Hustled at Lake Shkodra - Why did we leave the Coast?

We are here at Besicci Beach. Besicci is one of several small suburbs or townships on the coast to the south of Budva. Budva is a larger city and a popular tourist stop as it is a short excursion from Kotor. And Kotor is a very popular cruise destination. Anyway, we didn't go through Budva because we took the death road over the mountains instead, which dropped us out to the south. So we decided we're not going to backtrack north to Budva this time through. Also, much of the coastline south of Budva is dominated with these private coastal resorts. So finding a camp spot can be really difficult. But because this is off-season, snow found us this place right here on the sea and it just made a lot of sense to stay and explore. So here's the history of Besicci. In 1935 it won the Grand Prix of Paris as the most beautiful beach in Europe and is still considered to be one of the finest pebble beaches in all of Europe. It was the choice of the Rolling Stones, Madonna, as well as Brad Pitt and Angela Jolie during their stays in Montenegro. And now it's our turn to gaze at the hypnotic Adriatic Sea and to cruise along the beautiful beachfront on our new scooters and to take you with us. Good morning everyone. We are absolutely loving Montenegro. This coastline is beautiful and the mountains are too. But we broke out the little scooters today and we're going to take a little ride around this little ocean village and see what's going on. Beautiful day. The sun is shining. It's probably in the upper, the mid-sixties. I have on short sleeves. Short sleeves. Probably one of the best days we've had since we've been here. But we've got a beautiful park spot we found on Park4Night. So we've been here already a couple nights. We're leaving today, but we wanted to, well, explore the area before we go. We're leaving beach campsite number one here on the Montenegro coast. We were here a couple of nights. It was a free spot. In season, you probably wouldn't be able to park here and if you did, you would probably have to pay. This is definitely the pay public parking lot for that giant beach that we stayed on. But during the winter, it's free and it worked out perfect. And we had a nice little ride on our scooters this morning. This is a beautiful coastal area with an amazing blue colored water with these multicolored rocks and the water is so clear you can see the rocks on the beach and in the water. And lots of little restaurants through here and a very active community. A lot of people walking up and down the Malecon here along the beach. Just a really nice place. But we are southbound. We need to find a grocery store. We're low on food and then we're headed to our next campsite. So we're doing some beach hopping in Montenegro. And I gotta tell you, Montenegro is surprising the heck out of me. I had no idea it was such an amazing, friendly, welcoming and beautiful country. It is moving day. My friend Tim said if we want to avoid the wintry cold as much as possible, just hug the coast as you head south. And that's what we've been doing and that's what we're doing today. We have about a 30 minute drive along this Adriatic coastline to our next camp spot. A couple quick points. Montenegro has some of the oldest olive trees in the world. Our camp spot is supposed to be near the coast and under the olives and gets amazing reviews. And before this video ends, we are exploring inland to Montenegro's most famous lake and home to a wide variety of birds, Lake Skodra. But first, let's check out this Boharika beach. So we found a nice little, very comfortable campsite a couple of hundred yards from the coast. Nice, really warm showers, really kind owners here that run this place. We had to get some errands done. As you can see, there's some of our laundry. And catch up on some editing. And it's also time to get our taxes done before the IRS man starts to get mad at us. But look at these giant, old, beautiful olive trees that we're camping under. The trunks of these things are just so cool. They look kind of, I don't know, wicked with the holes in them. But they are fascinating. There are little birds all in these trees. And of course, that makes our kitty cats very, very happy. But there's also some campsite kitties that live here. And as we're walking around with Vanna and Gee, I think they definitely smell them. But this has been a comfortable, very cozy little camp to get some work done. I think we're going to get this kitty walk over and then maybe take you guys down to see the beach. Mine's got the longer chin strap piece hanging out of the orange thing. So we've made it the short scooter ride down to the beach. And it's surrounded by these mountains that plunge out into the ocean. And of course, it's winter, so everything is closed. But there's this little shack here. I'm sure it's some sort of bar or food shack. And it says La Boca, which wouldn't really mean that much, except for as you wrap around the corner, you see the traditional blue and white Argentina flag. Now what's unusual is we're in Montenegro, thousands of miles away from Argentina. But Argentina is where me and Kurt learned to love football, or soccer as we call it in the States. We were there in Buenos Aires during the World Cup. And you can see this graffiti on this building of one of the Argentina soccer gods, literally. And it's a little extreme, but I wanted to show it anyway. It looks like he's snorting some lines. But the lines are actually the white chalk off of the football field. So the Argentine love of football spans the world, not just the country of Argentina. Right, Kurt? What a beautiful beach. Pack our bags and get in that car. Leave a