Wanted an early start from Dubrovnik, but the campsite owner had decided to go shopping, with no one else around to take care of business.I had to pay and checkout, so nothing else to do but sit and wait. Eventually, an hour later he turned up, apologetically.

There were long queues exiting Croatia, and also entering the Montenegrin side. Fortunately, being on a bike, lanesplitting (driving between two rows of cars) is possible, and seems quite acceptable, as many cars actually move out of the way when they spot you in their side mirrors. In that way you can literally jump kilometers of queues in no time at all, and drive right to the front, where the passport control takes place.

Since leaving Denmark just over a week ago, I have not seen one single drop of rain. On entering Montenegro I could see that it had rained. After a long period without rain, it is a well known fact that the roads in this part of the world becomes extremely slippery and “soapy”, when it finally does rain. It has something to do with a fine dust that settles on the roads. There were queues everywhere, and soon I spotted the first accident. Sadly, it involved a motorcycle, and police and ambulances were trying to make their way through the chaos. I continued my trip with the utmost care.

Montenegro is extremely scenic. I would describe it as “Croatia light”. Lots of new projects in the making, but also plenty of abandoned ones. Not as sophisticated as Croatia in any way, Particularly in the rural areas it is evident that there is some way to go, looking at the methods used to tend the fields. Although not a member of the EU, Montenegro has adopted the Euro as their currency.

Through TripAdvisor I had found a campsite in the mountains in a very rural area. It came highly recommended, with lots of positive comments about the owner. The place is called Bartula- My Olive Garden. It is spectacularly placed on terraced ground at the foot of a massive mountain range. A great area for climbing, and a crystal clear river a couple of hundred meters away from the camp. Basic, but clean and tidy facilities, and a rustic bar cum breakfast and eating area. The minute I arrived at the camp, a young man came running to greet me, and immediately invited me to come to the bar for an ice cold welcome glass of ice cold fresh lemonade. He showed me a couple of places I could pitch my tent, and also introduced me to the owner - the boss, as he called him.

I slept like a baby that night, and woke up early the next morning, to absolute quietness and tranquillity. Not a sound from anywhere, here amongst all the olive trees, at the foot of the mountain.

After breakfast, I headed towards yet another new destination - Albania and the capital Tirana.