Day 16 The Tortoise

Enjoyed my breakfast and the amazing view. The biggest standout out breakfast was something new but not all that noticeable in the pic. That was the addition of homemade fried bread. The rounds were somewhat irregular in shape and thinnest but deep fried and about the size of a donut. So soft and good. There were four of then with accompanying jam and honey. Delicious.

I started the day knowing the ride was going to be difficult even through it was not as long as some of the others. After a brief downhhill from the guesthouse, the ride was pretty much uphill for have of the distance today. First I climbed a one lane country road through green mountains covered in trees and bushes, which was nice as tree was some shade on the side of the road. At one point the French couple passed me as they were driving to Kotor toady and both had their arms out the windows waiving as they passed.

Unfortunately, this quiet road ended and I had to turn on a major highway and bike this for quite some distance. The road was uphill the entire time and I was looking forward to getting off this road and back onto a smaller road. I exited this road at Cetinje and took the opportunity to stop at a market and get a cold drink I had been biking for more than a couple hours with no relief from the uphill climb. The city of Cetinje is on a flattish spot on the mountain so a little break before starting another uphill climb. I truly was just tortoising my way to the top. Not particularly elegant but just kept moving knowing it put me one step closer to getting some relief.

When I got close to the top there were several short ups and downs before going through a tunnel and then getting a nice but short downhill into a green valley. This was just a teaser though since there was another short climb and some ups and downs before beginning the big ascent.

When you finally do get to the point where you are headed downhill you are faced with some amazing views and what seems like an endless sequence of switchbacks. You can see Kotor before as well as the many other cities along the waters edge. I didn’t begin the descent until 1:00. I had been biking uphill—with the occasional break—since 9:00 this morning. Once the descent begins you ride it all the way into Kotor where I arrived at my hotel at 3:00.

Kotor has a great old city center and my hotel is just outside the old city walls. A quick shower and change and I ready to explore. Not surprisingly the city center is full of tourists, but it is an amazing place and understandably popular. I wander all the squares and a couple churches. One has a couple monks some beautiful chants. Even with all the people you can find out of the way corners to enjoy.

After wandering around for a couple hours I start looking for a place to east. Although people eat later here, I am always hungry when I finish biking so I stop by a market and by some chips—paprika flavored—and a drink to hold me over until I find a restaurant a little later. Although there are several restaurants inside the center, I choose to look outside a city neat my hotel as I was hoping for one a little less touristy. To be honest I have enjoyed all the food but I was hoping to find something different tonight and I find a place with a mix—some traditional some more international. I have chicken in a creamy curry sauce.

My table at the restaurant looks back toward the city center and I see that the sun is setting being the mountains and the city gradually become shaded. By the time I leave only the fort at the top of the mountains is in the sun. I walk through the winding streets and exit at the main city gate which put you out on the water. I walk along the water toward my hotel until I come to a park. Again, it looks like locals out walking dogs, pushing strollers, and I hear the voices of children playing in the playground. I find a bench looking out over the water where I watch boats go by, ducks swimming, and the sunset reflected on the water.

When read this I think this really does sound like an old person. No bars, discos or wild nights. Just enjoying simple things. To be honest, I never enjoyed or did those things when I was young. For all the amazing things today and throughout this trip I haven’t said much about it ending. I have only one big bike day left—tomorrow. Originally I had planned on staying near the water and taking two days to bike to Dubrovnik. Looking at that route I was afraid the coastal road which was relatively flat was far too much traffic to be enjoyable. As a result I have another day biking up into the mountains which will takes me into Bosnia and Herzegovina. Even better, I get to add another name to countries I have visited. Luckily I will bike around this lake for several kilometers before beginning the long hard climb up. I guess I may have to be a tortoise one last time.