Bikepacking the Montenegro Coastline I A Cinematic Cycling Film

After a 2,000-mile inland journey, we reach the Adriatic Coastline. An eye-opening world of contrasts, filled with life, legends and borek!

This film follows our time cycling the length of the Montenegrin shore and learning how local life is adapting to an ever-changing world.

We hope you enjoy this section of our adventure, cycling from England to India. And thank you for following our journey. So much has happened since the Adriatic, we’re excited to share it with you!

Josh & Sarah

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#bikepacking #cycling #montenegro

[Music] [Music] [Music] It is the beginning of May and after a 2,000mi inland journey, we have arrived in Parest in the Bay of Couture. We plan to loosely follow the Kimoot Women’s Rally route along the 183 mile stretch of coastline all the way down to the Albanian border. We’ve been told things had changed. And I’ll be honest, we left half expecting to find a beautiful land, but one that had lost its magic. This is what we found. [Music] First impressions are that life here is vibrant, rich, and filled with culture. We watched as the Boka Navy paraded through town. Originally founded in 809, they were one of the oldest navies in the world. It was as though these fortress-like peaks had helped preserve all of this maritime culture. Boats seemed like such a distinctive part of life from the small to the really, really big. [Music] Our first view of the straight up sea for the whole trip. Yeah. Pretty exciting. Yeah. We’ve only seen a bay before, whereas this is just Yeah. Expensive. Yeah. It’s just the vastness of it is unbelievable. [Music] [Applause] Lapping waves seem to slow everything down, but there was an undeniable pace and energy to the world around us, too. [Music] We found thousand me peaks to one side with coastal communities nestled at their feet and to the other the sound of waves gently lapping. Life here was completely built around these waters and we swam in them every single day. [Music] Locals told us of a fairy named Akima who lived in a magical cave high up on the cliffs. When sailors planned to build a settlement at top the peaks, she warned them on the mountain there is no water, no salt, and no life. Build by the sea, for only the sea knows how to feed and protect you. And so they listened, and this is how Couture, the biggest port in the bay, was born. Locals also told us that Couture had now grown into one of the biggest ports in the country and if the docks were full, boat fairing visitors could almost double the city’s population. This had brought wealth to the region, but these traditional communities were struggling to maintain the lives they’d always known. I think the storm’s coming towards us. Yeah. Look, it’s like a wall. This was a land of contrasts. All the law and tradition seemed tucked right beside cruise ships, chaotic roads, and unforgiving drivers. I I don’t I don’t think we should touch it cuz it’s live wireless. Apart from go back and go on the road over here, then have a stone throw away and you’d be in a different world completely. The riding was a mixed bag. But no matter where we went, we weren’t far from moments of authentic solitude, transported back to another time by our surroundings. [Music] Awesome. Shaman [Music] [Music] Budva had been an important port for more than 2,500 years, and it was all the sailors to thank for all the friendly cats we’d seen along the coastline. Once used to protect against rodents on the ships, they found their way onto shore. Now they’re seen as a good luck charm and are protected by all of the residents. We also learned that for a 182 mile stretch of coastline, Montenegro had 117 beaches. That’s a beach every 1 and 12 miles. [Music] [Music] On this night, we found a€ 10 campsite and watched the sun slowly set, pitched beneath ancient olive. of trees. [Music] Just a mile from the busy roads and life slowed to a blissful pace. [Music] [Applause] So, This is the road down here. Yeah. That we’ve been trying to avoid. Yeah. And we’ve come all the way up here. All the way up here on quite a long long detour, but absolutely it’s beautiful. Beautiful. [Applause] Besides a few busy roads, we quickly found out that life along the Adriatic was very easy. The conditions were perfect, locals were friendly, and the food, there was one food we couldn’t get enough of. What you got? Just a bag of happiness. It’s such a It’s just a perfect thing. It’s like pretty cheap. um like super salty and tasty and uh yeah, you get to like practice our um our Montenegro Yan B on him back. Oh, that’s definitely 6040. Are you happy with that? What do you mean? Am I happy? We even got to stay with our very own pirate. You can feel Do you feel the mint? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. [Music] [Applause] You have a name for the dish? Um uh sweet salty um hot potatoes. Joan lived just outside we’d seen on a distant stretch of beach near the Albanian border. Find so many different things. His house was a hangout for local wind surfing instructors. They were all really into foraging for wild foods and fresh tea. Wikipedia and check out. They collected pretty things, sold carpet and read tarot cards. They also told us that we’d seen had been a haven for pirates who raided merchant ships traveling along the Adriatic coast. Evenings were filled with fires and traditional tales, learning about nearby water cults that worshiped Bindas, the Yrian god of water and sea. And like all the locals we’d met, they completely built their lives around the water. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Gradually, our time on the Montenegran coastline was coming to an end. We prepared for our journey to take us inland. There was just one more port to explore beforehand. [Music] Locals were right. The coastline had felt like another world and you could sense the change. These magical waters once shaped the coastal communities. Now it’s fellow travelers that fuel the change. [Music] Montenegro seemed to sit in this delicate moment between two worlds, but I think that was part of its beauty. You could still feel the old tales of pirates and saints, smugglers and sailors, all the magic that still lived just beneath the surface. Okay. Let’s say you walk straight down. You walk straight there. You have another way this way on the top. On the top you like 50 m from here. Then you go on the top. Here was more than just where earth met sea. It was where past met present and calm met chaos. Where life met legend and still lived intertwined. [Music] [Applause] After keeping the waves to one side for 183 miles, Our journey east takes us away from the ocean, but we keep finding ourselves pulled back to water. Gradually, we push further into the hintterlands, leaving behind the breeze, the salt in the air, and the gentle sound of lapping waves. [Music] It feels like something is missing. I’m really struggling with the except my eyes. I can like barely see. Our bodies call for these soothing elements. And so listen, [Music]