Montenegro wrap-up

So my outbound plane is here, so I feel safe that i'm on my way out of
Montenegro tonight, which almost too bad since I really enjoyed
Montenegro.
The physical beauty of this place can't be fully appreciated in the
pics - you can't believe the views in every direction. If i get back,
I'll be sure to rent a car to see more of the country.
The highlight for me were the beaches. For 2 days i beach-hopped
spending an hour or two on a beach or in the water, the hiking for 10
minutes to the next beach and doing it again. Each afternoon I would
stop roaming, pick one beach and spend the rest of the day in a lounge
chair under an umbrella.
In contrast to back home, the beaches are very thin - no more than 100
ft from the water to the end of the beach. There are no waves, so the
beach activities are much like a lake's (jet skis, paddleboats, and
for the first time that i've ever seen, water polo.) Not much else is
different, except the safety regulations are more lax. I never heard a
llfeguard's whistle, and the jet skis were so fast that I think they
weren't speed governed, like in the US. We're way too safety conscious
in the US. We could learn from the Montenegrins on this.
The people were nice, but in most cases, not exactly customer-
oriented. I had a few intersting conversations, though, such as with
Juras the cabbie, who's first question was what religion I am. (I'm
inferring here, but I suspect this is still a central question in this
very mixed and very conflicted land.) Luckily we had the same answer,
so I didn't get dumped alongside the road.
I chatted with Nick, the Australian who owns the Kangaroo hotel.
According to him, much of the travel to Budva is Russian package
vacation trippers. I'd also add that I saw alot of expensive cars with
Russian license plates in Budva.
So, I was in the great minority, but still managed to get along,
partly because the beach experience is universal. Budva had a long
paved "boardwalk," or riva (not to be confused with what they have in
Richmond, the Rivah.) On the riva was a summer scene repeated
everywhere, families withkids wandering from amusement rides to games
to food stands. The only difference, besides he accents was some
obvious substitutions - Italian gelato instead ofice cream, for example.
All in all, as you might guess from the pictures, Montenegro was
spectacular, and well worth the trip.
Speaking of trip, I'm making it to Sarajevo tonight - boarding just
started, so I gotta go.