One sleepless night before the departure. Two bags. Three weeks in Montenegro.
COVID-19 was long forgotten. Airports were not the empty shells from their past, but packed with people eager to travel once again.
The capital of Montenegro is small. A few government buildings, a river that carries surprisingly clear water, an old town district that doesn’t look that old, a university for 20 thousand students and next to it a famous district called Blok 5.
Three weeks is more than enough to see the whole country and then some. Due to logistical reasons I couldn’t visit the neighbor Albania in the south, nor Serbia in the north, nor Kosovo in the east, nor Bosnia in the west. After realizing that I had done a full circle around the country, and still had some time left, I did another one.
I’ve been to some places twice. Coming back to a familiar place felt almost like coming back home.
I was looking forward to see some of the brutalist or socialist architecture that the former Yugoslavia countries are famous for. There were only a few such buildings, however. I was hoping to see more.
I got a SIM card for one month with 1TB data included. It cost me only 20 EUR. The SIM card was one of the reasons for being stuck in Montenegro. I needed internet and didn’t want to go through the effort of getting another one in another country.
The tentacles of Chinese capital investments reach into all Balkan countries. I have known that ever since I visited North Macedonia.
On the third day I drove on a newly constructed highway from Podgorica to the north east, ending in one of the least populated areas of the country. A few days before I was to leave the country and fly back I was crossing under that very highway, driving under a large bridge across the Moravia river when I saw barracks covered with large Chinese letters. It was a camp for chinese workers who were undoubtedly working on the highway.
It looked almost like a small Chinese exclave.
I had bad luck with the weather. It was raining every day for the first two weeks. Even the locals told me such weather was unusual for that time of year.
My first day out walking through National Park Prokletije started well. But the weather turned from dry and hot to humid, and then to thunderstorms. I wasn’t the only one who came down from the mountain soaked.
The mountains in Prokletije are not too dissimilar to the Alps. Standing tall with jagged ridges, covered by snow in the winter. The peaks still had snow in June. More than I had expected.
More than once I crossed snow fields on steep and exposed slopes. Or climbed near vertical rock walls. Alone, without crampons, or harness, or any other equipment.
When every mistake can be deadly, my fear disappears. My movements become slower. Controlled. Every placement of hand or foot is preceded with careful consideration. For there is no room for a careless slip.
In and around Prokletije, every morning hundreds of people wake up to walk the next section of the Peaks of the Balkans trail. It’s a 192km circuit which takes hikers through the mountains northern Albania, eastern Kosovo and southern Montenegro.
Many national parks and protected areas extend beyond the borders of Montenegro into neighbouring countries. Those parks used to be contiguous areas that were only recently cut into parts after the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Montenegro became an independent country only in 2006. Before that it was part of Serbia and Montenegro, which used to be known until 2003 as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Nobody is there to check the passports when crossing the borders on remote trails. Sometimes the only indication that one is about to enter into a different country is a lone border stone.
Almost all of Montenegro is brown bear territory. Even though I have not seen any bears myself, they were always in the back of my mind during nights camping alone in the mountains.
Skadar Lake is a large, shallow lake on the border between Montenegro and Albania. Its water level fluctuates throughout the year so much that certain sections become impassable between mid summer and when the water level starts rising again in winter. I was lucky to be one one of the last boat rides through the shallower parts of the lake.
Skadar Lake is also one of the largest bird reserves in Europe. The wetlands in the northern part of the lake, where water lilies and reed provide the perfect habitat for water birds, were teeming with wildlife.
Ulcinj Salina is another important bird habitat. Former saltworks that was shut down in 2013, and since then turned into a nature park. It is famous for its large, permanent Flamingo population.
The price for entering national and nature parks varies between 3 and 5 EUR per day. To be paid in cash or by card, but only when the guard is present at the entrance. Those who sneak into parks during early morning or late afternoon get to enjoy a free day.
Biogradska Gora was the last national park I visited. It was the seventh protected area that I walked through on my trip to Montenegro.
Amongst foreign tourists with a car I seemed an exception. I flew into Podgorica, rented a car in the country, and stayed there for three weeks. A lot of tourists who came with their own car were transiting Montenegro on their way to one of the countries further south.
We will meet again when the time is right away. In a different place where the roads collide you say.