I awoke about 6:30am as we started entering the Gulf of Kotor. The opening gets quite narrow in one part and we were very close to shore. It as a calm, sunny morning and watching the sun rise was a sight to behold.
We were followed in by another cruise ship we had seen before on our tour. We anchored in the small bay near the town, so would be using a tendor today to get ashore, while the other ship used the wharf.
Helen fancied a sleep in so I left early, and was on land before 9am. Stopping briefly at the visitor centre to get a map, I then used this map to walk through the town to find the start of the walk. The town was quiet with mostly just local people getting ready for their day.
Once I found the entry gate for the climb, there was a 3 euro entry fee which I duly paid, then set off. The walk was steep with the path being mostly rocky or cobblestoned, with a small set of steps on one side. Often the steps were high, or missing altogether.
It took about 55 minutes to reach the top and from here I spent about an hour exploring the fortress and taking in the various view points. I'm glad I went early because the path up was mostly in shade, keeping it cool, but by now the sun had moved around warming things up. The view of the bay was great.
Coming down the track was a lot busier, with much more people on their way up. About half way down, there was a small opening I had to crouch to get through, and on the other side a small climb down onto another walkway. Much less people went this way. Here I found an old church and other ruins, and looking across the ravine I could see a couple of houses still lived in. Those people sure have a climb to reach their houses!
Once at the bottom I stopped at the first restaurant I could find and bought a large handle of beer, well earned I thought. Then I went back to the ship to meet Helen. She had already been across the had a look around the old town. After some lunch, I headed over again to explore the old town myself.
Despite two cruise ships in, the old town was not crowded and really had a nice feel. Much more like I had expected Dubrovnik to be like. Although much smaller, and more quaint, I enjoyed it more and had a good look around.
We sailed late afternoon, catching the late afternoon sun on many of the small towns along the side of the bay. A lovely way to end the day.
We also spotted an old navy installation which we could make out with binoculars. The guy in the cabin next to us also had binoculars and was spotting all sorts of interesting things. In particular, we saw two rusty old submarines on land, an old rusty navy ship which had sunk tied up to a wharf, and what our neighbour thought were some submarine ports hidden in the hills.
We also had a jet ski play with us alongside.
Kotor was an unexpected surprise, a very picturesque bay and an enjoyable old town. Tomorrow we are making our final stop in Greece for this tour.
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