I was off again the next morning to Montenegro, literally the black mountain. The black mountain wasn’t in one of its more benevolent moods which made the rugged and dramatic scenery even more impressive. I had made a day trip here all those years ago but it was nice to have two nights in Kotor on this trip. I stayed around 3kms from Kotor in Prcanj at the Bokeljski Dvori Hotel where the friendly owner, Vojislav Cetkovic, had answered all my emails promptly. What he didn’t say is how nice his hotel was. The website looks good but this place, like Renata’s house, is a little gem. Being off-season, Vojislav gave me a room overlooking the Kotor bay and

the views were stunning. Kotor lit up at night – and that’s when you see the wall resembling, to a far lesser degree of course, the Great Wall of China, straddling the mountain behind Kotor. Vojislav offers very acceptable accommodation with half-board available at decent prices and it was a lovely place to stay and admire the views from.

Buses between Dubrovnik and Montenegro aren’t plentiful and, having bought a return ticket in Dubrovnik, I then found that I had to use the same bus company which meant an afternoon departure. The weather turned and I was forced to take a taxi but maybe I was lucky in the morning when I was hooted at by an old man who signa-

lled for me to get in. Don’t trust strangers, they say: we didn’t share a common language so had to make do with hand signals – in my case: I didn’t encourage him in this manner as he drove like the clappers and hooted at anything slightly on the wrong side of the road – and smiles. I was touched by his friendliness. The people seem a bit weather-beaten actually but, after the strong winds during the last night, I cannot be too surprised. The ruggedness of this wonderful region is matched by its people.