Negro Monty's pine.
Hello everyone!
Who does not like snot, drool and other lyrics, please immediately go to the "Total" section - everything is short and to the point. And now, in fact, snot ...
The spontaneity of choosing the direction of flight seems to be turning into a pattern for me. I remember that I thought carefully about my first trips, read a lot of reviews, planned sightseeing, developed routes and even made a daily vacation plan. In a word, he prepared in the most pretentious way. Now the decision where to fly comes already at the travel agency - buying a tour and flying the next day. This is not good, but laziness, like a chronic illness, lives in me.
So, in October 2017, absolutely randomly, due to the prevailing circumstances and a series of events destined by fate, a country called Montenegro was chosen as the flight direction.
We (there were two of us) booked a two-star Korali hotel in the village of Sutomore for a period of 6 days. Breakfasts and dinners were included. About Montenegro, I, absolutely, knew only 2 facts: my colleague recently rested there and there are mountains. Everything!
Departure from Vnukovo on some kind of Boeing by the Russian airline, 3 hours of flight and a soft landing at a small airport in the city of Tivat. In short, everything is as usual... The gloomy sky and the boards caused a commotion. BiblioGlobus representatives pointed the finger at a white minivan whose driver had become a guide for a bunch of tourists it was transporting while they were being transported to their hotels. Let German. German, as a representative of the Russian-speaking population of this small country, told about some facts related to it. There are about 700 thousand local natives, there is no own production, the country draws its income from tourism. Previously, bauxites were mined and aluminum was produced, when all the bauxites were mined, production stopped.
This name (Montenegro) was attached to the country because of the dark color of the needles of the ship pine, which once covered the mountains of this area. Naturally, the pine was cut down.
So. . . After leaving the city of Tivat, the coastal serpentine began, and beautiful views of the winding coastline opened up. The sky brightened, the sun came out. Herman turned towards Budva and stopped near an iberostar hotel, which I found quite nice. The white car got rid of the family with the child and moved on along the coast. Then there was a turn to Sveti Stefan and a silicone girl with swollen lips got out near the hotel called "BMW". "Hotel", of course, is formally, in fact, a house for 2 families. The driver took us to a village called Sutomore, which took about an hour from the airport, taking into account the speed limit of 40-50 km/h. There was no scheduled meeting with the guide. “If you need something, call the guide yourself, ” Herman said.
Korali turned out to be a large boarding house, consisting of several buildings built (I think by Russians) during the time of the Soviet Union. The room has not been renovated since the time of that very scoop. Worn, almost to holes, shitty armchair, patches in the tiled floor, rust and torn bed linen served as attributes of this ascetic shelter from rain and wind. A well-located side-sea view balcony had 2 chairs familiar to tourists, a table and a rusty external air conditioner unit, the performance of which we were lucky not to check. The spacious bathroom, plagued by fungus and old rust stains, was ennobled with a slatted ceiling. From the short curtain of the shower stall (if you can call it that), the water flowed partly into the pan, partly onto the floor. I fixed the leaking toilet bowl - I was afraid I would not fall asleep to these sounds, because the door to the bathroom not only did not have a lock, but also did not close in principle.
Of the pluses, I can note soft clean towels and the presence of a balcony with a good view. Of the minuses - the lack of hot water (only warm) and all of the above. In general, I was satisfied with the housing - for such and such a price we could only spend the night, and, oddly enough, there was a bed in the room. Kohl already started about the hotel, so I will continue. In all these buildings, designed for hundreds of vacationers, 9 and a half tourists lived. There was a security guard, a couple of receptionists, maids and dining room staff. The rooms were cleaned properly and regularly.
A few words about the dining room separately. A vat of sour tomatoes, a vat of sour cucumbers, blue mashed potatoes, scraps of scrambled eggs, liver sausages, iced macaroni, and grey, terrifying ham were served for dinner (tea, coffee, water - for a fee).
Dry croissants, the worst butter in the world, tasteless bread, some kind of cereal, goat milk, kefir and a coffee machine were served for breakfast. In short, from all this range, I used only coffee in the morning. Tea, by the way, is served for dinner free of charge to guests with the “all inclusive” option. In addition, one cannot fail to mention the elevator, the door of which opens wide, and inside, when the cabin moves, the floors rush past you - a very strange apparatus! We went in it once for the sake of adrenaline. Enough about the hotel.
