 |
| Montenegro means Black Mountain and there are plenty of them! |
 |
| A morning boat ride on a vast bay. |
Note: A word about the photos. None have been ‘Photoshopped.’ All the colors are just as the camera recorded them. The waters are the same blue, the mountains are as dark and rugged. Words like majestic, interesting, and quaint do not do justice to Montenegro.
Montenego is perhaps the last of under-discovered Europe. With good reason. Inaccessibility of air travel. Lack of easily accessible tourist destinations. Second world atmosphere.
We flew from Munich to Dubrovnik via Lufthansa. Then an almost four hour bus ride wound along the coast to the town of Bar. Not much in Bar, but the Hotel Princess is a modern refuge. Behind the hotel, a long, expansive promenade marks the seaside for evening strolls. The locals flock in droves. Baby carriages. Lovers. Sulky teenagers. Rambunctious children. Whole families. Coffee stands, beer stands, open-air fish restaurants, braced by palm trees and soft streetlights. It’s the place to be in the languid twilight.
Sun plays across the water near sunset. Suck in a lungful of the cascading mountain air. Smell the sea. Enjoy the rapid change from bursting sun to dimming gold to creeping night.
Shopping is minimal. Are you really a tourist who likes to get off the beaten track? This is the place to find out.
Montenegro has suffered through wars a-plenty. In the 1990s civil war saw the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Montenegro took the side of the Serbs. There are still signs in Dubrovnik (Croatia) decrying the villainy of Serb and Montenegran troops.
Today, all that has passed, at least in Montenegro. The Army has about 2000 troops. There is no Air Force. Hulks of the former Yugoslavian Navy sit rusting in harbors. Unmanned. Forgotten.
Along the coast, the landscape is dotted with half-constructed homes and buildings. A Chinese company was going to develop here, says our guide, but they pulled out. An English consortium was going to build a hotel over there, he says, pointing a finger at what looks like a construction site untouched for years.
Ah, the former glories. In the thirties, apparently the coast was ablaze with English, Italian, and German pleasure seekers. Nightclubs. Deluxe apartments. Beaches teeming with the well-to-do. Little evidence remains.
Montenegro is trying to join the European Union, hopefully by 2017 or so. Croatia is about to join this summer. For Montenegro, it’s an uphill climb and from my point of view, it would be like a poor section of Mexico becoming the fifty-first state.
Still, there is a lot to like in this far corner of Europe. The landscape is spectacular. I’ve seldom seen such majestic mountains, which rise to an average height of over 6000 feet and cover the vast majority of the land.
The Tara River Canyon is said to be the second deepest in the world, after the Grand Canyon. Though the great crag, hundreds of feet below, a river of pure aqua-colored water flows in an endless rush. Never seen water this color in the wild. When we stop at a shallow bend for a closer look, I find it absolutely clear, with every bottom pebble distinct.
Crossing the canyon at it’s deepest point is the Tara Bridge. Built between 1937 and 1940, the area was occupied by Italian forces in 1942. To halt the Italian advance, one of the bridge’s engineers, operating as a partisan, blew up the center span, only to be captured and executed. The bridge was rebuilt in 1946 and has been featured in several films, including the British World War II epic, Force 10 From Navarone.
With the imposing terrain, travel in Montenegro isn’t measured in kilometers, but in time. For five days straight, we spent about six hours per day on the bus.
We bussed to Orthodox monasteries, found deep-water lakes in the snow-crusted mountains, ate the freshest of fish at seaside restaurants, drank delightful beer, wine, and brandy (from the monasteries), and enjoyed fresh cheese and smoked ham in the heart of the rural countryside.
Underdeveloped, yes. Uninteresting, definitely not. Although not for the faint of heart traveler, Montenegro offers sights, tastes, and adventures you won’t find anywhere else.
Fast Facts
Population: 650,000
Capital: Podgorica; 152,000
Area: 3,812 square kilometers (5,333 square miles), about the size of Connecticut
Language: Montenegrin, Serbian, Albanian
Religion: Orthodox (65%), Muslim (19%), Roman Catholic (4%)
Currency: Euro
Life Expectancy: 73
GDP per Capita: U.S. $2,200
Literacy Percent: 97
 |
| A shallow portion of the Tara River Gorge |
 |
| Tara River Gorge, almost as deep as the Grand Canyon |
 |
| National Park, birch forest |
 |
| Ostrag Monastery built into the rocks in 1665: Serbian Orthodox |
