Before we left Australia Di, Urs & I had decided to do a day trip to Montenegro. We had hired a private driver based on Tripadvisor reviews & hoped for the best.....especially as they said no prepay was necessary. Just pay on the day.

Our driver, Jake arrived at the meeting point the same time we did, so off to a good start. We headed out of Dubronvnik & hadn't travelled very far when the straffic stopped. There had been a busrt water pipe up at the hydro electric plant on the hill that sent water flowing over the road making it impossible for traffic to pass.

Eventually the fire brigade cleared the road as the water flow had been stemmed. Traffic started moving & we set off towards the Croatia - Montenegro border control.

Jake decided to use the smaller & lesser known border crossing route as there were a few tour buses ahead of us due to the landslide on the road.

Our driver gave us the history & background to the 1991 war between Serbia (including Montenegro & Bosnia) & Croatia. He explained that Croatia was under attack from almost all sides & much of the area around Dubrovnik was bombed, resulting in a lot of damage & loss of property (and many lives). Driving off the tourist track we witnessed the damage to houses & farms, many people were not able to rebuild because of the cost & the government was spending their money on public buildings & roadways to make Croatia attractive to tourists. Tourism is now the countries biggest source of income. Although only young (36) our driver had lived through the war & told us his family's story, including his father being shot, tortured & then imprisoned for 3 years. It is very hard for us to comprehend what people so young have lived through in this day & age. It was amazing & very sobering listening to his personal story & how he & many Croatians have overcome the ravages of war.

After passing through the first border gate leaving Croatia we then travelled through 'no-man's land', a strip of land between the two countries approx.1.5kms long, to deter illegal border crossings landmines have been planted either side of the road!!!!

The scenery along the way was breathtaking, the mountains on one side & the Bay of Kotor (flowing to the Adriatic Sea) on the other, resembling a fjord.

Our first stop was Perast, a small quiet coastal town with a population of less than 400. It was a very beautiful little village that took all of about 1/2hr to walk from one end to the other. We stopped at the 'entrance' to the village to have a coffee at the beach cafe overlooking the two local islands: St. George island and Gospa od Škrpjela (Our Lady of the Rock).

We met Jake at the other end & continued onto the ancient fortified town of Kotor with its many UNESCO World Heritage listed sites. It is set around Stari Grad (local language for "old town"), the city's old town and best known landmark.

Old Kotor was built like a maze for protective purposes and it is very easy to get lost there. In fact, even the locals get lost!! Take a wrong turn and you will wind up far from your destination. This can happen even with a town map in hand, like us trying to find our lunch venue that we had arranged to meet Jake at!!!. However, looking for landmarks, such as the 12th century St. Tryphon Cathedral will help.

After a delicous seafood platter, at Jake's recommendation, we headed back to the car for our trip back to Dubrovnik. We decided along the way to be dropped off at Cavtat & take the ferry back to Dubrovnik. It was a very pleasant way to arrive back in the town.

It was a fantastic day, actually my favourite day tour of the whole trip!!!

After wandering from the port to the other end of the walled city where our apartment was it was time for dinner. After the huge lunch food was the last thing I wanted so I chose to repack & get ready for our departure the next morning to Split.