Four days in Montenegro

From November 12, 2021 to November 14, 2021

We continue our journey by Montenegro, a small country that we should have visited last June, on the occasion of a week of vacations. The COVID-19 finally thwarted our plans, forcing us to visit the island of Corfu instead. Which wasn't such a bad alternative.

And what can be said, in retrospect, about Montenegro is that it has been the country that has caused us the most boredom and stress so far.

On arrival, a customs officer not happy

Friday morning, we take the bus in the early afternoon to Kotor, a small town in Montenegro, very close to the Bosnian border. We are relieved to leave Bosnia, and we hope to leave behind the bad weather and Victor's bronchitis. At that time, we did not know yet that trouble would follow us until Montenegro.

In the bus, the sun accompanies us, it is pleasant. The temperature is mild, it is almost 18 degrees. The road is beautiful and offers us an excellent panorama on the sea and the surrounding mountains.

Arrived at the Bosnian border, the customs officer asks us to show her some receipts of rent of accommodation. Victor hastens to bring out the booking vouchers of the different accommodations we have rented, but it is not enough. What she really wants is to verify that the owners of the apartments have paid their taxes. She warns us: it is compulsory to leave the country and lets us pass. She says the same thing to all the other people in the bus.

A few meters further, the Montenegrin border is waiting for us and we know it: it might not pass. It turns out that Montenegro does not recognize the COVID QR code of the European Union and it is stipulated, on the site of the embassy, that it is necessary to have two doses of vaccines to enter the country. Victor and I only have one. Since we had the COVID last November, the French government authorized only one dose of vaccine while considering our vaccination as complete. The mention 1/1 on our vaccination receipt confirms this.

Unfortunately, this mention jumps to the eyes of the customs officer who tells us: it pauses "problem" (which is a bit scary, because he keeps repeating this word).

We explain him the situation and he asks us to show him the test of positivity to the Covid that we passed last November (when we were sick). In the meantime, he asks his colleagues, who are also categorical about the necessity to have the two doses. In short, we look for this famous test of positivity (that we store on Drive). Obviously, none of our phones has network in Montenegro. Our research, too long for his taste, begins to be impatient. Then when he asks us the date of our test and that we answer him November, he gives us back our passports and makes us pass. We are relieved (even if, what could have happened to us of worse is to make an antigenic test or PCR).

Back in the bus, we finish our journey while sending mails to the French embassies in Albania and in Turkey, our next steps, in order to know the possibilities of obtaining a second dose of vaccine.

Discovering the country

Kotor

It is not difficult to fall under the charm of Kotor. An old town listed as a UNESCO heritage site, a charming little port, a seaside promenade, cats on every corner, majestic mountains and the blue of the Adriatic: everything is gathered to spend a great time. Especially since we are not polluted by the mass tourism that can happen here during the high season.

We climb the 1350 floors that separate us from the fortress of Saint John. Perched at 260 meters of altitude, it dominates Kotor. Its 4,5 km of ramparts are impressive. At the top, we have a superb view of the old town and the Lovćen peak (the mountain in front). We explore the ruins and discover that we can reach the city by another way. We have to take a ladder to get down on the other side of the fortifications through an opening in the wall (not a very intuitive path). The path we take, nicknamed "the zig-zag path", you may have guessed it, because of its particular shape, allows us to stop and drink some pomegranate juice made by the inhabitants of the city. Unfortunately this is not the season for us, everything seems to be closed.

But we find bottles of home-made juice on the market. We would have bought some, if the saleswoman had not proposed us 8 euros the bottle in first price (the normal price varies between 0,80 and 2€). At this price, we did not even want to stop longer to negotiate. Instead, we buy clementines at 1€ the kilo.

We take the bus to join a small city in some kilometers of Kotor: Perast. It is a very charming place, the seaside is well arranged, the restaurants are very expensive for the country, but not surprising considering the population present here. By advancing a little in seaside, we find a restaurant which proposes a typical local menu (fish and seafood) and also, a Cuban menu, realized by the native chef of Cuba. We say to ourselves that it is rather original to come to Perast to eat Cuban and as we never had the occasion to taste the Cuban food, we try the blow. I am delighted to eat a reasonable quantity of vegetables. That changes the French fries which accompany the majority of the European dishes.

