The Balkans. Set between the Adriatic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea, the Peninsula offers a myriad of different landscapes: mountains, fjords, forests, waterfalls, big cities - you name it. While the geographical setup is fairly clearly defined (though by no means undisputed for geopolitical reasons), it's the borders shaped by nationalities, ethnicities, and culture that has led to many conflicts throughout the entire history of the region. For travelers, however, this also means that one encounters an unparalleled richness in history and culture that makes the area a fascinating place to visit. Throw in the very affordable prices in the region and the fact that apart from the big tourist hotspots one can easily avoid the travelling masses, and the appeal only increases. Let's close in on Montenegro, the first stop of our tour through the Balkans.
A free bottle of wine
We arrived in Montenegro via a direct flight from Düsseldorf to Podgorica. When I have the chance I usually book the window seat. Even on longer flights I enjoy the sight of mountain ranges, cloud formations, or city lights deep below. On my flight to Podgorica I was however in for a special treat: the sight of one of the engines losing a screw. Overall I would say this ranks fairly high on the list of things I do not want to see again when I look out a plane window.
As we were already ascending there was not much more to do than watching the shadow of the screw slowly turning with every move of the plane. But once we had reached cruising altitude I went to the back of the plane and asked a flight attendant casually about the usual maintenance policies of the airline.
"We check every night. No problem, mister," she informed me.
I explained to her that while I was sure that she was telling the truth, I would like to show her an iPhone photo I had just taken from my seat. She took the phone, looked at the photo, hesitated for one moment, and finally asked me with her best flight attendant smile:
"Is it okay if I show this the captain?"
I assured her that this would indeed be very okay, and she made her way to the front and disappeared in the cockpit. After a tense minute or two, the door opened and she stepped out again, smiling and making a dismissive hand gesture as she walked towards me. Just a little later and back in my seat, the purser of the flight came over to my row, equally enthusiastically smiling as he handed me a bottle of wine for my troubles. I thanked him, once again looked out the window to enjoy the view and lose myself in musings about the upcoming trip and my own mortality.
Less than two hours later we landed in Podgorica, warmed by the wine and agreeable weather. A sign welcomed us: Welcome to Montenegro.
Wild Beauty
By most standards, Montenegro is a small country. You could squeeze it almost 26 times into Germany - even my current state of North Rhine-Westphalia alone could fit 2.5 Montenegros. Or for the international readers: you can fit Montenegro about 1.5 times into Wales or New Jersey. However, for its size, the country offers a surprising variety of beautiful, even spectacular landscapes. The country's tourism slogan is "Wild Beauty", which is rather fitting: rugged mountains, wide fjords, lush forests, as well as picturesque old towns and beautiful marinas - you name it! We scheduled our overnight stays for the cities of Podgorica, Kotor, and Budva, and threw in some day tours to Durmitor National Park, Ostrog monastery and the beautiful towns of Perast and Tivat. Here are some shots to illustrate the variety in scenery one can admire in just a couple of days:
"This is the Balkans"
Around the Bay of Kotor the view from Sveti Ivan’s Fortress over the old town and Europe's southernmost fjord is a clear highlight. On the downside, Kotor can also be reached by giant cruise ships. While the city did not feature in Game of Thrones and is thus not as hopelessly overrun as Dubrovnik, we encountered more tourists in the picturesque old town of Kotor than in any other place of our tour. Perast and Tivat, both just a short car ride away, proved to be significantly more relaxed and offered beautiful spots to sit next to the water with a drink.
From Perast you can also visit Our Lady of the Rocks, an artificial island with a church in the middle of the bay. While the islet itself is not spectacular and quickly explored once you're on it, the short boat ride offers some great views of the surroundings. There are many companies and freelancing individuals who use boats of varying conditions to ship visitors to the island and back. They all charge about the same (€5/person) and our choice fell on a young guy with a small red vessel. On the ride we got into a conversation with him about his life in Perast and he explained that he basically only worked during the tourism season and spent the other half of the year partying in Serbia.
We thought about it: the boat would have fitted 7-8 people, and during our time on the little island, he did the trip two more times to drop a couple of people off. It was the beginning of October so by no means the peak season for tourism. Assuming he would have an average of three passengers per trip and do three return trips per hour in the summer months, he'd have an hourly wage of about €45. Let's also assume eight working hours and six days of work during the tourism season, and you end up with a monthly income of €8640 - all in cash, with no documentation whatsoever. On paper, the average income in Montenegro is a bit more than 500 Euros. Prices are obviously cheaper - you can get a decent meal for around €5 and groceries, too, are very cheap across the board. But given the many sports cars and SUVs we had seen throughout our stay in the country, we had already assumed that there must be something else not quite reflected in the official statistics. On our way back, we asked our young boat captain how the tax system worked in the country.
He smiled as he lit his cigarette: "This is the Balkans - nobody pays taxes!"
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Things to note
Where to go:
While we did not spend a lot of time there, and many articles see Podgorica only as an entrance door to prettier places, we rather enjoyed the restaurants and the decent nightlife of the capital. Many pleasant locations can be found around Bokeška street. Go check out the view over the city from the hill with the retro-futuristic looking radio tower. Pretty in the traditional sense? No. You'll take your Instagram selfies somewhere else. But the city has its own less obvious charm.
Perast and Tivat have a very different vibe - the former being an older coastal settlement with gorgeous views over the Bay of Kotor, the latter a more modern place with the Porto Montenegro, a marina and yachting location. Looking back, I'd rather stay in those places and make day trips to Kotor than the other way around.
Built straight into a steep mountain, Ostrog Monastery is one of the more impressive sights in Montenegro. It can be reached in about an hour by car from Podgorica and one can whistle the Indiana Jones tune all the way up the 3 km walk up the mountain. Built in the 17th century, the church was rebuilt in the early 20th century after a fire, but two little cave-churches were spared and still feature 400 year old frescoes on the walls. In addition the location offers a great view over the valley underneath.
Durmitor national park - Characterized and formed by many glaciers, the mountainous area is almost ridiculously beautiful. Sporting turquoise lakes, canyons, and rugged limestone peaks, I could have easily spent more time there.
Can be skipped: In my view, the coastal town of Budva - while it has a nice old town - is one of those cities that has gone down the tourism road too far. Many new boxy hotels and one of those beach promenades where an endless array of restaurants are built next to each other. But to be fair, the seafood we had there was excellent.
Getting around: Rent a car to move around. Roads are generally good, but keep an eye out for the traffic: most of the time, two narrow lanes are what is used by cars going in both directions to overtake one another in risky moves and sharp angles. Also, endless zig-zag streets through the mountains can take their toll on you after a few hours. Navigating is easy enough with a couple of offline maps on your phone, which leads me to a last point:
Roaming costs in Montenegro are comically high. You might want to get a prepaid card for a plus in flexibility.
