By Bye Montenegro!

Our fantastic week in Montenegro has come to an end far too quickly. We were able to see the wild beauty of this fascinating country and meet a lot of lovely people on our way. It was definately the perfect location for our adventurous group and one day we all hope to go back to Montenegro again. We are very satisfied with our study week as everything worked out more or less perfectly. We would like to thank all our business partners for the interesting meetings and the chance to get an insight in their businesses. Till nex time Montenegro, we will miss you!

Lake Skadar

As the climate in the coastal area is rather hot it was a bit difficult to get a good night sleep, so many of us got up early to go jogging. The weather was warm and sunny the whole day, so it was perfect for some water related activities. 

We left our apartment at 10 in the morning to head towards Lake Skadar, where we held our last business meeting. The ride there was wild as usual as we saw turtles and snakes on the road along the way.  When we arrived we were warmly welcomed by Sara, the local tourism agency representative of outdoor and more, who took us to a boat tour on Lake Skadar, which is the biggest lake in the Balkans. Before we could do that we had to see off our supervisor Domenico, who had to get back to Podgorica to catch his flight back to Switzerland. 

During the amazingly beautiful boat tour on Lake Skadar we were able to hold our meeting with the tourism agency representative Sara in a more relaxed atmosphere. On the way we saw the ruins of the so called Montenegrin Alcatraz, a prison which was built on an island and was said to be impossible to escape from.  One of the highlights of the tour was the lunch in a completely private restaurant in a hidden bay. The restaurant is only reachable by boat and offers delicious food with a fascinating view on the lake. The meal was huge and filling as usual in Montenegro. 

After the meal we returned to the boat and took the course back to the beginning and were very lucky to see Pelicans on the way as it is said to be very unusual in the area. The captain took a short break in the middle of the lake so all interested group members had the chance to jump off the boat and take a swim in the lake. 

When we returned to the office, we handed over our presents from Switzerland and paid for the trip. We got some useful information to fill in the rest of the day with sightseeing. We took a narrow road (wide enough for 1 car) up to the mountains again to have an amazing view on the Skadar and have a photo shooting there. 

Getting back to the apartment we used the time to work on our project management parts and freshen up after a hot sweaty day and to prepare ourselves for a dinner in the old town of Budva. 

To round up our very successful study week the whole group went together for a last meal into the old town and took the chance to enjoy the last evening at the sea.

Budva Boom Boom

The night in Kotor was rather short as we got to bed late and planned to go to the old town for breakfast before we leave. Afterwards, we went back to our Hostel to pick up our luggage and drive to our next business meeting at Lustica Bay, not far from Kotor. When we arrived at the sales center of Lustica Development AD at Lustica Bay, Ivana Uljarevic and Damir, her colleague, both marketing executives of the project, warmly welcomed us and led us into the information centre. There, we enjoyed some coffee and water and until a well prepared presentation and overview of the project model was presented. Moreover, we received a lot of interesting information about the project. For example the development as well as the meaning of this project for the tourism of Montenegro and were able to ask our questions. Later they took us to the construction site with their cars, where we got a better overview of the whole project and how it will look like by 2025. By then, it was already afternoon and we drove back to the meeting point, where we handed over our presents with specialities from Switzerland, took a last group picture and said goodbye to Ivana and Damir. They were really helpful and competent in giving out information about the project. From there we made our way to Budva, our last destination of our study week. 

After some troubles finding our apartment we could finally check-in and went to the beach to have a late lunch and relax on the beach. Later we retured to our apartment and took the time to reflect this very interesting and auspicious project.

As it was too late to go for a huge Montenegrin dinner we decided to have crepes instead and check out the nightlife in Budva. Budva is conquered by mass tourism and most of the tourist attractions are aimed for them as this town is famous for beaches and parties. In front of every club there were dancers who tried to get people in their clubs. We avoided them as much as we couldbecause we clearly were not dressed to go out partying.

Some of us were engaged in social media activities in our apartment with relatively slow internet connection before going to bed after a long tiring day.

Adventure tourism

 

After a good night sleep in a hut in Camp Grab with some unexpected guests we were ready for our next adventure. Under unexpected guests we mean a squirrel, at least that’s what we are hoping. Namely there was some animal making a lot of noise with plastic bags where we had some food. Luckily some of us woke up and took the food outside after which we could sleep tight. Well unfortunately this was not the only incident that took place that night. In the morning one of our group members found her Hello Kitty earphones stolen. Well the cable from the earphones was still there but the Hello Kitty headswere cut off. We could not believe our eyes when we discovered it but it gave us a great laugh because of the fact that it was so strange. Actually not just the heads were stolen, they were exchanged to a nut that we found on the bed shortly after.



