After a quiet morning on the site we drive on, this time heading west, to the coast by the city of Kotor. On the way we have a brief stop in Podgorica (the capital). It's an odd city, with an extremely square layout for a somewhat American feel but with a very shabby old center.
Not really paying attention to the route chosen by our navigation app, we end up right on top of the mountain overlooking the Kotor bay. With the sun low in the sky the view is absolutely breathtaking. But now comes the road down, which is steep switchbacks without really enough space for two cars to pass. For every passerby we need to both come to a crawl through the roadside, hitting the side of the road. Once down we stroll through the gorgeous fort-like city center and have some aperitivo (local cheeses and olives, and I have a Bavaria 0%) by the sea. We move the van into something of a parking spot on the other side of the bay for the night, but we don't rest well because of the traffic.
Our attempt at a long hike the next day is foiled by paths that are too overgrown to traverse. Instead we finish driving the loop around the peninsula. Which turns into a nightmare in our van because traffic once again simply doesn't fit. It's beyond me how these streets aren't made one-way. At least put up a warning sign! We end up in Tivat, where we feel we stand out sorely being dressed in our stinky hiking clothes amidst countless luxury yachts. We drive on some more and end up just camping early, to read our books in the sun and do some much needed laundry.
As rain is predicted we struggle a bit how to plan this day and the next. We end up driving up to the west end of the Lake Shkoder and book a kayak for tomorrow. The remainder of this day we drive up into the hills a bit for a very scenic hike, passing us by an abandoned little hamlet. We spend the night where we parked the van, on an unused basketball court (no kids where spotted who might mind). We got a friendly wave from a local as we're cooking dinner, so we think we're good.
With Dutch punctuality we're down by the lake again at 09:00 sharp. We spend the next 5 hours kayaking this corner of the enormous lake, through little channels flanked by trees, reeds and lilies. It's a bird paradise, we spot some pelicans even. Well past noon we drive off again, taking a scenic route by the lake instead of the highway on my insistence. I guess nobody should be surprised the road was i) tiny, ii) steep, iii) snaking but iv) with unbelievable views. Moving 40km took us about 3 hours. With bad weather on the horizon for tomorrow we don't camp yet and instead drive on into Albania, scared we might become trapped on these mountain roads otherwise. We cross the border (without being stopped for once) and hit a big but empty campsite below the city of Shkoder. Feeling exhausted we freshen up with a dip in the big river by the site.
