A bus too hot, a train too long

Moving southwards, public transport becomes more and more of an adventure. Timetables become more of an indication than a schedule. You know when they leave, roughly, you don't know when they arrive at destiation. To the question 'does the bus stop at this stop?' you start getting answers like 'usually yes, but sometimes no'. The craziest experience was the bus from Budva to Bar. We bought the tickets online a few hours before, even printed them out, and once we got to the station we were told that the bus had been cancelled. No reason given. There's another one 15 minutes later. Different company, new ticket, no refund. The bus is half the size of a normal bus. The driver smiles at everyone, except us. They sell more tickets than there are seats available, luckily we are among the first in the queue! The air conditioning does not work, and with 40 degrees outside the journey becomes a challenge between life and death. Luggage hold non-existent, our luggage is placed next to the driver. To freshen the air, the driver decides to make the entire journey (more than an hour) with the door open. The front door, the one next to the driver, so next to our backpacks. And of course the road is all curves against curves. Praying that the centrifugal force is not greater than the resistance due to the weight of the rucksacks, I make the entire journey with my eyes glued to the rucksacks (which contain the entire 'home' for people traveling for 1 year), ready to jump in and grab them at the first sign of slight movement. But we get to Bar, boiled but alive, and with backpacks too. Getting off the driver smiles at everyone, except us.

Bar, or at least the bus and train station area, seems to be the Texas of Montenegro. Stifling heat, no one on the streets but stray dogs, palm trees and silence. We sit in a bar to wait for the train to Belgrade and drink something cool. We have our tickets, departure at 19:00 ... approximately! The train is stopped at platform 2, there are no subways, we jump between tracks. We get on the train, we stand for a minute and a half in an abominable oven. We get off. It is 7 o'clock and nothing moves, some of the train doors do not work. We spend half an hour sitting by the tracks until the train starts running! We leave half an hour late, we arrive two hours late, all without air conditioning. Arriving at the station in Belgrade, however, the train does not fit, it is too long. Luckily they hire muscle-bound conductors, because these poor guys had to pick up all the people, suitcases included, to get them off the train!!!

Friendliest person: Blagoie, the waiter at the bar where we sat waiting for the train to Belgrade

Highlights of the trip: the colour of the water in Dubrovnik! I have swum in wonderful beaches and waters, but that blue was simply breathtaking

Food: the salad, typical of Montenegro, made of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and fresh local cheese

Music: the Croatian music I listened to on the catamaran from Split to Dubrovnik (here)