Thursday, May 12
page 44

2005 BALKANS TOUR

Ben Oostdam
Kotor
MONTENEGRO
to
Dubrovnik
CROATIA
Did some shopping and coffee this morning, then checked out - when I had to pay cash instead of using VISA credit card. Then walked to the bus-station and waited for the bus to the border (Debeli Briseg) between Montenegro and Croatia. This was another scenic drive, but I had no more storage on my digital camera, so I had to put off taking photos till my planned return.
The topography was baffling, what with all the bays, inlets, islands, turns and steep slopes. (see page 42 top and page 43 maps) I found out to my surprise that the small islands with fortresses and chapels were actually artificial. Decided I need a bathymetric chart to study underwater details.
A lovely lady sitting across from me used a mirror and mini-pliers to pull out some hairs on her chin.
After several hours we reached the outlet to the Adriatic and the town of HerzogNovi where to my joy and surprise the N.Z. "kiwis" (from Budva) got onto our big bus, even though it was but a short while before we had to get off at the border and walk with our packs through the two custom stations (MUP, which did not mean "Millersville University Police", but was represented by a female officer who would have done MUP credit!) at the border.

The opening of the new Debeli Brijeg border crossing between Montenegro and Croatia is scheduled for 13 July 2005. The old border crossing came into service in 1999.
In 2004 this border was crossed by about 850.000 persons and about 162.000 vehicles,and most of them were foreign visitors. The future, new crossing of Debeli Brijeg is situated 200 meters below the old one. The building project is worth about 2.2 million Euros.
The crossing occupies an area of about 15.000 square meters and comprises buildings of 860 square meters and a car park of 1.350 square meters. The project has been financed by the European Agency for Reconstruction. On the Croatian side the new Karasovici crossing has just been completed, so that very shortly cross boarder (sic) traffic will begin to flow smoothly and quickly between Montenegro and Croatia.
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