3/7/9 Bus trouble, Kotor bay arrival and boat trip

This was another day of stunning scenery with  amazing drops to rivers and to lush green country side, studded with rocks as we drove along.

The drive started with a funny noise somewhere underneath, and despite a number of checks the cause was not found (not a flat tyre) . On the hairpin bends as we drove down the mountain again this was a bit disconcerting and eventually, part way down, the driver conceded that we would have to ask for a replacement bus and change over so that they could have a good look at the bus and see what the problem was.  We took an early tea break in the shelter of a convenient cafe while we waited for the replacement bus , and while we found ourselves a cold drink, the driver scratched his head and tried a few other things.

Checking out our bus. 

morning tea break while we wait for a bus

He  realised that the nuts had been loosened on the wheels overnight!! He tightened them all , took the bus for a bit of a spin and decided that it was fine now.  The other bus was cancelled, we reloaded the luggage and were on our way.  What idiot would decide to do that to a bus in that terrain??

We stopped at a supermarket in a small village only a little later for the purpose of wine purchasing- ready for tea that night.

Not long later we were treated to stunning views over Kotor bay and pulled off of the road to take a few shots of the outstanding sight.  Mountains were dropping almost directly into the blue water of Kotor Bay with just a tiny fringe of flat land for houses between the two. Was this real? We wound our way down to the water level, and then around the Bay to Kotor.

first view of the Bay of Kotor - WOW!

view of the bay from our balcony

After a brief stop at our hotel we were picked up by a local guide (on foot) and taken out on a boat for a few hours to see the local sights.

big cruise ship in town.

city walls winding up the hill behind the city.

there are a lot of churches here - many of them looking out over the water. 

we visited this church on the man made island.

swimming in the Adriatic - Beautiful

We thoroughly enjoyed the chance to see things from the water instead of the bus,  to relax and to have a stunning swim in the salty water of the bay at about 25 degrees. (very pleasant on a hot day). Trevor was supplied with a life jacket and floated around in the water pretty happily without having to use his arms too much.

Our hotel was about 1.6km from the old town. Still close enough to walk , but far enough away to be away from the main noise.

We walked in to have tea in the old town with our group and a bit of an orientation walk before the meal.  On the way into the old town we were met by a group of scantily clad girls giving away sample cans of french beer..  The group ended up with a large collection of beer cans to take home as future supply. 

Our leader Ivan (who ended up carrying the cans back to the hotel) and Melody.

Erica had prawn stuffed stuffed squid  for the evening meal. The whole squid were about 10cm long in total and I had a cat sitting hopefully looking up at me for the whole meal. 

Kotor has a lot of cats - legacy of the many ships who used to visit and leave their ship cats behind.  They also have a cat feeding every day for the tourists and a cat museum.

After tea we walked back again to our hotel along the seafront, enjoying the tiny breezes off of the sea to find that our water was off!!  It didn't stop us from settling in for some good conversation back on one of our balconies until after midnight while some of the others continued on with their cutthroat poker challenge inside.  We just hoped that the water would be ready for a shower in the morning and that we had enough to keep us hydrated overnight on yet another hot night.