After a delicious breakfast, made of local products, we got ready to go river rafting. Everybody got neoprene trousers and shoes, a life vest and a helmet. Then we got into an off-road jeep all together to go to the start of the rafting tour. The ride was bumpy but a great experience as the car was half open and the drivers in Montenegro drive crazy fast.

At the starting point we received short safety instructions and were ready to go. All 10 of us got in the same boat with our guide Todd. We honestly believe that we got the greatest guide ever because the rafting with him was so much fun. Instead of just coming down the river we faced special challenges on the way. It is to mention here that the water in Tara river is ice cold and nobody gets back dry from the tour. Tara canyon is also the second biggest canyon in the world, right after the Grand Canyon.

One of favourite challenges was the ‘’Russian Army Drill’’ where we had to stand on the edges of the boat and run around without falling into the water on back in the boat. Eventually we all ended up in the ice cold water and waited for our guide to pull us back inside again. Even though it was freaking cold it was a lot fun.

We also had 1 stop on the way to see a waterfall. Some of us were even brave enough to stand under it. The water was only a few degrees warm because it was water from snow melting up in the mountains.

When we reached the finish line, we were taken back to the camp again to freshen up and have lunch. The weather was nice and sunny and we had lunch in the restaurant just at the Tara river, where the view was simply stunning. As soon as we were finished with lunch we were able to have our business meeting with the representative of Camp Grab, who is also one of the owners of the place. She gave us a lot of interesting information about her business and about Montenegro in general. Also confirmed the fact that we had already heard a lot about the Montenegrin government that they are very ‘’flexible’’, which means that there are some rules which actually nobody follows. She received a present from us like all the other business partners, combined from local Swiss products.

Shortly after finishing the meeting we set ourselves on the road again because there was a long drive ahead to Kotor. The drive was scenic as always in this country and we arrived in Perast, which is right near Kotor and belongs to the UNESCO world heritage sites. We decided to have dinner there in a cozy seaside restaurant. Afterwards we drove along the seaside to our next accommodation, which we had booked in Kotor. It took us awhile till we found it.

Some of us went out for a drink and others to bed unless they were eager enough the keep our readers posted via social media.

Nature tourism

Waking up with the sunrise after having spent the night in a sheperd's hut on top of a mountain, what could be more beautiful than that?

As we were not much of fire masters we lost the fire in the ovens during the night and it was rather cold and refreshing to wake up in the morning, but seeing cows in front of your front door makes you forget all that. 

After getting ready and having breakfast we headed back down from the mounain in the direction of Durmitor national park, which is the oldest park(and according to some locals also the most beautiful) in the country. The drive there was quite long but luckily we had calculated enough time to reach our goal. 

First of all we had a meeting with the visitors centre at the national park who held a presentation about the park and also answered all our questions. 

In order to make sure everything they said about the park is also true, we went for a hike aroud the black lake, which was situated in the Durmitor national park. We chose a trail to hike around the lake and had lunch on the way. We found out that the trail could be marked a little bit better as we got lost in the woods for a few times but in the end managed to get back safely. 

Later in the afternoon we made ourselves on our way to Camp Grab where we had booked our next accommodation. The drive there was longer than we expected but scenic at the same time. The nature in the whole country is fascinating. The road was narrow and deserted. It led us over the mountains to the border of Serbia, where Camp Grab lies. Sometimes we had cows on the road and sometimes snow on the sides of the road. We expreienced sun, rain, snow, hot and cold tempratures in a very short period of time in Montenegro. 

To get to Camp Grab we actually had to cross the border to Serbia but got back to Montenegro shortly after. The camp was amazingly beautiful as the rest of the country. It lies on the riverbanks of Tara. After some refreshing showers we had a nice dinner there and with that we would call it a day and went to sleep in our hut.

Wine and Eco tourism

Our morning started with waking up in the nice place hostel in Podgorica after a good night sleep. After showering and a little breakfast the group was divided and signed for different tasks like picking up our cars, getting a Montegrin sim card and keeping our readers updated via social media.

