Introduction
Montenegro
My path runs through this small country on the way to Albania. I only spent three days in Montenegro and I enjoyed very much its beautiful coast and mountainous landscape.
Of all the western Balkan countries waiting for European Union membership, Montenegro is undoubtedly the most advanced. It has no open political issues with its neighbours and a relatively small population (600,000) that could be easily integrated in the bloc.
 |
| My itinerary in the Balkans |
I have also seen some of the costs paid for acceding to European capitalism. A good number of wonderful coastal spots are under intense construction. Cranes, cement trucks, construction materials can be seen in many places that until now were placid seaside villages. The expectation about a great increase in incoming tourism and revenue is significant. Preparations are being made to integrate the local businesses into the international economic network. Nature and the society of trees, birds and human is being neglected in this profit-seeking whirlwind.
 |
| The beach at Herceg Novi |
Day 69: Dubrovnik (Croatia) - Gošići (Montenegro)
I wake up at 4.30 in the morning. Meditation, good breakfast, preparation of my stuff. Now that I know Dubrovnik better it is easy to get out of the city. I ride southwards on the "Magistrala" (main road or highway), which is already busy. The road is a rather narrow and dangerous, without shoulders and with many curves and heavy traffic towards the airport. In spite of the early hour there is a good load of trucks, buses, caravans and insane car drivers.
When we were hitchhiking with Estelle and the boys ten years ago in the huge plains of northeastern Brazil, I had an interesting conversation with an experienced truck driver. I learned from him that there are four types of trucks: small, medium, heavy and very heavy. Among the on-road heavy trucks there are dump trucks, lorries and tankers. This morning, all of them seem to abound on this highway. But the worst are the car drivers and certain caravans. My bike Alhamra's front and rear lights are flashing, and I am wearing a yellow vest. Did I became invisible to drivers though?
Twenty kilometers after Dubrovnik, Lady G has a great idea. When we arrive at Zvekovica, near the airport, she suggests we turn left into the village and then connect with a calm route (Put Pridvorja) on a beautiful valley with many vineyards and with almost no traffic. I ride through many wineries and small sleeping villages: Lovorno, Ljuta, Vodovađa. Then comes a dirt road and later a junction on the highway just two kilometers before the border crossing to Montenegro. Hats off to Lady G.
By the way, Google Maps offers no bicycle directions in the Balkans as they do in western Europe. I use Google Maps on the phone as a back-up just in case Lady G goes to sleep and doesn't wake up. In their help pages, Google Maps say they add these directions only when they feel confident they have "sufficient bicycling information and substantial bicycle network for a country". It is difficult to believe that there is no cycling information here. It seems to me that the reasons are more linked to business potential than the intention to provide accurate information to users.
When I present my passport to the officer at Montenegro border control I tell him, "Dobro jutro" (good morning) as I learned in Croatia. The officer replies with a smile. Montenegrin language is written in Latin and sometimes in Cyrillic alphabets, and it is based on the Shtokavian dialect of Serbo-Croatian languages. Montenegrin, Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian languages are very close related and share a high degree of mutual intelligibility. Certain linguists argue that they are just dialects but in the 1990s, following Yugoslavia's breakup, they have been considered languages for nationalist reasons.
After the border crossing I only need to change the phone SIM card, which I purchase on a petrol station a few kilometers after the border. Euro is the official currency in Montenegro even if it is not yet a European Union member. I cycle down the road up to Igalo and then to Herceg Novi. I visit a bit of this beautiful coastal city and go to see the peaceful Savina Monastery.
 |
| Main church at Savina Monastery |
While in Croatia predominates the Roman Catholic religion, the majority of the people in Montenegro is Eastern Orthodox Christian. In Savina Monastery church, the iconostasis -- a decorated wall separating the nave from the sanctuary -- is a rich example of Serb Baroque religious art with many icons and religious paintings. At the entrance, an inscription on the iron grill over the door invites the faithful to "approach carefully, pray with faith, bow down with fear. You will find help and comfort!" They are the words of Bishop Saint Nicholaj Velimirović in his Memories from Boka (1904).
