5 June 2012: Happy Birthday to both Jane and Mike Ralph! Yesterday we passed uneventfully through the border between Albania and Montenegro, obtained the all important passport stamp (in order to exit the country without fuss) and left behind the evocative donkey drawn carts, cows ambling or sleeping in the road and the countless ½ finished buildings. In Montenegro the driving is not much improved but the vehicles are notably newer. We camped at a very nice family run site called Oliva, yet another ex olive grove, just opposite the beach. 6 June 2012: Today we headed north along the coast, stopping first at Sveti Stefan, a picturesque island that used to be a fishing village reached by an isthmus but is now an exclusive resort with a very ‘Colditz’ like feel to it. There were signs saying that on the beach it was mandatory to use the hotel beach furniture at the cost of €50! Needless to say there was no-one on the beach. We moved on to explore Budva Stari Grad. Stari meaning ‘old’ and Grad meaning ‘town’. The old town was a charming coastal town within walls surrounded by popular sandy beaches. We drove on to Kotor, another walled old town but this time on the edge of a bay, almost like a fjord in that it was several kilometers long and deep enough for cruise ships to sail right to the town. We appreciate that the town survives on tourism but the endless crocodile lines of tours from the cruise ship moored at the town quay quite spoiled the atmosphere. We took the ferry across the bay to our campsite, also on the edge of the bay. We are now at the northern extreme of the Montenegrin coast and have been disappointed with the lack of open camp sites as there is so much to see and so few camp sites open. More research required.
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