I departed the lovely flat I rented for three nights in Bar and could have stayed longer, the flat was painted pink and had silk sheets. I experienced the color pink to be a relaxing positive color. Montenegro, as in the other areas of the Balkans, possesses beautiful landscape. The short bus ride up the coast to the tourist town of Budva dominates with high mountains and charming little towns within beach style harbors. Budva is the main tourist town of Montenegro; my stay will be short because of the tourist syndrome and strange dynamics.
Post Picture Credited to WikiTravel.org
Budva is the poster child of Montenegrin tourism—with its atmospheric old town and numerous beaches—certainly has a lot to offer. Yet, the child has quickly moved into a difficult adolescence, fueled by rampant development that has leached much of the charm from the place. In the summer the beaches of Budva are packed with holiday-makers while the “novorich” park their million dollar yachts in the guarded marina. By night you will run into a gauntlet o glorified strippers attempting to cajole you into the beachside bars. —Western Balkans, LP
The “people” here in Budva are non-friendly, distrusting, and they are only thinking money relating to the traveler/tourist, I am referring to people who work in tourist industry but including the private home owners who offer rooms. When you see mass amounts of tourists every year that resemble themselves as within an ultra thick fog scrambling to “see a site” it is difficult to not cultivate an attitude; the sun hats, camera bags, and similar tourist clothes stream off the non-thinking matrix bus. Yet, visiting tourist towns and relying on a tour and its agencies are the only alternative for many people due to a handicapped ability to problem solve and navigate. And, there is a fear of traveling alone within the world and the issue of loneliness, so for many people the tourist syndrome works even if some are dissatisfied once they get home.
I did find an OK room for 12 euro a night but looked around for awhile, and no towel included. All the homes I looked at asked first “how many days are you staying”, that is always a difficult question, if I don’t like the place nor its energy, I will want to leave, and I don’t like to obligate of commit myself into any situation, so it is best just to say two nights at the most. Another dynamic to observe are the different countries, and individuals, that are more trustful than others, why do some people ask for the money immediately when agreeing to a room?
Most main touristic towns around the world are cold and jealous toward the traveler. However, it is important to note that many people within these cultures do not comprehend the difference between traveler and tourist. That level of education is void within the minds that are based on eating low quality white bread, an overindulgence of television watching, including nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine addictions. It can be very enlightening if the traveler is willing to ascertain and admit to the negative context of this world.
It is an ironic concept to observe the obsession of humanity relating to money. People are deluded into thinking that their life will be better with millions of dollars because people that have money project themselves as such, but in reality, from personally knowing wealthy people, well-to-do people are just as spiritually empty and miserable as the poor person, only within a different level of context. It is like the high percentage of girls who dress like prostitutes here in the Balkans; don’t be fooled men, do you really think a person who spends hours in the front of the mirror to “make themselves up” dwell with a healthy self-esteem and confidence, if so, then why are they obsessed to draw attention to themselves? Why do they need continual validation within the subject of sex and beauty. The world is pursuing a selfish extreme dynamic as we stroll into the decade of 2010 and crawl toward the infamous date of 12/21/2012.
One subject that is noticeable while visiting Albania and now here in Budva, some restaurants can be shifty. Many places don’t like that the customer orders only rice or a salad. Considering that a plate of rice is about $1.00 and a salad is about $1.50, the restaurant doesn’t make any money, but I am granted with free choice and they have those choices on the menu. In Sardana, Albania I order fish soup for 200 lek and they brought me out a fish that costed 700 lek and then the guy acted stupid. I was OK with it because the fish was good, but I am not allowing this type of situation to occur again. In addition in Sardana, I ate a different place and ordered a half of grilled chicken for 250 and a salad, and the girl presented the price beforehand as 300 total but the salad was 300 which was totally over priced all, salads are about 150 lek in Albania that include non-ripe tomatoes.
Here in Budva I visited a Chinese restaurant, but no Chinese cooks, and ordered the vegetable fried rice for 3.50 euro and he brought me out a chicken plate for 6 euro. I told him I didn’t order the plate and wanted the fried rice and no bread because they charge extra for the serving of low quality bread that just slows down the neuro-chemicals in the brain and causes weight gain. Also the water in the Balkans is excellent to drink, there is no reason to buy a bottle of water at the restaurants, but they don’t like that you only order a bowl of soup or just a salad with free tap water. To get the point across you need to ask for “normal water” or “free water”.
One place I did visit though said the soup was chicken, but it was only some strange tasting broth with pasta noodles, but he did give me a shot of rakia. So I asked where is the chicken? Since he said chicken, and the soup was only pasta, he didn’t charge me for anything, which was a very nice gesture considering the soup was awful. The Beef or chicken soup is only salted packaged broth with pasta noodles added, extremely bad, but the fish soup is made with fresh fish and is only 2 Euro and very hearty.
Throughout life the propaganda of the world and the media is dumbing down the power of assertiveness, many people are too fearful to bargain or speak-up when something not right, but when traveling it is imperative to keep your awareness high, and that can get exhausting, so to combat any travel fatigue a good diet of raw food and plenty of rest will replenish the energy levels.