Kotor Fortress and Ladder Trail

It was time to leave Budva and head to Kotor. Although I'd visited on a day trip with Jack, this was my first time actually staying in the town. I checked out of my hostel, trekked down the hill and made my way to the bus stop after a quick breakfast and coffee. Budva had been a nice coastal town - relaxed, chilled and easy-going - but I could already tell that Kotor was going to be much more fun.

When I arrived, I made the short walk to the Old Town and found my hostel. The receptionist immediately told me about the activities they had planned for the night: a boat cruise and karaoke. The boat cruise was already fully booked, but he told me to be in the common room around 7 p.m. for karaoke. I'm not a huge karaoke guy. If I'm going to do karaoke, I want it to be 1 a.m. and I want tobe blackout drunk. So, I was pretty confident I wasn't going to be participating.

I headed to my room, dropped off my bags and chilled for a bit. When I arrived, I met a Kiwi girl, Holly, who was telling me about the big night she'd had the night before. I immediately had a feeling I'd picked a pretty good party hostel and was keen to see what the night had in store. I mentioned that I really wanted to do the Ladder Trail, which takes you up the mountain overlooking Kotor. She was also keen to do it but was leaving the following day, so she convinced me and a couple of the other guys from the hostel to tackle it that afternoon. I was more than happy to join, as it meant I wouldn't have to do the hike alone and I'd get to meet some people along the way. They were all really cool, and the trek ended up being one of the highlights of my time in Kotor.

We started by climbing the fortress walls that form the beginning of the route up the mountain. The steps were steep, and despite it being later in the afternoon, the sun was still absolutely brutal. Eventually, we made it to the top of the fortress, where we stopped for a quick break and took some photos. From there, we headed slightly back down, crawled through a window and began the actual Ladder Trail towards the top of the mountain.

As you leave the fortress, you come across a small abandoned church made from cobblestone. It was a really cool sight and felt completely out of place. For a moment, I felt like I'd somehow been teleported to a little village in the UK. The Ladder Trail itself was much easier than the fortress climb. There were no stairs, and the zigzag design meant that the incline was never particularly steep. It made the climb much more manageable. Partway up the mountain, we came across a little house owned by an old man who had turned it into a small business selling beers and pomegranate juice. We stopped for a drink and sat down to enjoy the scenery. By this point, the sun had started to set, and the views were incredible.

Kotor looked tiny from above, sitting inside the enormous bay. The Old Town, with its stone buildings and red roofs, looked incredible from the mountain, while the huge mountains on the opposite side of the bay created an amazing backdrop. We knew we had to keep moving if we wanted to catch the sunset from as high up as possible, so we set off again, racing the sun towards the top. We didn't quite make it to the very summit before sunset, but we still managed to watch it from incredibly high up. Once the sun disappeared, we sat down and enjoyed the twilight for a while. After a quick rest and some conversation, we'd all decided that we were definitely going out that night. That meant we needed to start making our way down if we wanted enough time for drinks.

The walk down was almost as impressive as the climb up. As the sky became darker, Kotor began to light up below us, creating an amazing contrast between the darkening sky and the glowing town. I took an absurd number of photos because every time I looked around, there seemed to be an even better photo opportunity than the last. Finally, it became completely dark, and we relied on the lights from our phones to navigate the final sections of the trail. After a long trek, we finally made it back to the bottom. Definitely worth it.

We headed back to the hostel, showered and got ready for the night. Once everyone had congregated, we headed into the common room, where karaoke was already in full force. The room was packed with screaming girls, which immediately put us off drinking there. So, in a move that made me feel about 17 again, we bought a bottle of spirits and drank it in the park near the Old Town. It was actually a great way to start the night, as I got to know the people I'd done the hike with a little better. Eventually, we were drunk enough to head to the first pub on the crawl.

A little later, we found a bar that sold shots in a ridiculous number of different flavours. Holly and I bought a couple each, and they absolutely destroyed us. We eventually caught up with everyone at the next pub and continued drinking. A couple of bars later, it was getting pretty late, but the night was nowhere near finished.

Then Holly, who had a 7 a.m. bus to catch, suggested skinny dipping. I was hardly going to shy away. We headed down to the beach, went for a swim and then made our way back to the hostel. By the time we were finished, it was approaching 5 a.m. Holly set her alarm for just two hours later, and I genuinely felt for her. Meanwhile, I was incredibly excited about the fact that I had absolutely nothing planned for the next morning. I went to bed and slept for as long as humanly possible.Read more