Different from many Catholic churches that I visited on my way up to here, this monastery looks like actually being used by people. A middle-aged manual worker on overalls parks his car and climbs the stairs to offer prayers at the monastery main church. A woman is lighting a candle in a side chapel. An aged person slowly advances with a stick and quietly recites some prayers. I feel a different spirituality here, deeper and tribalist at the same time.
The graceful graveyard beside the church is framed by old trees and the background of the sea. I read on a memorial plaque that King Alexander I of Yugoslavia visited this place in 1934, shortly before being assassinated during a state visit in Marseille by Fascist activists. It was one of the first murders captured on film.
 |
| Graveyard at Savina Monsatery |
I resume my cycling on a great seaside road up to Kamenari to take the ferry crossing to Lepetani. During the short sailing I chat with Carlo, a bikepacker from Domodossola in northern Italy who is heading down to Athens. Then I ride on the coastal road to the historic town of Kotor, surrounded by fortifications built by the Venetians.
I return to Lepetani and ride on the busy highway that runs alongside the airport. The traffic here is very intense. I take the road going up to Krtole and Gošići, where lives Dragan, my next host. He comes on time to show me the house. He tells me that I can take anything I want from the kitchen (he warns "no smoking, no food left"). I take a shower and have a nap. When he comes back we chat a few minutes. I offer to buy pizza but he is already busy with a online group game. When I go to sleep he is still stuck to the screen.
 |
| On the way to Kotor |
Day 70: Gošići - Bar
Dragan's is still in bed when I leave, not unaffected by the human alienation at his place. I arrive back at the Magistrala highway, which is really loaded today. There are some risky situations in sections where there are works on the road with no room at all for bikers. I stop in a roadside bar then keep riding.
At a junction in Radanovici, Lady G recommends following a side road to the left of the highway. I stop on a pedestrian crossing but I make a mistake trying to go across without getting off the bike. The first vehicles in both directions stop to let me cross the road, but one red car appears from behind at great speed and almost runs over me. I bent its side mirror. Drivers are honking and I finish crossing. I am frightened but nothing happened, الحود لله (thanks God). I am shaking. I need to sit for a while under a tree. I speak to the birds on the branches, to the spirits. This is a friendly tree. My heartbeat finally slows down.
The new road ascends high on the mountain with great views of the sea. Beautiful downhill ride to Budva, where I have a good coffee in one of the beach bars. We chat with the Serbian waiter about bikes and bikepacking. He would like to travel one day to Italy. Then I take the highway again, with a very long ascent but not too steep. I arrive at a pass and enjoy my sandwich on a memorial of a World War II battle won by the Montenegrins against the Italian army. The sun is quite hard at midday. I feel the sunburn on my skin. There are various seaside resorts with heavy construction. When in Bar, I find a nice room with bathroom.
 |
| Places like this bay on the road to Budva may be lost to tourist resort developments |
After a good rest I want to visit the city. I go to St. Jovan Vladimir, a magnificent Serbian Orthodox church built in 2006-2016. The frescoes on the iconostasis, walls and columns are amazing, and represent a whole universe of religious iconography.
 |
| St. Jovan Vladimir |
I want to see the Old Town but it is far too high. I also want to see the Old Olive Tree but never find it. I go to the beach. It is a windy day. I buy some food and eat a melon without knife or fork on the balcony. Two teenage girls on another building are laughing all the time.
I imagine Montenegro in the near future as a new Croatia. A society immersed in capitalist values. Progress is marked by material accumulation instead of inner development and links of solidarity with others. Greed is in the air, as well as selfishness, disrespect for the environment, dehumanization.
Montenegro is a beautiful small country. These three days cycling here have been a learning experience to understand a little of its history and a few aspects of the culture. I hope that European Union membership will be a positive factor for this society.
 |
| St Jovan Vladimir main façade |
 |
| Podgradska Mosque, Bar |
