The Balkans - Montenegro, Budva

The bus station in Budva was around 20 minute walk from the Old Town and when you get lost it took way more for me.. Eventually I found the Freedom Hostel 2 and the guy Milosh at the reception was so nice. I paid 11€ / night. I went to walk around close by the beach. I asked this one place for a water and like 2dl of water would have cost me 2€. No way. I started walking the other direction along the shore and from a normal kiosk 1,5-liter water was 2€. 

I walked passed this fast food area called Skolijeran and some open-air clubs which were still being prepared for the season. I went to eat at this Obala restaurant and even the menu was in Russian (also in English too tho). There were so many Russians there and everywhere you went they started talking in Russian. I’m not so sure if I liked the place especially when it was AGAIN not that good of a weather.

After eating I walked back towards to Old Town to find a bus stop for the bus going to this Sveti Stefan place which was maybe around 10 km away. The ticket cost me 2€ and on the way talked with this weird German guy. At the destination (the guy got of earlier but he was at the same hostel and in the same room as me..) you couldn’t enter the actual island since it’s a resorts and the sunbed set cost 100€... I walked on the beach there and went to sit down for a coke and admire the view. Then after couple of hours I just walked back to the bus and went back to wander the streets of the Old Town and then for a ice coffee on the beach. 

At the hostel I felt so tired but managed to take a shower and go out to eat and wander around. Went back to the beach to see the first sunset on the trip (still it was cloudy tho). People always compare prices with beer so small draft beer cost me 2-2.5€. That night I met this 34-year-old Finnish girl in the hostel room and my travel fever just woke up when I was listening to her and her travels to Cuba, Costa Rica, Peru, Argentiina, train journeys across Russia and stopping in Mongolia, Japan, South-Korea, Taiwan, Philippines and much much more.

Kotor and Budva were somehow really similar with both of their Old Town’s being surrounded by these walls. Kotor was maybe a bit “nicer” with white tablecloths etc. when on the other hand Budva seemed a bit more relaxed with beaches.

Anyway, went to bed maybe 00.30 and I noticed that I had totally forgotten to search for the next hostel in the next place, Albania. I left from the hostel at 7.30 to take a taxi to the bus station (felt too tired to walk) and it was supposed to be 3-5€. I walked this Japanese 70-year-old grandpa who was travelling alone around the Europe for like 9 months or something. We couldn’t get the taxi price down so we just walked to the bus station. I was so sweaty. I paid 14€ for my ticket to Shköder and 2€ for the driver again for the luggage. It was so misleading since the name of the city was spelled so many different ways in different places that I wasn’t sure where I was going...