From Dubrovnik, I continued down the coast to the South, into Montenegro. Even while I was still on the bus on my way to Kotor, I had already decided that I really like this area.

The narrow "fjord" (which is actually just a "normal" bay, but with a very narrow entrance) with the surrounding, quite steep mountain slopes, is already quite impressive when seen from the bus. Exploring the (old) town of Kotor on foot was even more impressive: A well-preserved old town without too many tourists (at least on the first day, before the cruise ship seen on the picture above had arrived), with a mountainous hinterland, and a city wall climbing these mountains as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately, I had to discover that it was impossible to capture this setting on any picture. So, I can only suggest to everyone to come and see for themselves – as soon as possible, preferably, before Kotor is overrun with tourists like Dubrovnik.

The best view of the bay and of the old town is from as high up as possible, of course. Fortunately, the city walls (and the paved trail running along it) are leading up to the Fortress Sveti Ivan, about 260 meters (!) above sea level. I started this short hike already at 7.30 a.m. after the church bells ringing for more than a minute made it impossible for me to sleep any longer (the great location of the Montenegro Hostel – opposite the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon, directly in the old town – does have its disadvantages). This way, I saved the "entrance fee" (collected by a local sitting in front of a small folding table at the beginning of the trail leading up to the fortress), as locals seem to prefer sleeping in. What is more, the best light for photography of the bay is in the morning.

Even though I really liked Kotor, I also left the town in order to explore some other parts of the bay. I went to Perast, another old town in the bay (but without any preserved city wall). Moreover, close to Perast, a hiking trail described in my guide book was supposed to start. Allegedly, the view over the bay from this trail should be even better than from the fortress in Kotor, which is why I wanted to hike this trail. However, either the trail description in the travel guide or my path finding ability turned out to be inadequate: Instead of a trail winding up the hill, I could only find a path hugging the mountain, which was already partly overgrown with thorny bushes. I finally gave up when I came across a cow standing directly on the trail. As its behind was as wide as the remaining path, and it had some quite impressive horns, I decided to turn back.