Some belated, scattered reflections on Montenegro, written by Evie while in Greece and Vietnam.
The mountains of Montenegro are beautiful! The first two biking days in Montenegro were especially lovely. The first day we climbed up out of Tara Canyon, onto a karst plateau, up through a pine forest sheltering snow, and again through karst meadows. The second day we wound through a misty wonderland of snow-dusted peaks. The clouds moved so fast that our view kept shifting, revealing a view for a moment and then snatching it back behind a curtain of fog.
We met some very kind people in the mountains of Montenegro. Our first night, we stayed in some rooms above a restaurant. The proprietress of the rooms (whom we nicknamed babushka) took one look at us and decided we did not know the proper way things were done. She taught us how to dry our hair properly before bed and to keep our sandals on inside, even in the shower. She even offered to let us borrow her clothes (we arrived soaked through with rain). All in hand gestures, accented by Montenegrin. The restaurant, run by Andela and her husband, had a roaring fireplace and served yummy omlettes. The last morning, as we were packing up our bikes outside the kitchen door, Andela handed us two loaves of bread, hot from the oven! Our second night, our host, Vida, walked down the hill to greet us and welcomed us into her house for tea, telling us stories of her family over Google translate and insisting we eat some cookies. She made the best potatoes we’ve ever eaten (grown in her own garden!) and treated us to a taste of homemade rose hip juice.
As we entered the Montenegrin mountains, my lungs started to struggle. I developed exercise induced asthma last year. Typically it only activates when I push really hard, in a race or fast group ride. But between the cold, damp air, elevation over 2k ft, and lots of climbing, I started to get asthma symptoms (coughing or wheezing) every day. It turns out that being able to take deep breaths matters a lot! Some days I thought it was fine, just a little grumpy, until I started coughing. When I took my inhaler, my whole body would immediately relax and my mood improved considerably. I also found I was nervous to push myself hard. I just wanted to shift to granny gear and cruise. I started taking my inhaler preventatively before each ride, and I felt so much more free with the assurance that my lungs would keep up with me. Hurrah for inhalers. (Update: In Greece I got a new kind of inhaler to better manage my asthma, and a week into Vietnam my asthma is closer to my original baseline.)
After the mountains, taking a week to loop around south eastern Montenegro was a welcome respite for the lungs and for the mind. After so many aggressive shepard dogs, I was feeling dread at the beginning of each ride and anxious around corners (was that a dog barking?!). We had a week before we needed to return to Podgorica for our second rabies vaccine shot (see Meg’s earlier post for details). Two Norwegian bikepackers we met in Croatia had highly recommended Lake Skadar, so we gave it a go.
As soon as we turned off the main roads to the quiet Panoramic Highway circling the lake, my body started to relax. There were no dogs, only thick brush and cliff side lining the road. We had time, so we didn’t need to rush anywhere each day. I enjoyed the unfamiliar feeling of sun on my legs and cruised, trying to let my lungs recover.
The view was beautiful, but I noticed it wasn’t hitting me in the same way it would have the first week. I had been so spoiled by beauty I was numbed to it. Later that day, we met a bikepacker biking the opposite direction, from Skadar. She was the first (and only) female solo bikepacker we met, and she was having a great time. “It’s so beautiful! This is a really, really good day.” Well, I was determined not to be out-enjoyed by this lady. If she was having this much fun on this route, I would, too! I began stopping more often to take pictures and calibrated my playlist, trying to invite the awe back in. The islands looked like tiny pancakes! Wow that’s a real life well with a bucket and everything. Ice cream with a view!
On the coast in Ulcinj, we studied flamingos from afar in a quiet salt marsh and took a nap on the beach.
In Bar, I felt homesick for the first time. I was missing my friends’ wedding and felt the distance more acutely than usual. I was where I wanted to be and doing what I wanted to be doing every day- I just wanted the ability to teleport, too. It was a rainy day, but I wanted to see the town, so I went for a walk to the waterfront anyways. And promptly teleported to the US! I had reached the cruise port. Americans streamed around me, setting foot on the Balkans for the first time. Their enthusiasm for the small differences that I had gotten used to months ago (look, a stray dog!) felt embarrassing. Maybe I didn’t want to go back anytime soon.
Looking for shelter from the rain, I splurged on a hot cocoa at a vegan health food store. It was the same price it would have been at home, and just the way I would have made it in my own kitchen. Yum. They even had a water jug with cups, so you could serve yourself water (so American!). That little taste of home filled my cup- I was ready for the next leg of adventure.
-Evie
