European Mountains, Montenegro
 

Velji Grad (497m), July 13 2012


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Velji Grad

Velji Grad
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After having completed our main two goals in Montenegro - hiking Bobotov Kuk (2523m)and Zla Kolata (2534m), Anne and me sat course for Budva and some relaxing days before returning to Norway.

On July 12, we left Hotel Kula Damjanova in Plav after a mighty fine morning. This hotel had been our base-camp while hiking Zla Kolata. Now, we were on our way back to Budva and our other hotel. Yes, it's quite a luxury to have a room in one hotel while we're driving around the country and sleeping over in other hotels...

 

A nice morning in Plav

A nice morning in Plav
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On July 13, we wanted to combine hiking and snorkeling and drove towards Sutomore to hike Velji Grad - a low coastal peak that we had noticed the day before, but didn't know the name of - our the route to. There was supposed to be a mountain road, but where was it?

We thought we had found the trailhead, but after a short hike it was clear that we were heading in the wrong direction. We found a young man who could speak English - AND knew where the mountain road was. Eventually, we found it and headed out 09:07am. The mountain road was only 2,2km, but the hiking distance was 2,7km since we parked further away.

We reached the summit point 09:53am and got a nice overview of the coastline. After a short stay, we headed back down. This was our 6th day in Montenegro and the 6th day of gorgeous weather - and heat. Too much heat, actually. It wouldn't be so hard to return to rainy Norway after this stay.

 

The route, as seen in Google Earth

The route, as seen in Google Earth
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After the hike, we drove down to the nearest bay and enjoyed snorkeling. The plan was to try out my new GoPro Hero, but it only worked for a couple of minutes. Very disappointing, and I still haven't found out what was wrong. The battery was supposed to be fully charged. But this didn't outweigh the fun of being in the water!

 

Snorkeling outside Sutomore

Snorkeling outside Sutomore
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Back in Budva, we rented a taxi boat and took a tour in the waters between Budva and the island St. Nikola. Very nice. And the captain of the boat had been to Karmøy in Norway!

 

Sightseeing outside Budva

Sightseeing outside Budva
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Our stay was coming towards an end. We would fly back to Norway the next day, and it was time to reflect on our stay. We both loved the country. It was easy to travel around and we didn't encounter any major language barriers. The mountains were fantastic and accessible - although there are indeed mountains that call for greater mountaineers than us! Well, it's a unfair to mention just the mountains. The nature around the whole country was beautiful!

The tourists seemed mainly to be from Russia and Ukraine. At least, we didn't see any deadly drunk Scandinavian kids, which was a big upside. I was still not sure how safe I was supposed to feel as a tourist outside the city limits, and my latent paranoia isn't helping...

But all in all, we would like to go back and I guess that's what matters the most...

 

St. Nikola island

St. Nikola island
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Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 60D + Canon EF-S 18-200mm 3.5-5.6 IS
and GoPro Hero

 

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Plav, July 12 2012

1. Hotel Kula Damjanova 2. A walk on the pier 3. The hotel 4. A blue insect 5. A happy family 6. Off we go... 7. What the...? 8. Flower 9. Beautiful lake 10. Mountain above Plav 11. The ducks - again 12. Small fish 13. Small fish 14. Unknown 15. Plavsko Jezero 16. Small fish 17. The pier 18. Busy ones 19. The ducks are still around 20. Quack! 21. Solo 22. Plav 23. Haystacks 24. Map

To the coastline, July 12 2012

25. From Plav to Budva 26. 2000m peaks 27. 2000m peaks 28. Mountains and tunnels 29. Canyons 30. Heat! 31. Podgorica 32. Podgorica 33. Hot dog? 34. Road panorama 35. The coastline 36. A cool rock 37. Velji Grad 38. Cool islands

Velji Grad, July 13 2012

39. Velji Grad 40. The route 41. Velji Grad 42. Our trailhead 43. On the wrong way 44. Guard dog 45. For the rich ones 46. Busy bee 47. Busy bee 48. Mountain road begins here 49. On the mountain road 50. Got ya! 51. Butterfly 52. Butterfly 53. Butterfly 54. Butterfly 55. Butterfly 56. Butterfly 57. Butterfly 58. On the mountain road 59. Almost up 60. To the summit point 61. Summit view 62. The antenna 63. 497m below 64. Forest fire 65. Forest fire 66. Summit view 67. Me - on the summit 68. Sutomore 69. Military area 70. Butterfly 71. Descent 72. A beach 73. Velji Grad

Snorkeling outside Sutmore, July 13 2012

74. Snorkeling outside Sutmore, July 13 2012 75. Our destination 76. A dog is passing by! 77. Anne is in the water 78. I am in the water too 79. Yes, hello! 80. Bubbelibubbeli... 81. Diving 82. Go Pro! 83. Back to the shore 84. Sharp rocks 85. Big fun! 86. Nearby beach 87. Velji Grad 88. Returning to Budva

Sightseeing outside Budva, July 13 2012

89. Sightseeing outside Budva, July 13 2012 90. Looks expensive! 91. Anne and our captain 92. St. Nikola 93. Crowded beach 94. Old town 95. Unfinished 96. Old town 97. Old town 98. Old town 99. Cliffs outside old town 100. Surfer girl is not in the mountains? 101. Cliffs outside old town 102. Old town 103. Cliffs outside old town 104. Cliffs outside old town 105. Anne and our captain 106. Cliffs outside old town 107. Bumpy waters 108. Budva panorama 109. Budva 110. St. Nikola 111. St. Nikola 112. St. Nikola 113. St. Nikola 114. St. Nikola 115. Fun high above 116. St. Nikola 117. Need for speed 118. Budva 119. St. Nikola 120. Big yachts 121. Bigger yachts 122. Budva 123. Fun on the water 124. Bigger yachts 125. Bigger yachts 126. Fun in the air 127. Cliffs 128. Unfinished complex 129. Tall tower 130. Looks fun! 131. Better hold on! 132. Documentation... 133. Budva tower

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