Day 18: Dubrovnik - Kotor
From Dubrovnik to Cavtat
This morning, our cycling buddies left by taxi for the airport, with a stopover in Cavtat for lunch.
Rik and I cycled back to the same location, just the two of us, for a dip in the sea and a final lunch with friends before saying a definitive goodbye 🥲
Dirty
Beautiful ride after lunch. We chose a quiet road in exchange for more elevation gain. Eventually 1,200m of hm and 96km. A little more than planned, for what was supposed to be a rest day in principle…
Along the road, more cypress trees than I have ever seen together. Then we crossed the border of Monte Negro, after which it was another 30km along the shores of the wide bays, squeezed between high and steep mountains. It is not for nothing that we are staying among the ‘Black Mountains’ now!
Dirty
Although this was supposed to be a rest day, Rik and I cycled straight on to Kotor after our farewell lunch with our cycling mates. That was good for 95km and 1,200m of elevation gain.
As already mentioned, the route was surprisingly beautiful. It is bizarre how you form expectations in your head for such a stage—based on a flat, abstract map—only to cycle into a totally different, and in this case much more beautiful, environment.
We also immediately notice the difference in prosperity between Croatia and Monte Negro. EU membership has its advantages 😉
But culturally, too, we are now truly in the Balkans. And first and foremost, that means super friendly people!