Hey everybody – since I last talked to you, I made the journey from Bosnia into Montenegro. The border was a bit of a pain, but the beautiful scenery on the drive made it all ok!

On Tuesday, I went to Podgorica to spend the evening with my good buddy from Turkey named Murat. I met Murat last year in Montenegro when we were staying at the same hostel in Budva. He was a great musician and we jammed and bonded for the couple nights we were together. At 44 years old, he had quit his job in Turkey to come to Montenegro and play music for a year. Meeting him and watching him in action was a big inspiration for me doing this musical trip on myself!

I had arranged to come visit him for the night and he offered that I could come watch him play at a local bar and spend the night at his apartment. After I arrived, we hung out and caught up for a bit and then went out to do some exploring around the city before the show. I enjoyed the tour!

After we did our exploring, it was time to head to the Munich Bar where he would be performing that night. As a side note, I think it’s so cool that he came here just to busk on the streets and was noticed by enough people for his music that he now has about 5 paying gigs a week and is making a living with music! I enjoyed watching his whole 2 1/2 hour set. He played songs in 4 different languages, including Montenegrin, which the crowd really liked. I also got meet the owner of the pub, Neso, who kept having the waiter bring me beer and rakia for free. He was a great guy! When Murat got me up to play a few songs, Neso even invited me to play a gig there myself if I’m ever back through Podgorica!

After the show, we joined Murat’s girlfriend and her friend at the bar next door where there was live Serbian language music. I really enjoyed that experience as well!

On Wednesday afternoon, I said my goodbyes to Murat (for now) and headed to see my good friends at the Hiker’s Den hostel in Durmitor National Park. Anna-Maria and I stayed there last year and I absolutely love the two brothers who own the hostel, Stefan and Alex. They are two of the coolest and most hospitable people on the planet and I was really looking forward to seeing them again.

On my way, I stopped in Niksic, which is Montenegro’s second-largest city. Neso is from there and he convinced me to check it out. I’m glad I stopped! I walked around for about 2 hours and saw the old town, along with the ancient ramparts that were used to defend the city in years past.

The drive between Podgorica and Durmitor had some stunning scenery as well:

After arriving at the hostel, Stefan and I got right to work on the big bottle of Jack Daniels I brought him and it didn’t take too long for it to be a thing of the past! We caught up and hung out with the other guests and eventually played some guitar for everyone. There was another guy there who played as well, Rem from England, and we had fun passing the guitar back and forth and playing some crowd favorites for everybody.

Tonight the brothers are putting on a special BBQ for all the guests and have invited me to set up the speaker and do a concert. I gladly accepted the offer, and I invited Rem to take turns with me on the microphone. So I’m resting up at the moment, but am very much looking forward to tonight’s festivities.

Talk to you guys again soon!