Dubrovnik and Montenegro
29 June 2009 | Cavtat, Croatia
B&K
Cavtat being such a decent little place, we were comfortable with leaving the boat in the anchorage here and so saved ourselves the hassle, and indeed the cash, of going into the Marina in Dubrovnik. It also gave us a chance to explore some of the local area.
On Saturday we took a short bus ride and explored Dubrovnik, it is such a beautiful city and a great way to start exploring is to circumnavigate the town by walking the city walls, perhaps the most iconic feature of the city and the Adriatic for that matter. We splurged on the portable audio tour so got a really good view of the history of the town as we walked around. The walls truly are magnificent, protecting the city throughout its history, the most recent being the 1991-95 conflict with Serbia. We had no idea the city was under siege to such an extent during this time. We then had a picnic near the old harbour (which is unfortunately too small and busy for yachties) and then explored through the narrow streets. The town itself is much like any old town. This one is well laid out by comparison but is still loaded with tourist shops and of course tourists. We didn't feel the need to spend much more time after the wall experience and headed back to the boat.
Sunday we hired a car and after watching some traditional folk dancing in a local village of Cilipi (bit dubious to begin with but it was actually really good stuff) headed across the border into Montenegro! Although the area looked like a more run down version of Croatia in places, the beautiful and fjord-like Boka Kotorska bay had us wishing we had sailed in there on our way up to Croatia. There was loads of room for GHOST on the quay at Kotor, another old-walled city. This time the city wall rises steeply up the mountain behind the town and resembles something more like the Great Wall of China complete with over 3,000 steps to the top. So after beer and pizza for lunch we set off and weren't disappointed by the view! After driving around the large bay we cut across a mountain pass to Budva which gave more of a view of life in inland Montenegro and gave Brad a bit of a headache after an hour or so of hairpin bends (50 odd) on the way up! As time was getting on we had a limited look at Budva and then headed back, our tiny Twingo proving it's worth by squeezing into the last possible bit of space on a ferry across the bay.
Montenegro really is a beautiful country. The towns can appear a little run down in parts but the coast line and the interior that we saw was naturally beautiful. At lunch we marvelled how a glace in one direction had you on a fjord-esq harbour, great for sailing but looking back over your shoulder you'd swear you where in the Alps. Rumour has it the Russians are investing heavily in the area and there is no doubt this part of the world will very shortly become a top 10 tourist destination, fingers crossed it can be controlled in some way, so as not to blow out to a gaudy, tacky tourist trap. Today however it is worth every effort to get there.
Amongst the hectic tourist stuff we got talking to a great Aussie couple off IADABA, the boat anchored next to us in the bay and had a couple of nights of drinking, dinner and great chats - Kate and Hugh it was great to meet you looking forward to catching up somewhere, sometime in the future! The weather has continued to be stormy all week with heavy rain at times but today has dawned sunny and bright (although the forecast suggests more inclement weather) so we plan to sail up past Dubrovnik (every sailor should do it once!) and on through the islands, first stop is Mljet...
PS More pictures on: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bradmcmaster1