On arrival, it was necessary to look at the sea. At dusk, we moved towards the embankment, located 30 meters from the entrance to the hotel. Lil rain, the air temperature must have been around 18C. After the hotel "dinner" it was necessary to find a place where one could have dinner. Darkness, rain, a deserted embankment and a pack of angry dogs appeared before us. The mood turned bad. In some cafe, Caesar and pasta were ordered. Everything is edible.
Prices are as follows: 4-6 euros for a salad / pasta / pizza, 5-8 euros for chicken dishes, 9-15 euros for a steak. On the way back, for 6 euros, a bottle of local rose wine was bought, which was safely drunk on the balcony and turned out to be very pleasant. I slept badly because of the ugly hotel pillows and the specifics of pastel linen - a small sheet acted as a duvet cover, which constantly slipped and rolled up.
Day 2.
The second day began with breakfast, or rather, with a cup of coffee. The weather on the second day pleased with the sun and blue skies. Looking ahead, I will say that the air temperature during the day rose to 23-25C. After coffee, we went to the beach - long, deserted, pebbly and sandy, with a bunch of paid sunbeds near our hotel. But there was no one to take a fee, because along the entire coastline of the beach one could see only a couple of dozen people.
In general, this time of year in Montenegro is characterized by a low season, therefore there were very few tourists. The Adriatic Sea struck with the transparency of the water - very clean. Cousteau called the Adriatic the cleanest of the Mediterranean seas. The water is not very salty, there were no strong waves, the temperature is comfortable, in a word, the sea was very pleased. There is no underwater coastal world there, so not carrying a mask with you was the right decision. After swimming and taking a shower, it was decided to finally get out "into the people. " “There you can rent a car at every step. There are a lot of different small agencies, ” he (Herman) said. In fact, we found only one place in Sutomore with the words “Car rent” in small letters. A smiling woman offered a brochure with pictures of the car and a price tag of 35 to 45 euros per rental day. Was chosen diesel Hyundai i20.
However, it turned out that the car still needed to get to the nearby city of Bar, which I didn’t want to do at all. Then the woman called the owner (we will call him Ulviy) and, after talking with him, said that he would drive the car to the travel agency in an hour. With this good news, we went for a walk and took pictures in the direction of the embankment. An hour later, the car was brought by a girl (daughter of Ulviy), who put me behind the wheel and we went to the Bar to complete the rental documents. True, to the question: “Why is the red light on, and the machine writes“ Check break system! She couldn't answer. Ulviy, an older Serb who speaks fairly good Russian, said that it takes only 4 hours to get from the southwestern to the northeastern border. Unfortunately, he did not have a navigator at the moment, and they gave us a small map of the country with the words: “Yes, there is nowhere to get lost!
» With this important information and the key to the car, we went to look for a place where we could have lunch. Right next to the Ulviya Agency there was a small restaurant where 4 Cheese edible pasta was ordered. Bar - by Montenegrin standards a big city - turned out to be a pleasant place with a nice embankment and cozy cafes located on it. An hour walk along the port and the embankment gave us positive impressions and some good shots
If we happened to be in Bar, then on the same day (or rather, already in the evening) we should have gone to Ulcinj - the southernmost city of the country, bordering Albania.
It took about 40 minutes to drive 26 km to Ulcinj with stops for photographing, but it was not so easy for me to enter the city.
First, we drove past the road leading into the city, and ended up at some remote semi-wild campsite, where three locals were fishing with a seine on a sandy beach.
The sun was already reaching for the horizon, and hopes to have time to return to the Bar and have dinner before dark evaporated by the minute. As a result, on the second attempt, we managed to enter the city, which lies in a small bay with a very colorful embankment and is certainly worth a visit.
It took about an hour to walk around Ulcinj, and satisfied with the impressions received, we went to the Bar for dinner. The restaurant on the waterfront ordered a Greek salad, a plate of shrimp and bruschetta with tomatoes and mozzarella. Portions there are served twice as much as ours, while the quality of the dish itself is doubled, and the prices are slightly lower. A full dinner for two (without wine) cost 12-16 euros.
We drank wine every evening on the balcony.
Day 3.
