Route Map through MONTENEGRO. Covered approx. 600km on the motorcycles.

July 19, 2006. A wild fire greets us as we enter from Albania into Montenegro on the road from Bozaj to Podgorica.

Heading north from Podgorica ....

... through the MORACA CANYON.

We enter the DURMITOR NATIONAL PARK...

... the water of the river is so blue and clear...

...and the road twists its way through ragged mountains along the river....

... this beautiful countryside is reminding us of home and the Banff National Park.

The occasional waterfall making us stop in awe.

At Durdevica Tara, ...

...a huge old impressive bridge spans across the Tara Canyon.

The views from the bridge are breathtaking...

...as we walk across.

TARA CANYON.

Our first view of the town of Zabljak high in the mountains.

We camp at the Ivan-do Campground for 4.5Euro/night.

The entrance to the Durmitor National Park is only a few hundred meters from the campsite.

The park is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage of National Resources.

Seen here is the CRNO JEZERO (Black Lake). It is an interesting hydrogeographical phenomenon, known as bifurcation.

The waters of the lakes under favorable hydrological conditions run into two different river flows at the same time.

We decide to hike up the mountains behind the lake.

The park consits of 5 canyons, 18 lakes ...

...and 49 peaks over 2000m covering an area of 390 square km.

We reach the tree line and occasional snow...

...and as we haven't see snow for a little while. What a better way then a snow ball fight.

Goran, a local from Zabljak, we had met earlier shows up on his....

... home built 250cc 2-stroke chopper with orange and yellow flames painted on the tank. His enthusiasm made our day.

Our campsite at the Ivan-do campground.

From our tent we had a full view of 2287m Meded Mountain and 2523m Bobotov Kuk Mountain.

July 20, 2006. Leaving Zabljak we take a different route back to Podgorica over Niksic.

The road is single lane, covered with potholes and corner after corner.

The scenery is unbelievable and even through we take a few wrong turns, due to the poor signage, we are loving it.

Here we are off the beaten path (took a wrong turn), high in the mountains...

...it was the longer route, but definitely the better choice, as we were exposed to some very primitive living arrangments.

In three (3) hours of riding we might have met 10 cars.

20km past Niksic, 900m above the Zeta valley, located on the side of a cliff lies the OSTROG MONASTERY.

The monastery was built out of two (2) caves in 1665, which still has the remains of Archbishop Vasilije Jovanovic.

A view from the road between Podgorica to Cetinje.

Approx. 7km before Cetinje we take the turn-off signed as Rikjeka Crnojevica.

What an experience, the only way we can describe this road is a paved overgrown trail as wide as our motorcycles.

We both stop and look at each other with a question mark and decide to keep on going.

After 2kms the roads reaches the descent point and an amazing view of the tail end of Lake Skadar.

We stop to down load the GPS coordinates onto the computer.

The village of RIJEKA CRNOJEVICA.

Here time seems to stand still...

... the village has the most unusual oldish four-arch pedestrian bridge...

...Children play in the river and jump off the bridge.

The houses, small boats and bridge, mirror in the blue-green calm water for magical pictures.

Not so magical is the temperature, as we look for a shady spot...

...to get out of the heat. Seen here is a typcial house on the main road through the village.

Picture opportunities are endless, ...

...as the reflections are amazing in the calm river.

A boat that has seen better days...

...and at the same location a new luxury boat docks beside it as a couple of locals paddle by.

The amazing view of the tail end of Lake Skadar...

...and the sweeping double-back bend...

...that the lake takes around a mountain spur.

Happily we take a break to take in the magical scenery.

How spectacular is this view of the northern end of Lake Skadar?

July 21, 2006. Visiting the old walled town (stari grad) of BUDVA.

Being early we are able to walk the empty...

...cobble stoned street.

The old town was leveled twice in 1979 by an earthquake and ...

...since has been rebuilt a bit too perfect for our liking.

The citadel is within the old walls and houses an interesting library of the countries history and models of famous ancient ships.

We walk through the picture perfect narrow streets of Budva.

Enjoying the solitude of no tourists.

From the walls of the citadel we are able to see the clear waters of the Adriatic Sea.

Just waiting for us to explore with our snorkel gear.

Summer in Montenegro.

Part of the walled town Budva.

Approx. 25km north along the coastline lies the picturesque Stari Grad of KOTOR.

The old town of Kotor has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site and ...

...is wonderful to walk through.

After strolling the streets we insanely decide...

...to hike up the million steps to the old fortification...

...on the mountainside during mid-day.

As we climb up, it gives us some incredible insight of the houses below.

Pretty red roof houses and ancient churches,....

....surrounded by a fortified wall are nestled...

...at the head of southern Europe's deepest fjord.

Finally some shade to hide from the sun.

The view from the old fortification high above Kotor.

The Montenegro Flag.

Can't beat a view like that. High mountains rise behind the town.

Seen here are the steps from Kotor leading up to the fortification.

The old walls of Kotor are still surrounded by water.

One of the many gates....

...and narrow streets in Kotor.

The town is still inhabited.

Cute little churches.

We look back up the mountain to the fortification we had just climbed.

The clock tower.

A new model not available in Canada. Yamaha XTX. Looks a lot like the KTM, but probably half the price.

In the afternoon we escape the heat and head for the beach...

...the path leads past this famous statue with a view of the old town of Budva in the background.

Equipped with our snorkel gear, ...

...we can't resist the clear waters.

Watch out for these not so friendly creatures.

The view of the road from Cetinje to Budva.

We camp in an overcrowded campground in Boreti.

The pretty little Island of SVETI STEFAN in the middle of the Adriatic Sea.

July 21, 2006. Taking the ferry across the fjord of Kotor to the walled town of Herceg Novi. Our last day in beautiful Montenegro.