July 2, 2013

With a giant fortress looming over the city, we had to take the day off to explore. We were also excited about doing a little hike and using some different muscles. While we are in great shape for bicycling, I have noticed that I easily tire when walking long distances or climbing lots of stairs. I have been looking forward to alternative forms of exercise.

Enjoying the shade

The city walls extended right up the steep side of the mountain. A stone staircase followed the walls and led to a small chapel mid way up. It would have been very picturesque, but someone had turned it into a shop selling cheap souvenirs. From there, the steps led up further through the ruins. There were a number of small dirt paths leading into small rooms or to windows in through wall. We were really able to walk wherever we wanted, even though some of the paths led along narrow parts of the walls with precipitous drops on the outside.

Chandler

Fortress wall

We ended up leaving the main path through a little window in the ramparts to explore another small chapel behind the fortress. The chapel was clearly not being used except by goats as a bathroom. As we made our way back to the trail, I noticed a sign advertising homemade goat and cow cheese. There was no discussion as to what we would be doing next.

Mountain chapel

A look inside

About 100 meters up the path, we came to a little house with an incredible view of Kotor. A little granny and her granddaughter, who spoke English, came out to help us. There was a small spring they had diverted into a faucet and we were encouraged to wash up and enjoy a drink. As we talked with the young girl about quantity and prices, the granny disappeared into the house. When she returned, she was carrying to glass with what appeared to be white wine. We were not really interested in drinking but didn’t want to be rude either, so we took the glasses.

Guard dog

Tiled roof

Our drinks turned out to be some sort of juice. It wasn’t anything either of us had ever had before. It was sweet and tangy, and very refreshing. The girl didn’t know the English words nor understand the process used to make it, so her granny finally went to the garden and pulled off a sample of the plant she used to make it. Turned out to be stinging nettles! We were amazed and never would have guessed it. She made a syrup by reducing the nettles, lemon, sugar and water.

Stinging nettles

Nettle juice

After another glass of juice, we headed back up to the fortress. The top ended up being anticlimactic as there wasn’t much to see. A few stone rooms, mostly repaired in the 1950’s. The view of Kotor was stunning though.

View from the top

The hike down was quick as we basically ran down the stone steps. We washed up and relaxed for a pizza dinner. Then it was off to bed early as we had a big ride planned for the next day out of Montenegro.

July 1, 2013

Distance:  28.2 miles       Climbing: 2506.6 ft        Descending: 5036.1 ft

We woke up pretty early today and enjoyed the view we had overlooking the red tile roofs of Cetinje as we ate breakfast. We continued climbing and eventually made it to a park rangers gate. We didn’t realize we were on a route through a park and were a little worried we’d have to pay a fee. The casually dressed ranger just waved us on. We did stop to ask where to find water and he told us there was a very good spring in 4km or so up the road.

Nice start to the day

Up we went passing a few out of business restaurants and small holiday rental cabins. There wasn’t much traffic or signs of current human existence which was becoming a theme. Eventually we came upon the spring, which was cold and delicious. A woman and her daughter also stopped for a drink and told us the spring was famous. Apparently, there is a song about a girl who seduced a young man with water from that very spring. The water was good, but not as sexy as advertised.

As we approached the intersection of the paved road and a gravel lane, I knew we were in for trouble. There was a small sign indicating the route to Kotor was, of course, on the gravel road. Chandler checked the GPS and discovered we had 6 miles in this direction or we could go all the way back to the town we had been in last night to take the highway. Of course, we chose not to turn around and proceeded on another one of Chandler’s infamous “shortcuts”.

The road started out badly with a bed of loose of angular gravel, making it difficult to ride the bikes uphill. We ended pushing our bikes through the trickiest part for the first mile or so. The gravel path eventually turned into an extremely rocky road, which Chandler reminded us of a gentle mountain bike trail. We tried to pick relatively smooth lines, but it was still slow going and jarring on our heavily loaded frames.

I love pushing my bike

After about 3 miles, assuming we had another 3 miles of unpaved road, we suddenly popped out onto asphalt. As a huge tour bus rumbled past us, we knew if we had just stayed on our original road, we wouldn’t have had such an adventure. Oh well. The shortcut took out a few miles and was certainly more memorable than a regular paved road.

Back on pavement

We immediately forgot about the mountain bike path when we headed downhill, turned the corner and saw the view. The fjord is the deepest in Europe and certainly one of the most scenic.

Chandler looking good

Nice view

After a snack and few photos it was time to head down to town. The road down the mountain ended up being a series over over 20 switchbacks. My hands and arms got cramped from maintaining a firm grip on the brakes. We saw quite a few people cycling up the hill for exercise and I was so happy not to be in their shoes.

In Kotor, we went straight for the old town. This area is surrounded by thick stone walls. Our hope was to get a room at the hostel, but it was full. Luckily, the guy working the front desk had a cheap alternative for us. Just around the corner, in a quieter area, a woman rented out rooms in her house for even less than the hostel beds. The ceilings were so comically low in her attic annex that we ended up showering on our knees, but we had WiFi, a nice patio and were right in the center of the old town. We walked around town a little, had a pizza and worked on the blog before heading to bed. We decided we’d take the day off tomorrow for some rest and to explore the area.

