We had breakfast and met Nemanja and Yulia at 9:00am. Once again, the forecast called for rain for almost every hour.
We did not have lunch included so we stopped at a bakery to pick up a sandwich. We got a warm ham and cheese to go with our plums from yesterday. We drove to an apartment where Nemanja knows the owners and he could park the car. We took a taxi to the trailhead which was on the opposite side of the Bay from Old Town Kotor (Muo).
The trail was the Old Austro-Hungarian Road which was in excellent shape. We started climbing the switchbacks immediately and the views of Kotor Bay were getting better and better. It was a hot, humid day and some of us (Sue) were sweating a lot. When we reached the ridge, there was an Austrian fortress. We did not go in because it was evidently filled with trash. Some of the buildings were in good condition. We viewed the information board and Nemanja gave us some of the historical facts. Also at this point you could see Tivat Bay and Tivat Airport.
Around a corner we could not see was Herceg Novi which is evidently the harbor where all the big yachts are. At this plateau, there is a house surrounded by trash, and a lot of goats, pigs and chickens. Nearby, several campers were also taking up residence. The trail became a gravel road along the ridge dividing the Bay of Kotor and the Bay of Tivat. The views of both were spectacular. After following this ridge quite awhile, we began climbing to the top of a mountain peak. Some of the black clouds floating around were intimidating, but they always went the other way and we had unmatched views of 360 degrees. Wow! What a place to enjoy our lunch. After many photos, we began our descent and it was not terribly steep in the beginning but gradually got steeper and rockier. At one spot there was an abandoned village overgrown with moss. It looked like a fairyland. The last mile or so was very treacherous with steep, uneven rocks. We were glad we had hiking poles and happy when we made it down. We wished that the monk with one hand had built the trail! We made it to the village of Prcanj where we saw a 500 year old olive tree.
We called a taxi to take us back to our car and while we waited along the waterfront there were several fishermen who had caught many small fish. They had the fish just laying on the cement near the water. One of the fish was working very hard to get back to the water so Nemanja helped it along. He figured it deserved to live since it was working so hard.
The taxi came and we got back to our car and drove to Perast. It was our last night so Nemanja made a reservation for all of us at the Little Bay in Kotor. We all wanted a shower after such a steep, hard hike on a warm, humid day so we met at 7:00.
When we got to Kotor, we parked in the same lot as last time and walked several blocks to the restaurant. It seemed pretty empty for 7:30 at night. We took a table outside right over the water and had some interesting conversations. We had spent many, many hours with them between the driving, hiking and touring. Both couples decided on the seafood plates for 2 which included squid, mussels, prawns, two types of fish, seafood risotto, black risotto, Swiss chard with potatoes. We also ordered some tapenade for sharing which came with a warm, soft pita-type bread. They ordered a salad which we all shared. The dinner and company was good and then they presented us with a large bottle of brandy from Nemanja’s uncle which we had tried earlier and is excellent and two olive tree wood spoons. We were very lucky that we had these two as our guides and companions for eight days.
Back to Perast where we enjoyed some wine on our private restaurant patio on our last night on the Montenegro coast.
2025-02-14