little note and we'll drive real far. Let's get out, we can leave this city. Let's drive to the open air. Yeah, the countryside is so pretty. With the wind blowing in your back someday. Baby, don't you understand that we only get one life. I want to make it count, honey. Come on now and take my hand when it's me and you. On the road with a couple of tunes in a car for two. Hey, darling, you know we're gonna have a really good time. Driving in the middle of the night when the stars are bright. Packs and get in that car, but it won't drive real far. Let's get out, we can leave this city. Let's drive to the open air. Every beach we've stopped at along this coast seems to have a different style, color, size, everything of pebbles. And this one has a variety. Big ones, little ones, teeny tiny ones. But they all have a very small wave through here. This sea is very calm compared to what we're used to at the Atlantic and especially the Pacific. It's really nice. All right, so we rode down to this beautiful beach. What you need to know is that in the summertime where we're walking and riding our bikes through here is actually a campsite. It's closed for the winter, but you can still park here in the wintertime. There's just no services. We chose to stay up the road at the campsite because we needed Wi-Fi and it's nice to have a hot shower without having to set it up in the van. So we're paying $15 a night at the campground. But just so you know, you could camp right here on this beach for free. And we may do that if we come back north through here. But we're going to take our short ride on our scooters back to our campsite. Good morning. We have left the little campground and we are actually leaving the coast. And we are headed inland here in Montenegro to Lake Skadar, I believe. And that means we're driving through some mountains. We just went through a giant tunnel. We had to pay a toll of 10 euros, but it is a short drive. We're almost there. We're going to stop at the grocery store and then we're going to try to find a campsite. And that's what's going on today, guys. We're looking for a big, giant lake. So as we pulled into where we were trying to park for the grocery store, there was a parking attendant. So we thought, but he waved us over and he's more like the welcoming committee. He has showed us somewhere to park. He's told us something about free camping. So we're going to pull in here, do our grocery shopping. And I think somewhere right here, there is a visitor's center. So we will figure out how to walk down to that and see what's the scoop here. But he is very kind. We're just going to go in here and get some groceries. Yeah, but sorry, only maybe that you check this information point that you understand where are you and possibility for your activity. Yeah, your choice. Is there a boat? Yes, now. Now, he want a small group. Please do not lose time. You are in the right time. So all of that happened really, really fast. We thought we were pulling into the parking lot to buy some groceries. Next thing you know, literally 10 minutes later, we got hustled into a boat ride. We're on a boat tour, guys, of this beautiful lake. And the selling point was bad weather is coming in tomorrow for the next at least week. And that is true. We do know that. So we jumped on the boat tour. We're going to look for some birds. We have a whole bunch of people here from Poland. They're on the boat with us. Let's go see this beautiful lake. So Tim was the one who told us to come here. And well, Tim knows we love the nature. We love the mountains. We love the water. We love birds. He knows all that. And he said, this is a place that we have to go. Now, he described it to us. But what we've learned is no matter if you've seen it in a video or someone tells you about a place, you don't know until you get there. Lake Skadar is a vast freshwater lake straddling the borders of Montenegro and Albania and surrounded by the dramatic Karst Mountains. Now, Montenegro is home to the larger portion of the lake and its mirrored waters, rocky shores and wetlands play host to a ton of wildlife with more than 260 species of birds calling this lake home, including the rare Dalmatian pelican and the pygmy cormorant. You will also find storks, herons, egrets, ibises and falcons and eagles scouring the shores for a tasty snack. Home to some of the most celebrated panoramas in the country known for its wild and natural beauty, Lake Skadar has been protected as a national park since 1983. In 1996, it was added to the world's list of wetlands of international importance. Montenegrins regard this area as their country's heart and soul. It's fed by the Morocco River and a series of underwater springs. The lake's circumference is 370 kilometers in the summer, but that grows to a massive 530 kilometers in the winter. On average, it is a 40-kilometer-long, 10-kilometer-wide lake and it averages 8 meters deep, although its deepest point is a spring and it's a cryptodepression, which means it's below sea level and that area is more than 60 meters deep. It was here that the former Montenegrin royal family chose to summer, where Turkish invaders sought to conquer and where some of the best wines and organic food in Montenegro can be found. Lake Skadar boasts a rich and proud history. It is part of the ancient Slav kingdom of Zeta, the Turks invaded in the 13th century, and for five centuries after that, this area was a total battleground, which means you can find many historic fortresses in this region. During World War II, it was time for Lake Skadar to make history again, as Vir Pazar provided the scene of the first partisan uprising in Montenegro. A monument here in town pays tribute to their