Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Today’s stats:
Distance traveled today: 70.6 km
Total trip distance: 2487 km
Max speed: 53.71 km/ hour
Average speed: 16.42 km / hour
Total time biking: 4:18
Total days biking: 43
Spending: 55 euros

Slow news day today, folks, which can be summed up as follows: walled city fatigue, popcorn and rain.

We set off for the second newest country in the world, after Kosovo. Montenegro voted for independence from Serbia in 2006, and has been its very own run-down country since. Ok, so I judge quickly.

The first 18km from Dubrovnik felt more like 40 thanks to my dear friends the mountains. But after Cavtat, the rest of the way to and into Montenegro was flatter than we’ve seen for a long time.

The Croatian and Montenegrin customs offices at the border were a few hundred meters apart. “Normally, they are side by side,” Richard whispered to me afterwards. “But these guys used to kill each other. So I guess they needed a buffer zone.”

My first impression of Montenegro, which means literally Black Mountain, was grey and dull, like the sky today. Between the signs for wild boar crossings, the pair of black underwear on the road and the African-style metal shacks selling goods on the side of the road, I wasn’t blown away.

The weather forecasters must have been happy because it rained, right on schedule, at around 1:30pm and for the rest of the afternoon. We caught a free 10-min ferry from Kamenari across the Bay of Kotor, where mountains slope directly into the water, forming a … you guessed it, natural World Heritage Site. We skipped the accompanying medieval fortified city of Kotor, because I simply couldn’t stand seeing another walled city.

We pedaled in hard rain for a few minutes before deciding to call it quits and finding a sobe (room for rent) in the house of a nice, old man called Budimir. We made popcorn in the kitchen and watched Wesley Snipes and Morgan Freeman movies on the DVD player. Looks like we’re both craving a home wherever we can create one.