More like Monte Rain-o

So I had a pretty big mental debate yesterday on whether to continue with my plan to climb up Mount Lovcen or to just go around and down the coast. I knew the weather would be bad, and I knew it would be worse in the mountains, but I couldnt resist the urge to see what all the hype was about. Quite the climb it was...probably the most difficult so far. Twenty one hairpin turns in the cold rain. The Bay of Kotor is certainly beautiful and Im more than a bit peeved that I arrived in such crappy weather. As nice as the scenery is Im sure it would be more mindblowing in the sunshine. This whole area would be much better in one of the "shoulder" tourist seasons, when the crowds are thinner but restaurants are actually open and the weather isnt cold rain.

On the whole Ive enjoyed Montenegro. I took a detour on the way here to pass through the mountains of Bosnia Hercegovina as well. That makes this country number 12! I should be in Albania, number 13, by tomorrow evening. So far the people have been pretty friendly...lots of friendly honks and waves, no close encounters with traffic really. I can certainly see why this would be a very hard area to bike tour if you arent comfortable with narrow, high, no-barrier, twisty, heavy traffic roads. But Im fine with that.

Going to head a bit south of where I am (Petrovac) to camp for the night and hope I dont get hit with freezing wind and rain. Tomorrow I will be heading over the border to Albania. No clue what to expect down there...this will be the first true completely out there adventure. I dont even know what currency they use! Hopefully I can find an internet cafe while Im in Albania, but I expect to be in Greece by next Tuesday or Wednesday and am fairly confident to find internet access there. Until then, scope the pics and let me know what you think!

Oh, to John- I havent purged any of your comments! I know what you mean about the history in this region being crazy...Ive learned alot in the last week and a half or so and am continually amazed at the layers of history here. Where are you at? Hope you are well...its a shame there is no blog for me to check on...hahaha

Note- couldnt get all the pics up or caption them...enjoy those for now...will try again soon!