When the cars finally arrived after conquering a few minor complications we made our way to our first business partner called Plantaže. Plantaže is the biggest winery in the Balkans. The company was founded in 1963 and 51% is owned by the government. They have 310ha of land with 11.5 million grapes from which most of it is Vranic. They also have one special sort of grapes called Krstac, which only grows in Montenegro. They produce 250 million kg of grapes and they produce 17million bottles of wine every year, which are stored in their 3 wine cellars. Plantaže is represented all over the world except Africa. Most of the products are either consumed in the country or exported to the neighbouring countries e.g. Serbia, Russia and Croatia. They used to produce peach brandy as well but had to stop as the demand was not high enough.

We arrived at the gate on time and were picked up by our guide and the company representative Dijana. She took us on a tour through the plantation. First stop was at the Montegrin Niagra Falls, which was stunning. Afterwards we were taken to the view point to listen to a short presentation about the company but as it was hot and sunny we headed to the coolness of one of the wine cellars, shortly after. In the wine cellar we continued the tour and were able to ask all the questions we had. The tour was followed by a delicious lunch prepared of local products. The lunch was accompanied by wine tasting where we could try the local wines produced by the company. When finished with the lunch we had the chance to buy the wines we tasted from the company store. After our productive meeting we headed back to the Montenegrin Niagara Falls to wait for our last group member to arrive and have fun jumping into the ice cold mountain river.

Later that day our way took us to the mountains to meet our second business partner of the day called Vila Jelka. The eco village, led by Miki Bulatovic provides environmentally friendly accommodation in small mountain hutsaway from everything.  At first we thought that the trip to Villa Jelka would be short and the location would be close to Kolasin, one of the bigger cities of Montenegro. However, the way up to 1800m over sea was hard and adventurous. This one-hour drive to the top was filled with tight curves, small and uneven roads and many holes in the ground. Also the temperature was a big surprise for us. Although it is summer in Montenegro the temperature in Villa Jelka was about 5 degrees. After arriving to the traditional shepherd huts the host family served us a delicious dinner with home-made ingredients. The Business Meeting with Miki was right after the amazing dinner. He told us a lot about the foundation and the purpose of Villa Jelka and provided interesting information about tourism in Montenegro. After the Meeting we returned to our fire-heated shepherd huts, where we spent a cold but comfortable night.

Leisure in Montenegro

On a nice Friday morning we gather together at the airport of Zurich to attend the flight to Montenegro. With no delay we had a short stop over in Belgrade. After arriving at the airport in Potgorica we were surrounded by taxi drivers who finally convinced us to take the taxi to Kotor instead of the bus. The taxi ride was an adventure with no speed limit and without consideration of the space inbetween the cars. A very interesting aspect that we noticed was the change of the weather when driving from one city to another. While it was raining in Potgorica, the weather was nice in Kotor. Most people in Montenegro cannot speak English. This was also the case with our taxi driver. Hoping that he would take us to the right place, we tried to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Montenegro. Mountains and lakes are a great part of the country. When we arrived to Kotor the taxi driver let us out at the old town and stressed us out of the car because the police was watching us. We soon found out that this was not the place where our apartment was situated. We asked the woman in the tourism information center who was very kind and called us another taxi. Finally, the apartment we had was situated quite far from the city center but we had a great view from a big terrace.

The next day was even nicer. It was very warm and we decided to go hiking. We walked up the mountain without knowing where the road would end at first. The view was fascinating the higher we got. After having lunch on the way, we split up in two groups because some were motivated to go higher up while others wanted to relax on the beach. In the evening we cooked spaghetti all together and went to bed after having a drink in the old town.



Initially, on Sunday we wanted to stay in Kotor, but the weather was rainy and we knew that the bus ride would be long, so we spontaneously decided to have the bus ride earlier to enjoy a little more of Potgorica. When we arrived it was still raining in Potgorica. After checking in in the hostel called Nice Place, which had a very kind host, we decided to have a walk equiped with raincoat and warm clothes. Back in the hostel we warmly welcomed Domenico Bergamin, our accompanying lecturer. In the evening, we went eating in restaurant called Kristal which was recommended by our host. We enjoyed the very rich and tasteful food for student-friendly prices. On the way back to the hostel we bought some beer which we drank in the comfortable lounge outside the hostel. This was the end of our leisure time in Montengro. From now on we are following our programme of the study week.