Montenegro

After landing in Sarajevo, we set off for Montenegro, retracing our path through the beautiful Bosnian countryside. (This time with a well-traveled English hitchhiker for company!) As we crossed into Montenegro, the river valley transformed into a stunning canyon with tall limestone cliffs lining the river, and mountains peeking behind. This unreal first impression had us eager to discover what more the country had to offer.

Durmitor

Our road turned up, switching back through natural and manmade holes in the canyon walls, offering increasingly impressive views of the canyon. Another turn had us crossing rolling hills as we headed into the mountains. We arrived at our campsite in darkness and cooked dinner while staring up at the nearby mountain bathed in moonlight.

Morning brought yet another beautiful drive as the mountains gradually became more impressive. We hiked to Black Lake, and started to walk the trail that circles the lake before deciding “Let’s get on top of something!”

The summit of Savin Kuk made for a perfect picnic spot and we were filled with energy that only being in the mountains can create. Lucky for us, Savin Kuk is a ski resort in the winter, and chair lifts expedited our ascent. At a local cafe we met a paraglider/climber who recommended a nearby crag called Pirlitor, located in the “medieval city of myths” (and warned us to look out for snakes). We climbed a couple routes (including “SnakeFree”, phew) before heading south.

As we were leaving the park we picked up a hitchhiker who works as an elementary school counselor in the town during the week, and spends the weekends with his family in a bigger city a couple hours away. His English was great, and he gave us incredible insight into the war and life in Montenegro. Despite being a highly educated man, he spends his summers in Germany doing manual labor where he is paid nearly ten times his typical monthly salary in order to support his family. After arriving in his city, he insisted on taking us to his favorite restaurant, where we enjoyed delicous local food and “the best beer in the world”.

The Grove

In Istanbul, a fellow traveler told us, “If you go to Montenegro, you HAVE to go to The Grove. It is the best hostel in the world.” After his great restaurant recommendation, we figured we couldn’t risk missing the best hostel. As luck (or fate) would have it, as we pulled up to the hostel, Bleu Lightning died! For the next three days we were “trapped” at The Grove, which was in fact incredible. The owners helped us navigate the process of getting the van repaired, prepared great family dinners, and organized daily adventures including a boat trip in Skadar Lake National Park.

During our stay, while hiking out to find the local sport climbing wall, a man drove by and we immediately identified each other as climbers. He invited us to join him in some bouldering!

With Bleu Lightning up and running again, we set off with a German friend from the hostel on an impressively scenic drive to Albania.