the “old-fashioned way”.
Within half an hour, we were in the border queue, in the height of summer I can imagine this would take far more than the hour it did to first get checked out of the Croatian side and then into the Montenegrin side. We were in!
A quick refreshment stop and then a further hour drive winding around Kotor Bay, first to the centuries-BC founded settlement and UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kotor, built in Roman times and typified by Venetian fortications and architecture.
It is also a place where you will see an abundance of cats, who initially populated the town to ward off rats, mice and snakes, but now come to symbolise good luck and prosperity, in an old town that survived sieges, earthquakes and wars.
It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and after a pretty indifferent local guide experience, we had a few hours to wander its intricate streets and grab some lunch - I had a chicken, cheese and bacon steak dish, which was pretty substantial and better value than Croatia.
At around 1:30pm, we all met up again at the City Gate, and then got on a boat along Kotor Bay, on a stunning trip along the coast between the towering mountains (some apparently as high as 1600m) to our destination of “Our Lady of the Rocks”, which remarkably featured a little church on a islet in the middle of Kotor Bay!
According to legend, this was constructed over centuries by seaman upon finding the icon of “Madonna and Child” on the rock in the sea on 22 July 1452. After each successful voyage, they laid a rock in the bay and eventually the islet emerged. Even every year now on 22 July, local residents chuck a rock into the sea, widening the surface of the island.
A unique place to stand and have a short while to explore the church, and breathe in the fjord-like status of our surroundings. In fact, it is said the climate of this area, with the mountain air combining with the sea air of the Adriatic, alleviating a lot of asthma and lung problems, and it is not uncommon for citizens here to live well beyond 100!
The area was almost other worldly and something out of a fairytale than tangibly real. Definitely the highlight of the day, just as most fellow travellers had hoped. It was just so tranquil and peaceful.
The day then concluded with a short 10 minute trip back to shore, and the venetian town of Perast, which features one street, a couple of bayside restaurants and a familiar church that dominates its skyline. We had around 40 minutes here, and as it was quite compact, this was plenty of time.
Most of the group later gathered near the coach pick-up point, looking back at the island we had visited earlier, which really brought home how fragile a structure it was, and something so different to see.
The day had been a real success, I had taken the plunge and it had worked out and been hassle-free going into another country. I would certainly consider trips like this in the future!
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