Noise vs. Silence

Dubrovnik is a crazy place but nonetheless beautiful.

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NOTE: this post contains video.

 

We were amazed by the crowd last night, we don’t expect it to be any quieter this morning.

We have come back to the Old Town, we wanted to see the town proper. This heat and the hundreds of people that are already there and abouts puts anyone off to do a full sightseeing session. So we will skip museums, palaces and churches. We’ve seen enough of those.

We noticed this last night, Dubrovnik is very expensive. It really gets me that, simply because it is Summer, prices may rocket as much as 50%. One of the top choice sights is the City Walls. The entry fee is normally 70KM, now it is 100KM.

Well that’s capitalism for you, squeeze every last penny out. Croatia has learnt this lesson well! GDR

Restaurants charge prohibit prices for a simple main course. Last night, we paid €10 for a skinny piece of white fish and a few potatoes. We don’t want to come across as being stingy, but travelling for so long has made us be more conscious of value and therefore cautious with our money. It is so obvious how much touristic places take advantage of the high season. Still, thousands of people come here every year and pay eye-watering prices. It feels like the “what the hell, it is only once a year” mentality makes it right to do so.

This throwing caution to the wind starts at the airport. How many individuals and families come home after a holiday saddled with unintended debt, loaded credit cards. Why not look for value, why agree to getting ripped off. These places feed on the fact this is a so called ‘once in a lifetime experience.’ until next year that is, then the sorry story will start over! GDR

On the way to the beach, we will look into visiting the War Photo Ltd gallery. Since we are travelling we pay more attention to the quality of our images. So it should be interesting. But the gallery is close. The entire street is still suffering from last night power cut. I must say, this breakdown has been really disruptive to us.

But probably more so to them, it was apparently caused by lightening strike. We sneak into a dark and dingy supermarket, no lights, just a generator trying to keep the fridge alive, here prices are reasonable! GDR

So we continue to walk to the beach, continue to admire the town. It is so hot and people walk so slow.

We get away from the noise and reach the harbour. The map shows a swimming area around here somewhere.

Perhaps it is around that corner.

The noise and the multitude gradually disappear. The marina looks still and quiet.

Although right at the other side, numerous commercial boats look busy bringing people in and out; tours, cruises, day trips to the nearest islands…Some of them seem to be doing well. Others, not that well, but still bother to take people out, even it they are only a couple. There is strong competition around here.

There is no shade in the swimming area. Here there are free benches, so we will pop in here after the swim.

 

 

 

 

 

The snorkelling here is not bad, although there is quite a bit of litter floating around. The current is strong. I need to keep an eye that a wave doesn’t push me against the rocks.

It just goes to show how disgusting we humans are. Litter is pressed into every crevasse, beer cans plastic bottles sunk to the bottom, the world we created! GDR

But enough of noisy words, it is time for a bit of peace in the underworld.

 

 

Here it is our snorkelling route  of the day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This afternoon, we are going to Montenegro. Our bus leaves at 14.30. So we take the last dip, have a shower in the swimming area and head off.

We walk back a different way

to see more of the town. A restaurant sign invites people by saying “here there is the best food, the best views” and of course, people go and have a look. We are herd animals, we all do the same.

Not impressed with the scenery, but I bet Gary likes the pipe.

Four girls are selling plastic jewellery bracelets and necklaces, made by themselves, €5 each. They learn quick from their elders.

We walk along backstreets to see how locals live.

The playground looks a bit lonely. It will have to wait until temperatures cool down to have some visitors around.

Peace and tranquillity away from the main street. The town is captivating. We are pleased we’ve come.

And back to the multitude again. The bus stop is only a few metres away but I suspect it would take us a while to get there. It is absolutely incredible. Is this everybody’s idea of a relaxing holiday? Perhaps it is, and it is just us that we have lost it after being travelling for so long.

The bus should come in three minutes. That was 10 minutes ago. Not surprising, the whole town must be congested. A young couple near us is also waiting for a bus. She is carrying a baby with no top, no hat. The baby has a heat rush on his shoulders. The parents either have not realised or don’t care. Looking at them, they must be in their late teens. I feel for the baby.

Walking back to the hotel, there is a giant ship waiting to depart. Where will it go? How many people can it accommodate? How many rooms does it have? We are appealed by this form of travelling and at the same time we doubt whether it would be for us; the feeling of isolation by being on the ocean for days, with no signs of land… wonderful; the constraint of living in a confined space, the lack of liberty to change scenery…boring.

And the being part of the herd! Maybe a cruise to Antarctica, that sounds appealing GDR

This are incredible vessels though, amazing is keeps afloat, and quite beautiful, functional, modernist. Note; no neo-classical columns, maybe this tat is kept for the interior as a glue on appendage. GDR

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We quickly pick up our  luggage from the hotel and get on our bus to Montenegro. It should only take an hour, pending border crossing.

Montenegro is a nice contrast to Croatia. The country is a series of undulated hills, rugged peaks and national parks. This becomes noticeable as soon as you cross the border.

You have guessed rightly, we have planned to do trekking here, but not just yet. The peaks we want to climb are up north.

During the next few days, we will be travelling along the coast, starting with the town of Kotor tomorrow. We will spend the night at Morinj, which is  only 40 minutes drive from this town.

Our bus stops at Herceg Novi. The local bus to Morinj leaves in half an hour. Whilst waiting for the bus, a bus driver of an international-like coach approaches us: “Are you going to Morinj? I’ll take you there”. We look around, this is a bit weird, no one else is on this bus. This starts to resemble Kosovo (LINK).

We are alone on the coach, just us and the driver. He continuously mumbles to himself, berating other drivers on the road. Is he drunk! GDR

The bus route follows the Bay of Kotor. This place is absolutely stunning.

A series of villages sit along the bay. Coastal Montenegro has everything we could possible dream of; a range of mountains for  trekking, bathed by the sea.

The bus drops us at the bus stop, which is conveniently in front of the campsite, and charges us the right price €3. Why has he taken us here? We don’t know. Perhaps it wasn’t meant to stop at Morinj but he saw the opportunity to earn a few euros with us. Who cares, it saved us half an hour wait.

The main ground of the campsite is full, but there is space for our small tent behind reception.

We have not brought any kind of bedding with us to avoid carrying extra weight, not even a sleeping bag. It is too hot. We may regret this decision when we are up in the mountains.

What we have brought though is our comfortable mats. We bought them two years ago when we climbed Kilimanjaro. They are excellent compared to the extra thin, normal camping mats.

 

The campsite is in a lovely location, by the river.

It is getting dusky. Colours must be stunning by the bay. It will be a great place to have dinner.

Beautiful canoe, perfectly carved timber frame.

With dinner in hand, we walk across the road and look for a bench overlooking the bay.

What’s on tonight? Roast chicken and stir fried rice. All from the supermarket.

The pace of life is so slow here. A couple has created their living area with their inflatable boats.

We eventually find a bench. The chicken smells nice and it is still warm, despite having been bought five hours ago.

Not so sure that is a good thing! GDR

We are about to have the first bite when a stupid dog comes and disturbs us. He is obviously after our meal. A little girl and her mother, who must be the owners, turn up. They are useless at keeping it under control. The most annoying thing is they don’t even apologise for the misbehaviour of this annoying little oversized rat. The scene is absolutely absurd. I eventually shout at the bloody animal. The mother, embarrassed of proving not knowing how to control her pet, runs after it. She finally catches him and hits him. Still no apologises. But we are finally let in peace to enjoy our dinner looking at the sunset.

So much for canine loving Susu…GDR

SM