I’ve been procrastinating about this blog for a few weeks now, much to Alli’s frustration. Partly this is because we had some disagreement about what the highlights and lowlights were, and partly just because I felt that I couldn’t wrap up our experiences using our usual format of highs, lows and interestings. It’s been a bit like being constipated, but for what it’s worth I’ve finally got it out.

No wrap up is complete without mentioning the mountains. They dominate, covering almost the entire country, and lend a real sense of wildness. The landscape is at times breathtaking, with huge canyons cutting through high plateaus surrounded by even higher rugged peaks. They are wild and majestic, and cycling through these weird, twisted, and often empty landscapes was simply beautiful. Camping high up in the mountains surrounded by rugged peaks and moon-like landscapes, while cold, was absolutely stunning and was a real highlight of the trip.

The mountains also mean that, although Montenegro is a tiny country, it can take a long time to get anywhere. It’s hard on the legs and can feel never ending. For Alli, particularly, this occasionally felt claustrophobic, and kept progress down to a frustratingly slow pace.

Montenegro is more than just mountains though.

The people are really interesting. I loved them, but they certainly take a bit of getting used to. They have a very gruff exterior, but once cracked they are really friendly, helpful, generous and happy to share their stories with you. They are also really proud of their country, and retain an obvious and distinct Montenegrin identity.

The history is fascinating. I spent a great day wandering around Cetinje, poking into museums, old palaces and galleries. These are filled with paintings of men with outrageous moustaches, guns covered in bling and stories of heroism (and sometimes gore) and you can’t help but think that the country still pines for its wild outlaw past.

Apart from Kotor, the towns are not what you’d call scenic. Even Cetinje is a little bleak looking, and the capital, Podgorica, may take our prize for worst city we’ve been to. Most places seemed to have a fair number of abandoned and dilapidated buildings (a result of poor planning or failed tourist ventures), which didn’t help the lack of charm. Despite this, most towns are worth digging into, and you’ll often find some real gems (a good cafe, restaurant, gallery or museum) hidden amongst the awfulness.

Overall, for me, I really liked Montenegro. It may have come at the right time, but I really loved the sheer wildness of the place, and it felt so different from the rest of Europe. It was really easy for us to find isolation here, particularly outside of the peak tourism season. Once you get away from the coast, the population really gets sparse, and on the smaller roads, there are very few cars. There’s also an incredible amount of forest (including some of Europe’s last remaining primordial forest), and the landscape is never boring.

The roads are in surprisingly good condition and we got more moments of pure unadultaerated cycling nirvana than anywhere else on the trip.