Former Days in -Former Yugoslavia Part 4- Copyright Robert Fullarton 2015

Former Days in-Former Yugoslavia Part 4

Copyright Robert Fullarton 2015

Montenegro- (Black Mountain)

Montenegro is an often forgotten country. This tiny republic (which only recently declared its' independence from Serbia) contains within its' borders a rich and vast wealth of flora and fauna.
The Balkan Jackal, the Balkan Lynx and the Dalmatian Pelican are regional rarities that are endemic to this land of Karst mountains and deep uninhabited forest. Places like the Durmitor National Park are inaccessible to the common tourist (and have even become a truly remote wilderness due to the long demographic isolation of this region under the Communist regime) and thus the Eurasian wolf and the European Brown bear flourish in the wild regions of former Yugoslavia.

This is the land that was once hailed by Byron and Bernard Shaw for its' natural beauties and where the poet and travel diarist Edward Lear surveyed and wrote about the rather neglected Lake Skadar that is both Montenegro and Albania. This land was a outpost of conflict between the Ottoman armies and the local Slavic peoples-the Venetian maritime empire annexed a chunk of the Montenegrin coast- and has in recent years been one of the 6 official Yugoslav republics that made up Tito's Yugoslavia.

On the road south from Dubrovnik across the rugged Konavle region towards Herceg Novi, drivers will often crawl and slow down to a mere 30 miles per hour as speed traps and policemen wait around corners to try and issue petty fines for speeding -and this is a particular delight to the gormless innocence of the western tourist, unfamiliar with the money making schemes of corrupt policemen.

The large town of Herceg Novi lies some twenty miles over the southern border with Croatia. There is an attractive Venetian old town, with cobbled paths and Serbian Orthodox churches, where local vendors and traders sell local produce in the centre of the town. The culture of Serbia and Montenegro is essentially Byzantian in its' form of worship and iconic art- as the eastern church that was destroyed in Constantinople spread west to Serbia and North to Moscow, the indelible mark of Orthodoxy has outlasted the greater threat of Islamic conquest so far.

Outside the Stari Grad (Old town) of Herceg Novi and similar towns along the Adriatic, you will see poverty -in tower blocks, corregated tin shacks, poor infrastructure and scrap yards by the sides of the main coastal road. The tourist industry is in it's infantile stages and this republic is only emerging from the shadow of neighbouring powers. Such poverty is contrasted with the sights of handsome coves, little harbours and vistas that emerge once you start to edge ever closer to the bay of Kotor-which has also been called "Europe's most southern fjord."

The bay is ringed by the Dinaric Alps -imposing on the fjord like giant stone fortresses above- against the turquoise gleam of the water -warm, clean and sheer delight for swimmers to indulge in. The option is available for tourists and locals alike to either get a cheap and quick ferry ride across or to drive around the bay and enjoy the panoramas across the water.

The village of Perast is a vantage point for tourists to rent a boat (or sea taxi) to go and visit the islands of St. George and St. Margaret. On the island of St.Margaret you will find a picture pretty Romanesque monastery, that contains a small museum for tourists, with memorabilia on maritime history, a small armoury with artifacts and documents on regional history. The village of Perast was part of an old Venetian settlement and this can be seen in the frieze of the winged Lion of St.Mark that lies above the entrance to the Roman Catholic Church. There is a large Roman Catholic minority along the bay of Kotor and Risan in a country which is predominantly Eastern Orthodox. However along this coastal region there are more ethnic Serbs than native Montenegrins.

The largest town on the bay is, Kotor itself, which has been declared a Unesco World Heritage site with its impressive Venetian fortress that withstood two Ottoman sieges and the town itself endured through plague and earthquake over time. The town has been conquered and controlled by both Habsburg and Napoleonic forces. The more intrepid traveller has a real challenge in climbing the several thousand steps to the top of the old Venetian fortifications to the hills that surround the bay. This walk however has little protection at such an elevated height....hikers and madmen alike must be careful as they cling to the partial supports and railings for protection.

Outside of Kotor, the tourist can take an organised trip to the peak of Mt.Lovcen in its exposed, desolate, lunar like landscape for an epic hike that separates the men from the boys, for sheer toil and exercise.

Fine sandy beaches adorn the coast by the settlements of Budva and Sveti Stefan. The former has become a popular holiday resort for Serbians and especially for Russians -who have been buying land property in the area for years now- the latter resort is a medieval peninsular village connected via a little beach road. The resort of Sveti Stefan has been a hangout for Royals and for movie stars, who come to the exclusive hotel -that comprises nearly half the village in its various buildings. For the humble tourist on modest means, a wander through the cobbled old streets, with an enjoyable rest at the top -to view a vista of the Adriatic.

I have found this little mountain republic to have charm on occasion, to have novelty and natural beauty, but I have found that poverty and poor infrastructure along with a very undeveloped tourist industry -and a few very bad meals!!- have an effect on the atmosphere in the place... (not to say the least the tourist industry!) One might imagine certain stretches of road and certain villages to be akin to what one might imagine Albania to be like. This country has been a hideout for pirates and smugglers (not ahead of Albania though!) and it is best explored for day trips from Dubrovnik. To be fair though I have not seen the length and breadth of the country -only merely the coastal regions- but from what I have seen it is a second world country..that wants and tries to emerge from the past..and it is seeking European Union membership...it has even adopted the Euro as its official currency. Its past political associations with Serbia may have been severed...but this country is demographically Serb, ethnically very close to being Serb - as one of the southern Slavic peoples- culturally Serbian and utterly, utterly eastern and it seems to me to be a little Rusophile among the nations!