Window

Lizard

June 30, 2013

Distance: 25.7 miles              Climbing: 3733.6 ft

We started the day off right with a big breakfast and felt really strong as we began the day’s ride. We plowed up the hills and made really good time.

At the bottom of the hill was a small town, obviously fallen on hard times due to the construction of the bigger, faster highway. We stopped for a refreshing ice cream and were overcharged by about double which we realized only after we had already opened the wrappers. We sat on the sidewalk enjoying our treats when the day seemed to restart.

Our last look at Lake Shkoder

We finished up and hopped back on the bikes grinding up a long winding mountain. The scenery was fine but a little monotonous, rocky outcroppings and sparse trees. The local drivers were really not friendly, which was odd. There were signs in all the main towns showing routes for cyclists and clearly there was a desire to entice foreign bike tourists, but that sentiment wasn’t shared amongst the Montenegrin masses. Drivers yielded to us basically as little as they possibly could, accelerating past us at ridiculous speeds, passing each other even though we were in the opposing lane, driving us off the road. Chandler had the closest call of the entire trip when two new Mercedes blasted past him so close that their turbulence knocked him off into the bushes.

Theoretically, it should have been cycling paradise up on the mountain roads as there really wasn’t that much traffic and the scenery was pretty cool but it got to the point where we just stopped riding and got completely off the road when we heard a car coming which was annoying since there was plenty of room for everyone. We couldn’t believe the difference between cycling here and in Albania and speculated that the locals here were just jaded on tourists or hated bicycles or something.

Lonely, abandoned building

We arrived at an intersection and discovered the map on our GPS was outdated as there was a NASCAR highway we were about to be forced on that wasn’t on our map at all. Instead we followed a sketchy overgrown path that was the main road on our map, and hoped that it went through. We were so fed up with with the aggressive drivers that even if we had to walk the bikes it would have been better than riding on the main road. After a few meters, the pavement wasn’t as broken and the riding became easier and we moved quicker.

Rocky road

Not the best road, but not the worst either

The road did go through which was a huge relief and we got to the top of a big hill before a descent to the old capital city of Cetinje. However, the last few miles we were forced onto the highway we deliberately avoided earlier in the day, which turned out to be an insane high speed two lane road with zero shoulder which meant traffic behind us had to slow down from highway speed to pass us if there was oncoming traffic. We we finally reached the town, found a bakery and had a snack, our nerves still shattered but we felt better. We still had to find a campsite, which meant climbing another huge hill out of town.

Chandler found a good spot to investigate, which proved successful. He found us a flat area with several trees, perfect for hammocks! The rest of the evening was spent relaxing. We had a little surprise when a goat herder stumbled upon us. We were afraid he would kick us out, but he was just as surprised as us. After a few moments of frantic waving and pointing Chandler walked over to him to smooth things out and he decided it was important to show us the bag of grass or hay or something that he had collected. After a few confused minutes of pantomiming it was clear he didn’t care we were there and he waved goodby before moving on with his herd.

Chandler hungry

Time to relax

June 29, 2013

Distance:  31.9 miles              Climbing:  4035.4 ft

The weather cooperated all day. Our morning started with a climb up along a ridge in cloudy skies. We were rewarded with a view of the lake and several donkeys.

Chan climbing

The view from the top

Jenny and a jenny

We had a nice long descent which brought us to a little town with a cafe. Naturally, we had to stop for a drink. The coffees were a little more expensive at 1€ each, but still so cheap.

After the break, we got back on the bikes and headed back into the hills. We rolled along up and down, never gaining anything. We passed through a densely shaded area and realized we were in a chestnut forest that we heard about from other cycle tourists. It was way too early in the day to stop, so we just took a break and had a snack.

Tobacco

As we passed through a small village, we spotted another cycle tourist and decided to stop for a little chat. He was from England headed to Macedonia where he had a flight to catch back home. We discussed routes and free campsites. When talk turned to food, an older woman came up to us and motioned to a table with bottles of oil and wine. I jumped at the opportunity to enjoy some homemade red wine. She gave us a sample and we bought a liter. The wine tastes nice but presentation was lacking as the wine was sold in a recycled water bottle.

Lake Shkoder

We coasted down into a valley and were able to take in some great views of the west side of Lake Shkoder.  At the bottom of the valley was a small town with a nice park and lots of tourists milling around. We saw a gelato stand and a fountain and immediately put on the brakes. After scoops of chocolate, we did some much needed grocery shopping. As usual, I waited outside with the bikes as Chan got our dinner.

Crazy bird’s nests

Outside of town, we encountered a series of switchbacks leading straight up the side of a steep hill. Knowing it was the last climb of the day made it easier to handle. There was a lookout point at the top of the hill with a number of tourists appreciating the view. Not knowing how much further we would have to before finding a campsite, we opted to keep biking.

Always climbing

We couldn’t have gone more than 100 meters before we spotted an overgrown road leading underneath the lookout area. Chandler scoped it out before we dashed down the road hoping cars hasn’t seen us.

The spot was only visible from the road from high up on the hill, so we weren’t concerned about curious visitors. What I weas more worried about were the spiders. There were huge webs strewn between trees with giant spiders waiting in the center of the web. It made trips to the bathroom in the woods a bit more scary.

We had a nice night despite the spiders. Chandler enjoyed a 2 liter bottle of cheap, low alcohol beer with our usual dinner of pasta.

Our hero