Snapshot: Sunset over the Bay of Kotor

I was climbing up a hill again. This has become a running theme during my trip through Europe; climbing up stuff.

This time it was to catch the sunset over the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro.

The region of Kotor is a UNESCO recognised World Heritage Site and above the city’s old town sits a centuries old fortification.

€3 and 1800 steps will get you to the Castle of San Giovanni (St. John in English) at the top. That’s the official route. The evening I found myself scrambling through brush and up gravelly steps we were taking the ‘unofficial’ (read ‘free’) route. (I did eventually climb up the official route to take in the spectacular views).

Two friendly chaps from New Jersey who we met in the hostel common area had convinced a bunch of us it would be cool to watch the sunset from one of the many fortresses found on the fortification. Being gung-ho spontaneous traveler types we all agreed.

The group of nine of us – from homes scattered across the globe; South Africa to the United States to Thailand and New Zealand – climbed, well scrambled, up the steep steps of the ‘unofficial’ path being careful of loose stones. At the top we spread out across a low lying wall, cracked open some beverages and waited for the sun to make its descent.

Music spilled out of a small portable speaker as I dangled my feet hundreds of meters above the town below.

Once the sky had become a tie-dyed mix of reds, oranges pinks and blues and the sun had dipped behind one of the fjords surrounding the bay, I pulled my legs back over and made my way back down the precarious route while there was still a tiny bit of twilight to illuminate the path back.