Above: Diving Karola wreck in what I consider to be poor visibility.
Diving Disappointment
As I had a day to kill and didn’t fancy lying on any of Ulcinj’s crowded beaches, I opted to go diving. The attraction was a large wreck but I had to do a check-dive before doing the proper wreck dive. The former was a complete farce and a waste of time while the latter was a good first time experience inside a wreck rather than swimming around it. However the visibility was rather poor around the wreck by my standards even though it was considered quite good for the location. You can read more about my complete waste-of-time experience here.
Parting thoughts on Montenegro
It is like a less-discovered version of Croatia. Things are still slightly unkempt at times but that’s part of the rustic charm. I loved the sea (even though the spot we went to wasn’t as good as Albania), the value-for-money, the weather and the atmosphere. Basically, it is everything I love about the Balkans and what brings me back to the region.
One other thought. “M” for Montenegro, “M” for mosquitoes. I’ve never had so many itchy mosquito bites in my travels even to the tropics. They are vicious here, from Kotor to Ulcinj. Strange I’ve never noticed this in my travels in the Balkans before. Fortunately we’re not in a denggue, chikungunya or malaria zone!
Travelling to Macedonia
After the dives, I returned to my accommodation where I had paid for a late checkout till 1800. That allowed me to wash and rest until grabbing dinner before my 2119 departure by bus to Ohrid, Macedonia.
As it turned out, the bus was 1h30 minutes late. We got to the border about 2345 to find a huge traffic jam leading to the Montenegrin exit checkpoint. Our bus overtook the queue and pushed through the checkpoint. We somehow missed the Albanian entry checkpoint too!
I sat next to a Brit of Albanian descent was was holidaying in the Balkans with his parents. We chatted lots and I think we learnt a fair bit from each other despite being the unsociable hours of the night. His name strangely means “the girl” in Arabic.