# jonesy55's travels - trip to Montenegro,



## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

Croats living in the Venetian republic no? There are still some in Kotor I think.

Yes, that's the elder of my two, Jonesy Jr II has made a brief appearance in my Mostar thread and will also star in the soon-to-arrive thread of the Croatian leg of the trip.


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## Zanovijetalo (Jan 4, 2007)

Sure they did, I just thought you haven’t mentioned them due to infamous Anglo Saxon evilness... I was wrong I guess


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## Tony Tv (Mar 25, 2010)

All Catholics are Croats? The history of this bay isn't so simple... Trust me.

@ Jonesy55

No comment kay:


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## Zanovijetalo (Jan 4, 2007)

Of course not all of them, some are Albanians.


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## Tony Tv (Mar 25, 2010)

Of course. :crazy:


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## Zanovijetalo (Jan 4, 2007)

Sorry for diverting this exquisite thread, over and out


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## Tony Tv (Mar 25, 2010)

I agree... kay:


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

Any more of this and I will ban you both!


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## Tony Tv (Mar 25, 2010)

You have a apartment for next year. All free only for you! :gossip:


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## CrazySerb (Aug 22, 2007)

Superb photos, couldn't have hoped for better kay:
You even visited my village (Njegusi) ... did you just pass through or did you stay for some of that cheese & prosciutto?
While its sold along the coastline as well, a lot of it is not authentic.

Btw, it would be really good to hear a little bit of your own experiences while touring Montenegro , whether good or bad.
Anything you liked, something you didn't...where there could be room for improvements, etc.


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## Dukljanka (Sep 24, 2010)

lajkam


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## Koen Acacia (Apr 17, 2007)

Gorgeous pictures! Looks like that kid enjoyed himself a lot there!


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

Thanks for the comments guys kay:



CrazySerb said:


> Superb photos, couldn't have hoped for better kay:
> You even visited my village (Njegusi) ... did you just pass through or did you stay for some of that cheese & prosciutto?
> While its sold along the coastline as well, a lot of it is not authentic.
> 
> ...


Yes, we did buy some Njeguski prsut and sir as well as some honey and oil from one of the stalls in the village. They were also selling thick wool pullovers, hats and gloves which didn't seem as tempting in the midsummer heat! :laugh:

It is generally an easy country to tour around, the roads are small and fairly slow but generally in good repair, the only badly deformed surface I experienced was coming down the mountain towards Virpazar from Petrovac. The drivers are generally sane except for some wild overtaking manoeuvres! 

One very positive thing was the police officer who stopped me for speeding not asking for a bribe when he had every opportunity to do so! I still maintain that 50kmh is much to slow though for a non-urban road 

The same can't always be said of pedestrian footpaths unfortunately, they usually seemed to be interrupted by uncovered drainage channels, random concrete steps etc and lacked drop-kerbs at crossing points which is awkward when pushing kids in a buggy and must be a nightmare for wheelchair users!

The coastline, mountains, bay and towns were all very pleasant I found, and the people reserved but friendly.As a country marketing itself as a 'natural/ecological etc destination I think improving refuse disposal and reducing littering should be a priority as well as keeping an eye on overdevelopment of the coast.

Costs as a tourist were reasonable (a bit cheaper than Croatia in general, a lot cheaper than Dubrovnik) though not super-cheap by any means, food was good quality though variety a little limited, most places seem to have similar menus.

One slightly weird thing was a woman who knocked on our door on the day of departure saying 'tourist control' or something who then proceeded to enter the apartment and silently write out a bill for tourist tax which we paid in cash. Why don't they just get the accommodation provider to include this in the price and hand it over to the local authourities themselves?

Overall had a great time and would recommend it as a destination, next time I would maybe like to explore the northern mountains, Tara canyon, Durmitor etc. If transport links were improved more coastal tourists might do likewise.


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## Singidunum (Jul 25, 2004)

Great thread and review above kay: It was worth all that waiting  :cheers1:



Jonesy55 said:


> The drivers are generally sane.


It seems you visited some other Montenegro :lol: or you come from Cairo :lol:


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

Singidunum said:


> It seems you visited some other Montenegro :lol: or you come from Cairo :lol:


:laugh: Maybe I just got used to them after a while. It was the overtaking habits that scared me the most, they don't seem to care if its a bend, vision obscured by the brow of a hill etc, they just pull out anyway and hope for the best. If anything comes the other way they just barge back in cutting up the vehicle they've passed. :nuts:


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

As an epilogue here are a few I took while visiting Lake Skadar, which straddles the Montenegro-Albania border. We drove to The town of Virpazar, had some eel for lunch and then hired a boat to go out into the lake.

I forgot the SD card for my camera this day so I had to use my phone :doh: apologies for the quality....














































You can just about make out Albania in the distance!










Cormorants










Former island prison....


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## RolexAL (Feb 22, 2010)

^^
That is island of Franz Joseph and its in Albanian territory.Located right at Bunë river.(Can be called also as part of Shkodër lake)


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## Bad_Hafen (May 19, 2010)

Zanovijetalo said:


> Most of these churches and „Venetian“ towns are in fact heritage of once thriving but today vanished Croats of Boka Kotorska. Since we had to give it up, at least it's good to see it ended up in the hands of Montenegrins who are becoming our best pals as we speak:hug:
> 
> Thanks Mr Jonesy, guess this is your little boy?


again this nationalistic crap coming from you! That is the only thing you can write. You guy have some serious issues in yor brain.... :bash:

PS 
Just ignore everything what he writes, because his interpretation of things and history is purely based on Pavelic (Croat Nazi puppet) way of interpretation. 



Jonesy55 said:


> After our brief lunch stop here we headed down to the coast and caught the first glimpse of the fishing village of Sveti Stefan. Joined to the mainland by just a spit of land, the presque-ile was converted to a luxury resort in the 1950s *before closing with the tourism crash that accompanied the early 90s *Yugoslav wars of succession.


I have to correct you here. Sv. Stefan stopped working after it was bought by Singapoure based company and only for the purpose of restoration and renovation. 

BTW great photos and report :cheers:


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

Bad_Hafen said:


> I have to correct you here. Sv. Stefan stopped working after it was bought by Singapoure based company and only for the purpose of restoration and renovation.
> 
> BTW great photos and report :cheers:


Ah, ok thanks, I was misinformed.

Glad you liked it. kay:


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

RolexAL said:


> ^^
> That is island of Franz Joseph and its in Albanian territory.Located right at Bunë river.(Can be called also as part of Shkodër lake)


Hmmm, we only went a couple of kms from Virpazar, it must be a similar looking island I think in Montenegrin territory.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great and very nice photos Jonesy... well done :cheers:


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## Johnor (Jan 8, 2008)

Gorgeous picture!
Our summer in Brighton was more modest.


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## Притвореник (Feb 20, 2014)

Great review.
When can we expect you in Serbia?


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

Nicely bumped! 

A trip to Serbia might happen at some point, you never know. I need Serbia, Kosovo and Fyromia to add to the other ex-yugo states.


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## Cerises (Apr 17, 2005)

A much deserved bump.  

I've always wanted to visit Montenegro. These photos are great incentive, just beautiful. :cheers:


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