An early rise promised a long day filled with vivid impressions. Convinced once again at breakfast of the inviolability of the price-quality ratio, we decided to eat somewhere along the way. Remembering the words of Ulviy, on the third day I planned to go around the whole country counterclockwise (4 hours north, 4 hours south back). Ahahaha, how naive and stupid I was!
The first item on the plan was to find a gas station. Although the arrow showed half a tank, I wanted to go from the coast to the depths of the mountains fully refueled. In addition, I was a little worried about the inscription “Check break system! » At the first available gas station, a full tank of diesel fuel was filled at a price of about 1 euro per liter. Turn to Podgorica and enter the 4-kilometer Sozina Tunnel - the only paid section of the road in the country. The tunnel fare of 2.5 euros is charged from Podgorica.
I remember that after the tunnel there was, in my opinion, the only section of the road where the speed limit was mind-blowing 100 km/h! While on other sections of the road 30-40-50.
On the way to the capital, the second point of the plan was to visit Skadar Lake - the largest on the Balkan Peninsula. A large body of water, not particularly picturesque, is located just on the way to the capital. The locals actively offer to go boating on the lake, but we did not.
It so happened that, having entered Podgorica, we immediately found ourselves in the historical, as it seemed to us, the center of the city with a dull square, the same dull administrative building on it and a monument in the form of some man on a horse. In a nearby cafe, breakfast became lunch at the same time.
A large plate of good risotto, a tray with mozzarella and tomato bruschettas pleasantly pleased with the quality, quantity and reasonable price. That's just the cappuccino in all the cafes was tasteless and over-extracted.
After a short walk around the area, it was decided to move on - to Kolasin. Photo stops, strong elevation changes, serpentine, and 40 km/h limits made the 72 km section of the track the equivalent of a 150 km section at home.
Fortunately, we did not have a chance to get to know the police officers standing with radars in the bushes - oncoming drivers kindly warned us by blinking their headlights. In the morning on the coast, I walked in shorts, approaching Kolasin in the afternoon, I was already dressed in a warm fur jacket.
Kolasin - a small mountain town with houses for visitors to the ski base, the central square of which is lined with wooden blocks, did not make much of an impression.
The visit to the city did not have a specific purpose, it was just on the way to the Dzhurdzhevich bridge - the main attraction to which we were heading. It is only 21 km from Kalashin to Mojkovac along the Tara River Gorge, which is the second deepest in the world after the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.
Mojkovac lies at the fork between Bijelo Polje and Zabljak. A pretty town with beautiful views and a picturesque bridge across the Tara.
And the devil pulled me to go to Belo Pole! I don’t know why, but I decided to go straight, although I had to turn to Zabljak - just between Mojkovac and Zabljak is the very monumental bridge of Dzhurdzhevich.
In short, after 3 kilometers we stopped in front of a long column of standing cars. I didn’t really want to be smarter than everyone and go in the opposite direction. After 10 minutes of waiting, I decided to go find out what the matter was (I thought there was an accident ahead). When trying to find out from a group of truckers what happened, neither knowledge of Russian nor knowledge of English saved me - these languages were alien to our brotherly people. Walked down the mountain road. At the beginning of the column of dozens of different cars, the road was blocked by a red and white ribbon and a man in a special. form with a staff in hand. This man, after several unsuccessful attempts to explain to me why the road was still blocked, pointed with his finger at the first car in the convoy with an elderly Serb bored inside and made a gesture with his hand to go with him to this car.
The age-old driver, using a set of several familiar Russian words, explained that road work was underway - the road was blocked, it was being repaired. And, indeed, two time intervals were indicated on the plate nearby: 8:30-11:30 and 13:30-16:30. And the time was about 16 hours. There in the mountains they don’t bother, they just block traffic and work. On the way back to the car, I had to explain to many people what happened downstairs - why everyone was standing. Although the Serbian and Russian languages are consonant, unhindered understanding is completely absent. I had to wait in the car for another half an hour. It was a pity that time was spent vegetating in this traffic jam. And this is even taking into account the fact that we did not yet know that we were going in the wrong direction! After a three-hour stop, the drivers of the formed column moved 70 km / h in sections with a limit of 30. I want to note that the quality of their roads deserves an excellent rating!
Roads in the mountains throughout the country are at least two-lane, without potholes or cracks.
