(4) On my way to Montenegro! // Verso Il Montenegro!

11 October 2012, Croatia and Montenegro,

After exactly four weeks in Croatia, I left it and headed southward, to Montenegro. The last stage in Croatia was Dubrovnik, which is an amazingly beautiful town on a stunning crystal clear sea. But high cost of living and the huge amount of tourists made it completely unbearable to me.

Hence, I decided to run away from it.

View of Dubrovnik from the Sveti Jakov Beach

In the late morning I jumped on a local bus to a wonderful beach named Sveti Jakov - with unexpectedly few people - on the south shore of the city. The sea was so warm that I could not stop swimming and enjoying the beach life and so left later than planned. Snaking up in the hill I saw a small closed-to-traffic road directed to the main road heading south.

I walked along that way for about an hour and reached the main road. Sun was shining, temperature was extremely mild and pleasant and I enjoyed a magnificent scene over Dubrovnik and its sea. 

With music in my ears and no fixed destination or anything booked, I felt free.

On the main road I got four rides which slowly brought me to a tiny town just before the border crossing to Montenegro. The sun was setting and I was ready to find a place to camp and to spend the night. But finally a guy offered me a ride to Montenegro. In the car I assured him that I did not have any drug with me and that my passport was in order so he accepted to go through the border with me.

Eventually it turned out that problems with the authorities were his, not mine. We spent in total three hours between the border and the police station where we were brought. The young guy is Kosovar and, according to him, Montenegro  - similarly to Serbia - has an issue with people from this nationality. He asked me 20 euros to bribe the policemen so that we could make the procedure smoother. I was tired and also a bit worried after what happened with the bullying policemen at the border. They menaced that they would not let me in the country if I did not withdraw 300 euros to show them that I had enough to live in Montenegro. In that moment I realised why people sometimes can despise the arrogant policemen so much.

After that happening I felt close to my companion in the detestation for the Montenegrin police and I felt like helping him. Therefore, I gave him the 20 euros so that he could make the process smoother and so that they could let him go, and me and my passport with him. Only to then regret it, since with this amount of money I can travel for almost two days. Finally, he brought me to Kotor where, tired, I checked in the hostel Old Town.

At the end of the day the lesson was clear: do not cross international borders with people you do not know enough to trust.

-  Versione in italiano   -

Dopo esattamente quattro settimane in Croazia, ho deciso di partire e di dirigermi verso sud, in Montenegro. L'ultima tappa del mio viaggio in Croazia e' stata Dubrovnik, una citta' incredibilmente bella che si affaccia su un mare cristallino ma che e' insopportabile a causa dei prezzi elevati e della folla di turisti.

Quindi ho deciso di scappare da Dubrovnik.

Sulla collina a sud di Dubrovnik

In tarda mattinata sono salito su un bus locale fino ad una spiaggia chiamata Sveti Jakov - inaspettatamente con poche persone - sulla costa a sud della citta'. Il mare era talmente caldo che non riuscivo a smettere di nuotare e di godermi la vita da spiaggia. Sono quindi partito piu' tardi del previsto.

Dalla spiaggia ho notato una strada chiusa al traffico che sale su per la collina verso la direttrice principale che costeggia il mare. Camminando lungo questa via per circa un'ora ho cosi' raggiunto la strada principale. Il sole splendeva, la temperatura era mite e piacevole e mi sono goduto una maestosa vista su Dubrovnik ed il suo mare. Con la musica nelle orecchie e senza fissa destinazione o qualcosa di prenotato, mi sono sentito libero.

Arrivato sulla direttrice principale mi sono diretto verso sud facendo l'autostop. Tramite quattro passaggi in macchina lentamente sono giunto ad una piccola cittadina appena prima del confine con il Montenegro. Il sole stava calando oltre l'orizzonte e mi stavo preparando a cercare un posto dove mettere la tenda per trascorrere la notte in questo paesino. Nel momento in cui mi stavo rassegnando a quest'idea un ragazzo mi ha offerto un passaggio fino in Montenegro. In macchina gli ho assicurato di non avere alcun tipo di droga e che il mio passaporto era a posto. Ha quindi accettato di attraversare il confine con me.

