From the far

So, busy times since the last post. We have been from Vienna down to Ljubjana, Slovenia then onto Split and Dubrovnik in Croatia, briefly through Bosnia and finally down to Herceg Novi and Kotor in Montenegro.

The mix of train travel and coaches has been good with some amazing train journeys through stunning scenery. Coach journeys have been mercifully short and there has been no return of the elephantitus legs that the last 11 hour coach journey created.

Ljubljana was amazing. Beautiful old town with lazy riverside bar scene and well mixed mojitos. Some rather crazy and slightly less artistic graffitti but I am sure they will get better. The hostel was in an old prison with the cell doors intact and a burger that could have easily passed for prison food, so all in all a good sense of authenticity.

One of the best things about just bumming around down the coast is the trust that you will always find somewhere to stay. I hate booking anywhere and like just turning up in various coach/train stations and waiting to be invited back to the appartment of a random old woman. Unfortunately I never get anywhere as Jo always tags along but the accomodation is always fantastic. This seems to be how it works down here – widows and families have a separate room or part of the house they rent out. The system works well and you actually get to meet the locals and share meals, beer and strange chocolate cake things that don’t taste too good. Aside from the chocolate cake – a great way to travel.

So after Slovenia we sloped down to Split which was nice in a touristy sort of a way and we got an apartment a stones throw away from the train station. this was great due to it being in the centre of down and only a short distance to carry our packs but not so good from a managing to sleep perspective. After a night of 45 min naps rather than a restful 8 hours we set off again down to Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik is exceptionally beautiful and definitely worthy of spending some time. It has a sort of picture postcard quality everywhere you look. The walk around the town walls was a good way to see the town but after some fruitless negotiation we decided to move on down to Montenegro in hope of making up some of the budget overspend.

After a couple of interesting passport inspection debacles that Jo has described in detail we made it to Herceg Novi. A nice little town but dominated by a rather cheesy beach bar scene that played bass thumping euro pop tunes on a crowded pebble beach about 50 metres square. Not feeling the love in this, and not wanting to sunbathe on a small hanky, we decided to hop on another bus down to Kotor. That was definitely the right move.

Kotor is the site of the largest fjord in Southern Europe. The bus journey was somewhat hair-raising and passed through amazing mountains and hills. Montenegro feels more like the Eastern Europe we were looking for. By that I don’t just mean cheaper it is just more raw and more fun.

Kotor seems to cater mainly to Russians rather than Europeans and as you walk down the beach you see lots of big Russian guys who might have mafia connections with girls who look like they have just finished a shift at Stringfellows. The harbour here has some amazing yachts and the Casino Royale has just moored (is that the right term?). From what I can make out the Casino Royale is some sort of crazy super yacht with its own website dedicated to it.  We noticed it when we walked back after an afternoons sunbathing and Jo started dreamily blurting out some Daniel Craig fantasy about being invited onto the yacht. I am still not sure whe knew she was saying it all out loud.

So now back to the apartment for dinner.  We are staying with a lovely family who are charging us 15 euros a night for a large bedroom, kitchen, private bathroom and lovely sun terrace.  Great value but we were a little hesitant before we got there due to a language barrier and having to follow the woman for about a mile up the mountain.  But the place is excellent and Jo is going to make her pasta extravaganza accompanied by a bottle of Montenegros finest red wine.