Lodging

Don't ask me why, but Montenegro was one of the must-do destinations when we planned this trip. Maybe because I had read about it in a travel book and the experience sounded cool. In fact, the reason we went to Croatia is because it's a easy ride down the coast to coastal Montenegro. The first city we are headed to is Kotor, which is tucked inside a fjord. Kotor is a relatively short bus ride from Dubrovnik (2.5hrs), but there is a world of difference between the attitude of the two people.

I always thought a country's consulate gives you a good feel for what to expect in that country. For example, the exasperation one feels at the long wait and chaos at the Indian consulate is a good indication of what you will experience in India. When Ashok got his Visa for Montenegro, the people at the consulate were super laid back.... having a drink at 4 in the afternoon and offering to give him the Visa on the spot. That's pretty much our experience with the people in Montenegro. Instead of being very careful so as to not get taken advantage of, we were pleasantly surprised by how lax everyone is. It's a nice change from some of the curt, rude people we've had to deal with (most recently the bus driver who barked "toilet? no toilet! back to your seat!" when I asked if there would be a bathroom break before Kotor).

We had emailed a travel agent in Kotor and the response we got was "come see us when you arrive and we will help you find a place".... hmmm.... ok. I mean, we're pretty last minute, sometimes booking a room the night before, but this is truly a test of our flexibility. Not having any other options, we got on the bus, figuring at the very least we'll be able to get a room from one of the people that crowd the buses upon arrival with "room available" signs.

The people at Meridian Travel turned out to be EXTREMELY nice! They didn't have a room that met our needs (private bathroom and AC... there are certain modern conveniences a girl can't give up!), so they gave us names of the other agencies in Kotor and even let us leave our luggage in their office while we went to check!

At the 3rd agency (there are only 3 in old town), the woman flipped through a notebook with handwritten notes and postcards of apartments (not very sophisticated here), made a phone call and announced that she has an apartment for 65 Euros right in old town... we hesitated... she came down to 60 Euros.. done deal! A few minutes later, a guy showed up to take us to look at the apartment (we've learned it's a must). It was newly renovated and spacious so we said we'd take it. The guy turned around to leave. We tried to follow and asked if he wanted the keys. He responded, "take it, I already have one", and took off. Keep in mind at this point we hadn't paid yet. That's the only time we ever saw the owner of the apartment.

By the way, when it came time to check out no one contacted us for the keys or gave any instructions for leaving the keys. We just stopped by the travel agent and dropped them off. I wonder what would have happened if we had taken off with the keys? Or stayed extra days at the apartment? Would they have known?

Since the people at Meridian Travel was so nice we wanted to try to give them some business, so we went back there the next day to see if they can help us with accommodations in the next place, Budva. However, all the travel agencies only deal with local lodging so they didn't have anything. Instead, we got names of 4 travel agencies in Budva plus a lot of tips on the beaches around Budva from them. Hands down, they were the most helpful people we met on this trip.

Here's the info for Meridian Travel if you're in that part of the world:
Meridian Travel
email: travel@cg.yu
tel: 381-82-32-34-48