Alla fine si e' rilevato che i problemi con le polizia di frontiera li aveva lui, non io. Abbiamo trascorso tre ore tra il confine e la stazione di polizia dove ci hanno portato. Il ragazzo e' kosovaro e secondo lui il Montenegro - come la Serbia - ha dei problemi con le persone di questa nazionalita'. Questo ragazzo mi ha chiesto 20 euro per corrompere la polizia e 'oliare' la procedura. Ero stanco e preoccupato dopo l'esperienza con la polizia di frontiera - la quale minacciava di non farmi entrare in Montenegro a meno che io non avessi prelevato 300 euro per dimostrare che avevo abbastanza soldi per sopravvivere nel paese. In quel momento ho realizzato il perche' la polizia arrogante puo' essere cosi' tanto disprezzata dalla gente.

Dopo quell'episodio mi sono sentito vicino al mio compagno di sventura nell'odio verso la polizia montenegrina, e mi e' quindi venuto da aiutarlo. Gli ho dato i 20 euro cosi' che potesse sveltire la pratica e lo lasciassero andare via, io ed il mio passaporto con lui. Salvo poi rimpiangere questa decisione, in quanto ho realizzato che con quella somma posso viaggiare per quasi due giorni. Alla fine mi ha portato a Kotor (Cattaro) dove, stanco, ho preso posto nell'ostello Old Town.

Alla fine della giornata la lezione e' stata chiara: non attraversare confini internazionali con persone che non conosci abbastanza da poterti fidare.

(3) From Split to Dubrovnik

Camping in the olive grove

7 October - 10 October 2012, Croatia

I left Split on the afternoon of the 7 October and I spent the following three nights on the island of Korcula and on the peninsula of Peljesac. I arrived in Vela Luka, one of the main towns of Korcula island, and walked alongside the coastline to find a spot to put up my tent.

I asked a man on an olive grove about a safe place to camp. He offered me to do it in his olive grove that is almost directly at the sea. After setting up the tent, I swam and spent the time before dusk on the cliffs watching the fishermen going out for the night catch. Thoughts were storming in my mind and feelings in my heart. I realised that past insecurities and suppressed tensions were emerging inside my self and I found myself chasing each of them aimlessy. With this spirit I went back to my tent and finally found sleep.

The morning after I woke up and jumped into the sea from the cliffs. The water was crystal clear and the sea completely flat. Swimming was a good start of the day. That day I traveled little by little southward through the small towns of the island. Finally, I ended up passing the night on a campsite in one of them - Lumbarda - where I could enjoy its sandy beach before sunset. I spent the evening reading and writing while sipping a tea in one of the central bar of the town.

Swimming at sunset in Vela Luka

The 9th October I took a ferry from Korcula to Orebic. From there I got two rides to the small cozy town of Ston, around 60 kilometers southward direction Dubrovnick. I decided to pamper myself with a proper meal at restaurant. After two days of biscuits, fruits and bread and cheese the feeling of a good warm meal was powerful. I felt really relaxed and serene.

With the good night sleep of the night before, my stomach full and feeling somehow protected in this small town, I strolled aimlessly around its small stony streets. I realised that probably also the distance from the frenetic life of the city and from the internet was contributing to my serenity. In the late afternoon I found my self sitting on a bench beside the local bus station going on reading my never-ending book Shantaram.

I did not care about where I was going to spend the night. I did not want to haste to find an accommodation and I was surprised that I was not worried about it. I just felt fine on the bench going on with the book. Notwithstanding the clear physical and psychological benefits of one month at the sea, I realised that I did not want to continue with the relaxed touristic life of the Croatian coast and that this travel ought to be more than that. With this thought I lied down on the external pavement of a closed bar and waited for the first light of the morning to come.

The following morning just after sunrise I hitchhiked the remaining 60 kilometers to Dubrovnick and so managed to get there when it was still early in the morning...

Dobro Jutro Dubrovnick!