Sarajevo to Kotar

Leaving the old city of Sarajevo by private bus, we quickly passed through the western side of the modern city, drab apartment blocks and elaborate commercial buildings, before heading south west towards Montenegro.
 With three possible routes available to us, I wasn't sure why the driver selected the chosen path, shortest? most scenic? or scariest - perhaps all 3.
 The road followed a meandering path along the sides of some rugged and rather steep hills that were mostly covered in evergreens. Reaching a town called Foca, about an hour from the border, the road began to narrow considerably as it wound higher up the slopes of a rather rugged mountain range. Severl hundred feet below.  a river rushed in roughly the same direction. Occasionally we would pass small homesteads bordered by low stone walls and fences, the owners working the small plots of land. Cows wandered freely, causing the driver to take evasive action on more than one occcasion.
 At bends the road narrowed to the point that vehicles had to pull over for opposing traffic.
 We reached the border around noon. Several border guards sipped tea and read newspapers in the shade of their "portables" After about 10 minutes we entered Montenegro via a somewhat rusted Bailey bridge. Beside it two cement arches marked the remains of the former bridge- destroyed by flood or force of man??
 After a similar stop on the Montenegro side we continued our journey.
 The road widened and the hills and mountains around us grew taller as we proceeded towards the Piva River Canyon. The road gradually rose higher as we continued along the canyon, the river far below a bright blue snake, winding its way southwest. Eventually the canyon was traversed by a large cement dam. Behind it the river rose several hundred feet as it widened a similar amount. We followed this manmade waterway for several miles before the road broke away from the rivers edge and climbed again higher.
 It wasn't till almost 4pm that we finally saw the sea, or more precisely

Piva River Canyon from bridge

 the Bay of Kotor some 4 miles distant and several hundred feet below. A slow and winding decent brought us to the waters edge and we followed the road along the entire bay, eventually arriving at the ancient town of Kotor around 4.45pm.

 Our accomodations, the Hotel Marija is located within the old city walls. Less than half a km across, the old city is roughly a triangle with dozens of narrow streets scattered in all directions.
 A quick exploratory walk found us almost, but not quite lost in the maze of old stone buildings and squares.
 Dinner tonight was grilled squid at a very small seafood restaurant hidden down one of the side streets. Considerably more expensive than Bosnia and Serbia, the meal still worked out at $26 Euro for the two of us- still cheap by Canadian standards
 (approx $40.00 including wine and tip)
 Heavy rain is forecast for tomorrow or Monday- hopefully it will break the rather uncomfortable humidity that is present.
 The plan is to be here for 3 nights before heading to Dubrovnik, a place that is (according to people at an adjacent table at the restaurant) wall to wall tourists. Our tour guide assured us that there wont be any cruise ships visiting while we are there so that is a comforting thought to sign off with.