Given the close proximity to both Montenegro and Bosnia, when we collected the car at the airport yesterday we asked about visiting these other countries and were told we needed to pay €75 for a Green Card. We didn't get one there and then as we thought that rather expensive and wanted to be sure we would definitely be making the crossings.
So having already had a good look around the Old Town, we decided to do a full day's driving around.
A few views from the twisty coast road, firstly back towards Dubrovnik.
There are 1,100 or islands off Croatia, the vast majority of which are uninhabited.
Our first stop was back at the airport to buy the Green Card but when we got there another chap served us and said all he had to do was make some entries on his computer and then we should buy the Green Card at the Montenegro border.
The 40km drive south was more inland and fairly uninteresting and having left Dubrovnik in sunshine we just seemed to drive towards the clouds. But we reached the border fairly quickly and joined the queue, where were seen by the Passport Officer who motioned that we should go over to a hut for the Green Card. There was a lone chap in a very tatty office and it all looked totally unofficial, he didn't speak a word of English and didn't even have a card machine so we had to pay cash. Except it wasn't €75 but just €16 - result.
The plan was to drive to Kotor, another medieval town, which was only 50km away but it involved driving round the vast Bay of Kotor.
With the hills coming all the way down to the sea it was a beautiful but rather slow drive and it felt more as though we were driving around a large lake rather than the coast.
We stopped at the pretty town of Perast, which along with a lot of other places we'd seen en route, was undergoing a makeover. There is clearly a lot of money being invested into tourism and the coastal towns and villages are all sprucing themselves up for the summer season.
Obviously I did the usual "back a bit" joke!
This lovely building had a nearby hotel's truck parked in front of it - they kindly moved it for me.
Unfortunately by the time we arrived in Kotor it was absolutely heaving with traffic and having struggled to park in the relatively quiet town of Perast, we decided we'd drive straight through and find a route along the other side of the bay - so this is next picture isn't mine (hence the fuzziness) as we never actually stopped!
I somehow missed a turning and suddenly we were driving out of the town towards the hills, in totally the wrong direction and completely lost. So we stopped at a petrol station and asked for help, the young chap was charming and spoke beautiful English; I explained I had an offline route App on my iphone but needed the internet to download the relevant map so he promptly did that for us on the garage's wifi and gave us clear directions how to get out of town - which was a relief as the traffic really was dreadful.
The route along the opposite side of the bay was one of the prettiest I've ever seen, except the road was very, very narrow. On one side was the water and nothing to stop you driving into it and on the other side mostly brick walls. With frequent oncoming cars and knowing I was driving a brand new car it was rather a nerve-wracking experience. Still if we could make it to Lepetani and the car ferry it would save us the long drive back the way we came.
Eventually after a few cross words aimed at my navigator, we got to Lepetani just as the ferry was getting ready to leave. Ian quickly dashed off and paid and we were the last ones to drive onto the tiny ferry.
It was only a short 5 minute crossing but a fun experience.
From Lepetani we drove back through Herceg Novi (from where Bosnia Herzegovina gets its name, although the town is now in Montenegro) up into the hills, crossed the border into Bosnia (our Green Card still being valid) and then to the town of Trebinje which although only just over 50kms away was a 1 1/2 hour journey as the road was very winding and steep in places, but it afforded some lovely views.
It was a public holiday so we were able to park for nothing, we had a wander around inside the old wall and stopped for a cuppa; the town had been reconstructed and with all the shops closed and an absence of people it felt more like a film set. Nothing much worth taking pictures of though.
This seemed a rather strange thing to have in a lovely leafy park but the guy was certainly bashing as hard as he possible could.
Beautiful irises growing along the roadside on the drive back to Dubrovnik .
A long day and lots of driving and although we didn't really see or do anything much, we have visited two new countries and can now cross these off our map. After a short rest we walked back towards the old town and had a very nice meal just outside the city wall.