The train from Belgrade arrived in the dark in Podgorica, two hours late and our room in the 90 euro hotel was so small that we literally had to go outside to change our minds. So, on first blush, Montenegro wasn't our favorite Balkan country.
Things looked a little better in the light of day. We took an overpriced taxi to the airport and negotiated a good rate (for Montenegro) for a rental and headed for the hills. Our little Toyota huffed and puffed through the mountains and around hundreds of hair-pin turns to Zabljak, just outside of Durmitor National Park. After checking into the reasonably priced MB Hotel we drove off to the park, another World Heritage site. We didn't see any of the resident bears, wolves or eagles on our short hike to Black Lake but we did enjoy the exercise in the cold mountain air. At an altitude of 4500 feet, Durmitor's Black Lake reminded us of a low-altitude Rocky Mountain National Park back in Colorado. Even at 2 PM there was ice on the ponds and frost in the shaded areas. We may have to pull out the down parkas.