Unexpected names of villages and incomprehensible signs made us think, and we decided to stop at one of the roadside cafes to ask for directions, and at the same time, perhaps, have a bite to eat. Spacious, for a hundred seats, an empty restaurant, two young people and a girl near the bar. To the question: “Where are we at all? ”, she mumbled that she herself was not local - a Serb. But the guys suggested that we were going in the wrong direction and we needed to turn around. For decency, as a token of gratitude, we ordered a drink from something and boiling water, which they positioned as “tea”. Anger at the mass of wasted time had a direct effect on the nerve endings in the right foot, which in turn had a direct effect on the gas pedal.
It was getting dark. . . It has long become clear that it is not possible for a typical tourist to travel around the country in 1 day, and, moreover, in 8 hours. In this mountainous outback, the patrols, hiding with radars in their cars, have already ceased to get in the way, and in general, there were few cars on the road. After a few kilometers, we turned right, drove into some ethnic village - again in the wrong direction. Back! As a result, having entered Maikovac, everything became obvious. It was getting dark. . . It turned out that there were no straight sections of the route on the section of the road from Majkovac to the Dzhurdzhevich bridge. A narrow mountain road with continuous tight closed turns and significant elevation changes led along the cliff. The serpentine here was the toughest. There weren't even speed limit signs - they don't make sense. It was getting dark… Well, where else to drive a Hyundai with broken brakes! ?
When the speed reached 70-80 km / h, doubts were heard from the next seat about the reliability of the car and about my driving skills. When we finally got to the bridge, it was almost dark.
The bridge strikes with its majesty and beauty, its height is 172 meters, and its length is 365 meters. The photos are just amazing!
Next to the bridge there is a small monument to its chief architect, who was caught and thrown off the bridge by the Italian fascists for organizing a directed explosion of the central span of the bridge so that those same fascists could not cross the gorge.
Near the bridge there is a tourist camping center with great views of the bridge and the gorge. We spent the night in the same house.
Day 4.
The morning was sobering with temperature and humidity.
After breakfast, we moved to Zabljak, entering which it immediately became clear that there was absolutely nothing to do in this dull place. Further, in the direction of movement to the south-west towards the coast, the morning haze, haze and filth began to gradually dissipate, the rays of the sun began to cut through dense clouds, the temperature rose. We were moving back to Podgorica. On the way, passing a picturesque, tiny town lost in the mountains, we saw how the locals sorted the meat carcass brought there in a van for jamon.
We also stopped by the unremarkable town of Niksic for a snack.
On the way to Podogorica, after visiting the bridge, the next important sight was the monastery of Vasily Ostrozhsky (Ostrog).
A narrow one-lane road along a steep cliff with pockets for traveling with oncoming traffic led to Nizhny Ostrog, where a boy is kept, whose hands the Turks chopped off because he refused to let go of the cross.
We did not get to the Upper Ostrog, because we thought that the Lower Ostrog was the Upper Ostrog. The road up to the monastery is long, steep and hot (the sun is beating down). It is believed that those who reach the monastery on foot, all sins are forgiven. The views there are, of course, amazing.
Before Podgorica, we stopped at the old capital of the country - Cetinje. The small town did not touch either the streets, or the monuments, or the architecture. Having traveled there for some time in circles (we got lost), we headed towards the current capital. This time we entered from the side of modern buildings in the form of massive multi-storey reinforced concrete structures.
Fountains, lawns and flowering trees delighted the eye after the dull mountain huts.
We ate in a cafe, walked a little and continued our way towards the coast. The road leading from the mountains offers great views of the coastal cities. Several pictures were taken at the observation decks.
It was already dark when we arrived at the hotel. It was very pleasant to plunge into the clear evening sea after two days without a shower.
Day 5.
On the penultimate day of our vacation, we planned to go around all the coastal cities from south to north - Petrovac, Rafailovici, Sveti Stefan, Budva, Kotor, Perast, Herceg Novi. Rafailovichi looked like our Sutomore, only bigger. A typical coastal town with cafes, magnets and Chinese knick-knacks.
Sveti Stefan is famous for his island hotel for stars and all sorts of VIPs, the entrance to it is forbidden for servants. I really liked the beach there - clean sand.
But there was no time for it - there were still many places to visit. Further Budva. Budva is the largest of the coastal cities with intense, by local standards, traffic. Tourists come here in droves - in the heart of the party and nightlife of Montenegro.
