Montenegro

Not particularly prompt departure from Dubrovnik, but we're not famed for our early rises. There was quite a queue at the Montenegro border crossing, probably because most people, like us, had to buy car insurance and it wasn't possible to do it before the check point. All that bought and approved (and Ben having had to use the world's worst toilet, think Trainspotting but worse - lucky he's a boy) we were on our way.

First stop, Kotor. An amazing walled town nestled into a fjord ... yes they have them in southern Europe too! The town is overlooked by some impressive walls and fortifications:


Inside the town the streets are like a labyrinth; it's lucky the place is very small so you're never lost for long. This church, from the 1200s, was in a square at a jaunty angle which maybe doesn't come across in the picture:

After getting lost and finding ourselves reasonably quickly, we got on the road to the day's final destination: Cetinje. The route we took was non-direct to say the least as it snaked up the mountain. But Ben enjoyed the hair-pin turns and it meant we were able to get some fantastic views of the fjord and Kotor:

And for those who have been wondering how the clio is getting on ... here she is in all her dirty glory!

With all the winding and twisting we managed about 40km in a couple of hours! Cetinje is the former royal capital but has seen better days. Looking for somewhere to stay was a little tricky as there didn't seem to be any hotels, hostels or information. Luckily we asked the right people for help who invited to stay with them for the princely sum of 10 Euros. Tight old Ben was very impressed. They had a lovely little granny flat and kept trying to feed and water us; Joanna left with a couple of boxes of tea because they decided she must be missing it!

Not so much to picture here, but this is the monastary which apparently is home to St John the Baptist's mumified hand and a piece of the cross:


Got a bit caught up in the town's museums because Ben was keen to practice his reading of the cyrillic alphabet - show off! The museums were fascinating, charting the history and culture of a country we didn't know much about. So we didn't end up leaving Cetinje in the morning so much as after 4pm ...

Although it doesn't look far on a map, getting to the Serbian border took quite a bit of time because of the all the narrow, windy roads carved into the steep mountain sides:

The landscapes really are amazing, with the tunnels roughly hewn into the rock, and the steep, steep, cliffs on the box-like mountains.

Got to Serbia around 6, not sure if we needed a green card. Insurance offices still seemed to be open, but after a long time recording all our details and various forms of ID, we didn't turn out to need any. We're pretty sure we didn't anyway, as they certainly didn't make us buy it...

And so we drove on into Serbia, unsure where to spend the night...