A Case of Jaded Travelitis

Montenegro is unbelievably beautiful. The vegetation is lush, trees growing in abundance. The mountains are imposing, and tumble down into the sea in a dramatic fashion. The people are extraordinarily tall. And so on, and so on. And yesterday, I just couldn't care less.

Old port at Petrovac

Petrovac beach, north of Bar

An interesting cafe on a cliff

Fisherman huts in a small cove

Yes, I'm suffering from jaded travelitis. I feel like I've seen so many gorgeous medieval towns, so many miles of beautiful coastline, so many exotic locations, that I just can't really appreciate any more.

The exotic island of St. Stephan

The buildings are actually an exclusive hotel

The island and its connecting causeway

Pavlov at anchor near St Stephan's.

There is something about Montenegro that exacerbated this feeling. Let me describe some of the causative factors. We sailed up the coast, past the town of Petrovac, which proved not to be a suitable anchorage. We continued to Saint Stephan's, a small islet connected by a causeway to the mainland, about 6 miles south of Budva. The islet is very photogenic and appears to be covered with medieval style buildings, dominated by the church of St. Stephan at the peak. Initially, the fortress on this island helped Serbia to defeat the Turks in the 15th century. Over time, a village of over 400 people inhabited the island. This village was acquired by Tito in the 1960's, the villagers were forcibly removed to the mainland, and the island turned into a luxurious hotel complex. It serves as a playground for political elites, and the rich and famous of the Adriatic. Ironically, one of the four cathedral monasteries on the island was turned into a casino by the communists. Wikipedia states that the island was visited by many famous people, including Orson Welles, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Princess Margaret, Carlo Ponti, Ingemar Stenmark and Kirk Douglas

Causeway entrance to St. Stephans.

Beautiful parks and gardens on the mainland opposite the islet.

The island taken from the mainland.

After we anchored Pavlov in the romantic little cove next to the islet, we tried to visit the islet by crossing the causeway. We were refused entry by security guards. Clearly, we didn't rank with the rich and famous A-list. The coast in this area is littered with boutique hotels. This is an area for the wealthy to holiday. Nothing wrong with that, but it saddens me to see historical sites that become the preserve of the wealthy only. Next, we caught a bus into Budva, famous for its walled medieval city.

God spot on the uninhabited island, St Nicholas, outside Budva

Budva from the sea

A tourist submarine ride

The marina complex in Budva

We checked out the marina in Budva in case the weather turned nasty and we had to retreat from untenable anchorages. Budva is a modern town that is mainly composed of hotels to serve the tourist trade. The gardens and shady plaza's marked it as the polar opposite of Shengjin, a tourist resort in Albania. Everything here was beautiful. Tree's and gardens were manicured and cared for. The shops were exclusive, the people beautiful. We walked and walked, to see if we could find a 'local restaurant'. We try to eschew the fancy eateries that line the promenades in these harbours. They are expensive and tend to have far worse food that humble places that the locals inhabit. We walked as far as we could, and realised that there were no local joints. In fact, we could find very little 'local culture or colour'. We just found the same 'standard tourist fare' that we could find anywhere in the world. Discouraged, we sought out the old walled city, thinking that there would be some unique features of this undoubtably beautiful medieval walled town.

Medieval town walls, strewn with decorations

Town walls fronting the sea

Old church containing a dolphin mosaic.

Buildings in the old town

The walled town is about 2500 years old, making it one of the oldest settlements in the Adriatic. However, Budva is the centre for tourism in Montenegro, and all the buildings in the old town were given over to shops selling all the standard tourist tat. Expensive tat, expensive cafes and restaurants but the same as the world over. I felt repelled and just wanted to get away. We had made a reservation in the marina, thinking we could spend a few days wandering the old town. But after 30 minutes, it no longer held any allure or charm. Jaded travelitis had set in, and it all tasted like ash in my mouth.

Escape mode

We beat a hasty retreat to Pavlov, upped anchor and sailed off to a remote and uninhabited bay called Jaz. Isolation, the only cure for too many tourists. You may feel unsympathetic! but I hope I regain my ability to deal with the impact of tourism on the local cultures of the world. At the moment, it appals me.