The Black Forest in the Balkans

The translation in the heading is not exactly correct. Actually, Montenegro translated means the black mountain, but this is because there are lots of pine trees growing on the mountains, which can appear very dark in mass and with the right weather.

However, Montenegro is not only made up of black shimmering mountains, but also a coastal strip where we initially arrived after entering. Specifically, near the famous Kotor Bay. However, since we had enough of the crowds in Croatia, we decided to stay a few kilometers before Kotor at a campsite (there are plenty of them). Surrounded by mountains, we spent two days at this bay, whose water is a mixture of a mountain river and the sea. The exciting thing is that the upper water is very cold and it gets warmer below. On the first strokes I was a bit overwhelmed by the warm/cold impressions. The next days would not get any better, as we headed to the Durmitor National Park. In this park the temperature dropped to 11°, so it suddenly felt like winter and the onion look was required. Nevertheless, we wanted to do some hiking besides visiting the Black Lake (which was quite turquoise-blue). However, the weather in this area is very unpredictable. In addition to a lot of rain, thunderstorms also frequently pass over the national park, and we experienced that too. 45 minutes before reaching the summit, we had to turn back because we only saw darker clouds and heard thunder. That was more black mountain than expected.

Since it was too cold for us, we went the next day zigzagging to Lake Skadar, a nature reserve that is shared between Albania and Montenegro. Since we were still in a mountainous area, wild camping was difficult and we decided to stay at another campsite. For the first time since our departure, there was a washing machine there, which we urgently needed. After spending a night on the mountain and having fresh grapes with us (we stayed at wineries that couldn't process all their grapes into wine :D), we went on a boat tour on the lake. At many places, the lake is so densely populated with water lilies that you can't see any blue, only green. All very impressive, but boating is not my strength and I had to concentrate hard for two hours not to lose my breakfast. So I only noticed the pelican in passing...
On our last night in this country, we stayed on the beaches of Ulcinj, where a friendly bar owner let us stay behind his bar right by the beach.

The journey through Montenegro was quite mixed. Firstly, we didn't choose the smartest travel route, secondly, we were frequently surprised by rain, even in the coastal areas, which made many parking spaces difficult to drive on, and thirdly, the mood was a bit tense. Overall, it is a beautiful country with many nice and courteous people who like to talk about themselves and their hometown. Also, it is not as touristy inland as it is on the coast and more natural, which of course made it more difficult to find parking spaces and suitable hiking routes.
Montenegro is currently going through a transition. It has been a candidate for EU membership for several years. The euro has already been introduced and since 2020 there have been political restructuring efforts to reduce corruption cases. Personally, I hope that it will maintain its charm and not fall into the same mass tourism as Croatia.

With that being said, Ciao!

P.S.: The registration of tourists in Montenegro is also a bit nonsense. When leaving Montenegro and entering Albania at the same time, we briefly showed our passports and our license plate was written down, and then we continued. I'm afraid we are just too accustomed to bureaucracy.