Day 142 – EU – Montenegro [Herceg Novi to Budva]

13/07/20

44.5km

  From Herceg Novi (Montenegro) to Budva (Montenegro)

Europe

Through the mountains down to the sea, via the most Southern Fjord of Europe

Today’s run was cut in half by the Fjord of Kotor. Leaving Herceg Novi early morning in very windy conditions, I headed out to Kamenari, at the mouth of the Fjord of Kotor. From there I took the Ferry to cross the 1km separating it from Lepetane on the other side. Then resumed the run towards Budva.

The view of the Fjord was quite majestic, with the Orjen and Lovcen mountains surrounding what looked like a lake. The mountains are still part of the Dinaric Alps range – which stretches from Italy all the way South to Albania. I still have about 2 weeks of running by its side.

The road was quiet. Montenegro is a small country of 620k inhabitants. Tomorrow will be my last day in the country. So far it is proving quite difficult to interact. Despite speaking 4 Europeans languages and understanding (very roughly) another 2, I have been met with incredible difficulties. I also sensed a tinge of hostility towards English speaking.

At lunchtime the waiter was quite proficient in English so I asked him why I was finding it so difficult here. He explained that very few people in the country speak any of the major European languages, opting instead for the Slavic languages and Russian – which make for most of the tourists flocking the country. There doesn’t seem to be great enthusiasm towards the Western European culture – maybe fueled by the fact the country is still no way near entering the EU.

Anyway – tomorrow I will head to Bar, another significant tourist destination on the Montenegro coast.

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: