On the penultimate full day of our holiday in Dubrovnik, we decided to take an excursion to Kotor in the neighbouring country of Montenegro. Kotor is a World Heritage Site set deep in a vast fjord-like tidal bay surrounded by mountains. We had two potential days when we could have made the trip, but chose the second as the weather seemed ok at the time of booking.

The weather was not ok…

There were two stops on the trip (well, four if you also count the toilet break at a service station, and the quite long stop while passing through the border), the first being Perast – a small village beside the bay – where we had a short boat trip to the Church of Our Lady of Škrpjela, which sits on a small man-made island. Unfortunately, as soon as we got off the coach the heavens opened with a torrential downpour that continued throughout the stop. While we had a waterproofs with us, they were jackets and provided no cover whatsoever for our legs and feet and before we even got inside the church our shoes were soaked.

We got wet again after leaving the church, although thankfully the small boat we used for the crossing had a roof. The boat’s roof did not protect us on the walk back from the jetty to the coach however.

Thankfully, by the time we arrived at Kotor itself the rain had stopped, and it stayed dry for the rest of our visit, but the wet feet and damp clothing persisted and took some of the shine off the trip.

We had an affable tour guide inside the walled city, and our group of soggy day-trippers followed him dutifully around the crowded and narrow streets of the town while he pointed out various sights, explained the history, and suggested which restaurants might be good places for lunch.

Kotor is apparently quite famous for the number of cats that live there, and as well as seeing them everywhere you looked, there was a wide range of cat-related merchandise available from almost every shop.

I shot both colour and black and white film during the visit, sometimes of the same subjects.

Kotor is a destination for cruise ships and there were three of them moored when we visited, which probably explained why the place was so busy!

High above the city is a line of walled fortresses. We didn’t even think of climbing this trail with our wet feet, but it looks like quite the climb!

On the whole, while Kotor is certainly an interesting destination, visiting it while soaked through (literally) dampens the enthusiasm somewhat.

Canon Sure Shot Z135 and Kodak Gold.

Olympus Trip 35 & Fomapan 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken 30 May 2024.