The coast and the road home

The coastal chapter is underway: Kotor has closed, Budva became the last Adriatic base, and Tara River rafting turned a grounded paragliding side quest into the trip's cold turquoise full stop.

After the kite week, the second half of the trip changes pace. Velika Plaža gives way to Kotor, the camera comes out more, and the route bends north — first along the coast, then home.

Kotor and Budva

Kotor opened the coastal chapter properly: a morning bus from Ulcinj, the Lovćen cable car, iced coffee at altitude, the bay spread out below like geography with a theatre budget, and then a horsepower day through Mamula, Žanjic, submarine tunnels, Blue Cave and Perast. Budva has now taken over: wider, louder, more social, with beaches, palms, old-town lanes, a few thousand years of weathered stone, and warm evenings that go on too long in a good way.

This is the part of the trip that does not need a kite, just a slow walk and a long lunch, and pretending the suntan is from the kite week and not the patio. The last Budva day still found one inland surprise: Tara River rafting, where the canyon, the cold water, and a very international paddle crew did a better job than the grounded paragliding forecast.

The road home

From the coast, the road bends north again. Podgorica’s airport, a flight back through central Europe, a train segment through Berlin, and finally Pirna — the same train station the whole thing started from.

The story is built so that the return matters as much as the arrival. A trip that ends at the gate is half a trip. This one closes when the kettle goes on at home in Pirna, and the photos start finding their captions.

What lands here

Coastal photos. A few short notes from Kotor and Budva. A return-day diary entry. And, eventually, a quiet retrospective: what changed between the plan and the reality, what the wind cost in dignity, and what was worth more than expected.