Montenegro

Playground of the rich and the famous.
Me? I can only watch from afar. =P

Sveti Stefan, Montenegro (14 May 2014)

From sea to sky...

You can see how close the mountains are to the Adriatic Sea, and how Montenegro got its name from the black mountains.

Sveti Stefan, Montenegro (14 May 2014)

Stormy beauty...

Kastel Lastva Fortress in Petrovac, Montenegro (14 May 2014)

A bridge to the Old World...

This photogenic arched stone bridge over Crnojevica River (Rijeka Crnojevića) was constructed by Prince Danilo.

Rijeka Crnojevića, Montengero (14 May 2014)

A reflection of the past...

Rijeka Crnojevića, Montenegro (14 May 2014)

Sleeping green dragon...

This place is as remote and inaccessible as it can get. Roads leading to this viewpoint are narrow and winding in places, with plenty of switchbacks and big drops alongside narrow roads. That itself would deter most people from coming. Even the hotel facing this viewpoint is now defunct.

I think the view is worth it... even on a rainy day, I think it still looks beautiful.

The very eye-catching pair of conical mountains in the background is known to the locals as Sophia Loren. Haha =D

Lake Skadar (Pavlova Strana viewpoint), Rijeka Crnojevica, Montenegro (14 May 2014)

The final destination...

This path leads to the Njegoš Mausoleum, which is the final resting place of Montenegro's greatest hero, Petar II Petrović Njegoš. It is situated at the top of Lovćen National Park's second highest peak, Jezerski Vrh (1657 metres). It was the spectacular views here that caused George Bernard Shaw to exclaim "Am I in paradise or on the moon?".

Lovćen National Park, Montenegro (14 May 2014)

Panoramic view of the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro (14 May 2014) from the Lovćen-Kotor road.

Good thing I changed my mind on my return route... chose a more challenging road in return for more beautiful views. The main challenge was reaching the foot of this mountain before the sky turned dark!

Along came Spring, then came Winter...

After being roasted by the burning sun for the first 9 days, the weather took a drastic turn for the worse. As we headed up the mountains, it started snowing heavily. Totally blindsided by this snowfall as it was already late Spring. Although we packed our winter jacket for this trip, we did not bring along our gloves nor wool hats. Who expects sub-zero temperature at this time of the year? Fortunately, the town's only sports attire shop had some leftover winter gear, so we spent 60 euros (with some discounts from the kind shop lady) stocking up our winter gear. We left the shop not looking very fashionable but definitely much warmer! =)  Much needed for our ascent of one of the mountain peaks later that afternoon.

Pity the farmers who had already planted their crops for the season... their potatoes would not survive the frost.

Žabljak, Durmitor, Montenegro (15 May 2014)

From a distance...

Truck crossing the Đurđevića Tara Bridge, which spanned 365 metres across the Tara Canyon.

Žabljak, Durmitor, Montenegro (15 May 2014)

Bridging the gap then unbridging it...

This was what happened to the Tara Bridge, built across the fast-flowing Tara river, a year after it was completed in WWII to prevent the advancement of the Nazi's troops across the Balkans. The central arch instead of the entire bridge was blown up.

Žabljak, Durmitor, Montenegro (16 May 2014)

Guess there is truth in the saying that the early bird catches the worm... in my case it was about 7 in the morning that I had to take this tedious hike up the mountain behind my hotel, for a really nice and quiet view of Europe's southernmost fjord, Boka. My grand plans to start my hike even earlier at 6 in the morning were abandoned as my lazy bones were, well, too lazy to get up. =D

Kotor, Montenegro (17 May 2014)

The whispers in the morning...

View of the little fjord towns of Prčanj and Dobrota, and Europe's southernmost fjord, Boka, from Kotor's Old Fortress Walls in the early morning.

Kotor, Montenegro (17 May 2014)

Lion City

Perast, Montenegro (17 May 2014)

The first ray of sunshine after the rain...

The sky decided it was time to pour shortly after I parked my car outside the car-free town of Perast. Thick fog surrounded the fjord islands of Our Lady of the Rocks (Gospa od Škrpjela) and St George (Sveti Đorđe), and heavy dark clouds suppressed the surrounding mountains. Let's just say that if this UNESCO world heritage site had looked like that when those UNESCO officials came to see it, it would not have attained that status. Really put a damper on our moods. Still we continued our boat ride to Our Lady of the Rocks island, and just prayed hard for the weather to lift (very unlikely to happen).

The Lady of the Rocks is a man-made island built around a rock where an icon of Virgin Mary and baby Jesus was found. A church and museum were erected to house the icon and offerings from believers, mainly seamen and their family. One of the most amazing offerings I have seen is that of a tapestry of Virgin Mary and Jesus embroidered by a local lady, waiting for her husband to return. She spent 25 years making it, using silver and gold threads (which were expensive and hard to come by in those times), and finally her own hair when those threads ran out. You could actually see changes in the hair colour of the surrounding angels as she aged. From dark brown to light brown, grey and finally white. For an embroidery so fine and of such a good size, you would never have guessed that it was mostly made out of the human hair.

And guess what... miracles do happen. The sun finally emerged victor! When we stepped into the open, the view before us was totally different from the one we saw before we stepped into the church and museum. It was a happy mood when we took the boat back to the mainland once more. =)

St George island and Boka Bay as seen from Our Lady of the Rocks island, Perast, Montenegro (17 May 2014)

Swirling clouds over Black Mountain...

The town of Perast against the backdop of the namesake of Montenegro (Crna Gora, which means Black Mountain), and fronted by Boka Bay, Europe's southernmost fjord.

Perast, Montenegro (17 May 2014)