Once we finished our delicious lunch, we try to find a boat to go to the island Our Lady of the Rock. Again, we feel that the prices will be higher than usual as we approach the boatman, who offers us a ride at 10€ per person for only a few minutes of navigation. Finally, we decide to observe the church Our-Lady and its rock from the mainland (and that, it is free).

We take the bus back to Kotor and go straight back to our room to rest (and digest). We prepare our arrival in the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, the next day.

Podgorica

Upon arrival in Podgorica, we head for the old town, which is very quickly explored as only a few ruins remain. To understand why it is important to put Podgorica in context: bombed more than 70 times during World War II, it was almost wiped off the map. Since the acquisition of its independence in 2016 from Serbia, Podgorica is in full development, which creates a great ambivalence: the brand new business buildings are next to the old and dilapidated residential buildings. On one side, new and very well maintained districts and on the other side, whole areas left to the abandon.

We have lunch in a typical restaurant, just in front of the clock tower (the only monument left from the pre-war period). In Montenegro, we eat a lot of meat. And the pieces come by two or three in the plate. I ordered a veal steak, I got two on my plate. Five minutes later, the restaurant manager brings me a new plate, with a new steak on it, and he explains: "I thought your portion was too small, so I'll bring you another one to complete it". I didn't expect to eat so much meat!

It is with a full stomach that we leave, towards the Orthodox Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, built on a vacant lot from 1993 to 2013. We are amazed by its architecture. The base is composed of rough-hewn rocks, it is more beautiful.

We return then to our lodging to rest before going out again to have a drink in the evening. We chose the perfect moment to return to the main square of the city: it is the opening of the Christmas market. We attended the illumination of the decorations and we tasted a good hot wine.

When trouble shows up...

The next day, we go directly to the train station. We are going to recover our rented car at the airport of Podgorica. Here, no bus or tramway, only a train that drops us off 20 minutes from the airport or cabs. For financial reasons, we chose the train, which is already about 30 minutes late. Not on time, certainly, but authentic that it is certain! We go up in the train and we choose our compartment. The controller passes to obliterate our tickets. 10 minutes later, the train stops in the middle of the rails. We know that we have to stop at the first stop, but is it really a stop? Victor opens the door, no platform, nothing. We get off, not very sure of ourselves. But I don't have time to close the door before the train starts again. We see a small white hut with an "aerodrome" sign. At least, we are in the right place! Now we have to find the airport. We entrust this heavy task to our friend Google Maps which will be more likely to find it, since there is no sign to help us. I am very surprised: the train is the only way for tourists to get to the airport and there is no sidewalk between the station (or rather the rails) and the airport. We walk along the road.

We go to the counter of the car rental company where we made our reservation on the Carigami website two days earlier. And the problem does not take long to appear: the rental company does not want to accept the credit card for the deposit, because it is indicated on its software that it is a debit card. We explain to him that we have already used this credit card many times to rent many cars, in many countries, without ever having any problem. He doesn't want to hear it. We try a second credit card, which his software does not accept either. A third one? No, not even a third one. None of our bank cards pass his control.

The only solution, according to him, is to pay an additional insurance, which adds 120€ to our bill (and which costs much more than a car rental for six days: about 40€). This insurance is perfectly covered by our credit cards. We are not satisfied with this solution and we understand that we will not be able to get the car we booked.

…We had to adapt

We are very upset about this issue, as we were looking forward to this car trip. Moreover, we are not sure if we will be able to get a refund for our reservation. In our minds, this is money and time lost. What to do now? Renting another car is not an option: it would be too expensive and the credit card problem might come up again. We decide to stop the expenses for Montenegro and to leave from this afternoon for our next stage: Albania.

We take a cab (Tesla) to go to the bus station of Podgorica and we reserve our tickets of bus. While waiting, we are going to have lunch in the restaurant next door and we receive a call of Carigami which informs us that we shall be refunded of half on our reservation (it is already that).

We just have to go up in the bus to leave the country. The driver checks our tickets (bought at the counter of this same bus station one hour earlier), and does not want to accept them. He tells us that they are not tickets. We breathe a good blow and we explain him gently that we have just bought them at the counter. He looks again, shrugs his shoulders. Some minutes later, we are in the mini bus direction Albania.

Goodbye Montenegro, this evening, we shall be in Albania!