bravery. Definitely be there. What is the best place in Poland? Number one best place. Seals. Oh, we love seals, yes. All right, guys, our boat tour is almost over and we are getting some good tips for when we go to Poland from our boat tour friends here. And it could not have worked out any better that the boat dock is right here at the top of the stairs is our van. Ah, perfect. I'm going the way she went. All right, we're dodging the mud here. All right, guys, that couldn't have worked out any better. The boat dock is literally right where our van is parked. It was a beautiful tour. Lots of birds, lots of beautiful views. Nice company. Now we'll get back to our originally scheduled plan, going to the grocery store. So we've decided to camp right here in this nice little small town where we were welcomed so eagerly. Right by this boat. Right by where we loaded for our boat tour earlier. There's our grocery store where we picked up some groceries. We just had lunch in the van. One stop shop. And it even comes with free breakfast in the morning at the little restaurant across the street. So we're going to go stroll through this town and see what we can find. So in the summertime in this little town, I bet the boat tour industry is booming because there's even people going out here in the wintertime. Hello. Everything is great. Thank you. How do you say the name of this town? Vir Pazar. Thank you. All right, guys, we are in the little town of Vir Pazar. And we're saying it right because the locals helped us. This is the restaurant where we'll get a free breakfast in the morning for taking the tour and camping here. What a fun little town. You ready, Kurt, to go exploring? Oh, camper van. This is where we would get water if we needed it. They might get to park here because they're shorter. It's Oneye Overlander and some people say they park right by the restaurant. Guy with the crazy hat that I was telling you about. All right, we're on the lookout for more birds. Oh, hello. I seem to make friends all over the place down here in Montenegro. Got a kitty friend. From what we understand, we have not researched it yet, but we've seen several signs that are telling us we are in wine country. Little grapes there next to the town names. I don't know if they're town names or wineries. Some sort of a cool monument here. Yep, World War II monument. I'm guessing from the dates 1941 to 1945. And then here's a little puppy. The name of this settlement is a combination of the words Vir, which means whirlpool, and Pazar, which means market. A place where a trade is carried out. The first mention of Vir appears in the 13th century and then it starts to be called Vir Pazar in the 1800s when the first houses began to be built here and it started to kind of look like a little urban area. Now due to its favorable geographical location, it has been a main trade center for centuries. In 1864, it had a customs house. In 1869, the town established a telephone connection with Rijeka and Sitinje, which was the capital at the time. In 1888, it was connected by road with Bar down on the coast. And in 1905, with Rijeka. In 1905, with the construction of the pier, it became the most important port on the whole lake. In 1908, the first Montenegrin railway was built on this route and there's still a stop here today. In 1913, a water supply system was implemented for the settlement. And in 1959, with the electrification of the town and the public buildings being built, it became an official settlement with a harbormaster's office, a post office, a telephone switchboard, a library, a bank, and a printing office. Now after the earthquake of 1979, several buildings were built in the new part of Vir Pazar where the railway stations, ambulance, and pharmacies now are. What a cool little historical town. So we've walked through the little downtown city square where there's bunches of restaurants. Looks like they've set up a little market probably during tourist season or on Saturdays. And there's this nice stone walkway that goes out into these wetland reeds. So we're going to walk down here a little ways and see if we can find anything that lives up in this tall grass. Innovation of the year award right here. This little park bench is a solar panel and it's got little wireless charge pads on either side and it's also got a little USB port. So you charge your phone right here while you're watching the nature. What a beautiful evening and what a fun time we had at this little lake spot. Tim, you were right on buddy. This place is top notch. And I think there's even times of the year when there's more birding activity than there is right now based on migration and things like this. But how magical is that little kingfisher? And we saw him streak around a couple times and man, I didn't know if I was going to be able to get a camera on him. And then right there at the end it happened. And even right now as I'm speaking if you notice that bird that flew across there. I don't have my big camera but that's in kingfisher right there. As I'm doing this vlog. And if you look at his back his back has a turquoise blue stripe right down the middle and then the top of his wings are turquoise and his underbelly is that bright rust color. And with the pointing beak. And we've tracked kingfisher birds all over the world really. And this by far is the most striking kingfisher bird I've ever seen. He's kind of small. A little bigger than a pygmy kingfisher. But certainly not even close to the bigger ones. But it is a gorgeous bird. If you like this video be sure to subscribe to our channel and hit that notification bell so you guys know when we put out new videos. 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