Leaving the car in a paid parking lot, we went for a walk along the embankment. The embankment is a port with boats and expensive yachts, with a developed infrastructure, numerous cafes and the old part of the city with narrow streets. The latter did not make much of an impression. There, on the embankment, we had a bite to eat in an open restaurant. Prices are high, portions are smaller than everywhere else - a classic of the genre.
We stayed there for about an hour and drove further to Kotor, on the way to which we got stuck in a traffic jam resulting from an accident. In a standing position, about half an hour of precious time was lost. Kotor has its own fjord, there is a port, there is a historical part of the city, there is history... In general, Kotor, from an excursion point of view, is much more interesting than Budva. It was very difficult to find a parking place, we found a place only on a paid one. The port is pretty, the opposite shore is visible, cruise liners are in the port.
That's where the historical part of the city is good! Beautiful ennobled old houses, stone streets with, again, numerous restaurants, crowds of noisy tourists.
The swordfish served didn't taste any better than the hake, but it was worth a try just for the name's sake.
A measured meal raised our spirits and with the thoughts that it was already evening, and we still had to go back, we headed towards Perast. Perast is a tiny town with only one street, not far from Kotor. Quite a picturesque place worth visiting.
There we found that dusk had already begun to descend. The last point was a certain Herceg Novi, which took about an hour to reach from Perast. We arrived there already dark and tired. Well, what is there ...? Well, a fortress, well, some steps, well, stone streets, well, cafes again, well, an old tower clock ...
We took a walk there and, falling down from fatigue, wandered to the car. There, in Herceg, they bought good Montenegrin wine for relatives and friends. Along the entire coast, I now made not a cheerful, but a tiring journey back to Sutomore.
Day 6.
The flight was supposed to take place in the evening, so we had a whole half day to rest. In the morning we reached the beach: sunbathed, swam. Then we went back to Podgorica to walk there and have lunch. Pre-filled diesel up to half a tank. It turns out that a whole tank was enough to go around the whole country. We quickly got to the capital along the already familiar road and just as quickly got our bearings there. We walked, visited some monumental temple and went to eat. Pizza and Greek salad were ordered in an open cafe. Now I know 3 things about this country: a colleague was there recently, there are mountains, there are big tasty portions for a small fee. It may seem that I often mention food in its qualitative and quantitative characteristics. And indeed often, because material food is important! And it's stupid to argue with that.
We returned to our village to the place where we were supposed to bring the car.
And there's no one there - it's closed! We got through to Ulviy, he asked us to bring the car to him in Bar, and back, he promised that we would go to his daughter. On that they agreed. His daughter drove us back to the hotel on our own Hyundai.
The day before departure, a call was made to the guide to remind him of our existence. He said that a car would come for us at the specified time. So it was. We were taken by car to the airport of Podgorica.
After arriving at Vnukovo, the porthole showed brown-gray buildings and small rare patches of dirty snow. Hello, Roissia!
Conclusion.
I really liked the country, the trip exceeded all expectations. The hotel corresponded, as I mentioned in the text, to an unshakable price-quality ratio. Gorgeous views, clean warm sea, enough to visit the number of interesting places and attractions.
Ease of renting a car, no need for an international driver's license. Visa-free regime (at the time of vacation). And, of course, food! =) Large portions, quality products, low prices.
I really liked the people. In a previous review, I wrote about China and the Chinese, who reminded me of brainless annoying insects. So, the fraternal Serbian people conquered me with their sincerity, goodwill and openness. The best nation I have not yet met (subjectively).
Total.
The country is not for a hotel holiday, but for those who love to travel. Good hotels are very expensive and meals are not included, therefore, most people prefer Turkey's all-inclusive five-star hotels for the same money. You need to rent a car and drive around the country on your own. Knowledge of English is not required.
Magnificent views from observation platforms, wonderful mountain air, clean sea, cheap delicious food in cafes and restaurants, kind and sincere local people.
Must have places to visit: Dzhurdzhevich Bridge, Ostrog, Podgorica, Ulcinj, Sveti Stefan, Kotor, Perast. The rest is at will and possibilities.
Necessary and sufficient, in my opinion, (provided that you do not sit on the beach all day) will be the duration of stay from 7 to 9 days.
