Worlds Apart

 

I found this bronze figure with a number of discarded statues from the communist era in Tirana Albania.

Right around the corner was this statue of Mother Theresa, now Saint Teresa of Calcutta who was an ethnic Albania. I got thinking about this and how humans tend to be more fascinated by that which is a complete fabricated myth than with somebody who quietly went about her life dedicated to helping the poor and marginalized in the slums - worlds apart.

After leaving Dubrovnik, Croatia I crossed the border into Montenegro. This country has a short but absolutely stunning coastline with the mountains rising directly out of the sea. 

From the coast I had plotted a route directly north through the center of the country to allow me to pick up the Trans American Trail again. The rural scenery in Montenegro has small farms tucked into the valleys along tiny winding roads, a seemingly idyllic place to live but I suspect that many people are really just subsistence farmers struggling to make a living

  Back on the trail

Fun riding

Endless mountains and valleys

Suddenly a super highway appears around a corner with massive concrete towers supporting four lanes across valleys before tunneling back into the mountains. It just all seemed so incongruous in this tiny country.

The project is being funded and built by China with all the labor living in small barrack rooms. I just hope that the whole thing makes real economic sense.

I had hoped for one more day on the trails in Montenegro but due to a road closure I had to cut into Albania earlier. I love crossing at small border posts, usually with helpful immigration and customs officials. The border into Albania at Vermosh did not disappoint with the official coming out of the tiny office, smilingly taking my passport, Covid vaccine card, insurance and moto registration then returning them to me two minutes later and waving me on my way.

 The capital of Albania, Tirana is a bustling city which seems safe and clean and mix of very modern and old centrally planned buildings without character. It was great to meet up with a neighbor from Colorado for supper. - thank you Zetta.

This was one of 175,000 bunkers that were constructed throughout Albania by the old communist regime headed for more than forty years by the dictator Enver Hoxa.

From here things moved quickly. My brother was visiting Spain and as I had not seen him for a couple of years I decided to fly to Barcelona. The weather was changing rapidly with the next two weeks looking like it was going to be a lot of rain which is no bueno for moto riding in the mountains. So I found a place to store Moto Naranja for the next six months, flew to Barcelona via Belgrade, Serbia and met up with my brother. 

The, Gaudí, designed Sagrada Familia has got to be the most magnificent building I have ever been in. This amazing structure has been under construction for just about 140 years!! Makes public works projects look efficient. But if it takes the world having to wait this long for the awe inspiring beauty of this place of worship it was well worth the wait.

This now finds me back in Colorado with the leaves changing and already snow on the mountain tops and enjoying being surrounded by the love of my family. I am so grateful for the health to be able to undertake these adventures and look forward to jumping back on my moto next April to continue on my way east to Mongolia.

Stay tuned

Dubrovnik and the Islands

 This is the only motorcycle photo you are going to see in this installment. This was a mural on a wall in the town of Split, Croatia. The 1950 refers to the founding of the Hajduk Soccer Supporters Club and being part of the Croatian religion this is the date when modern history began rather than the year 0 that so much of the world uses today.

Tasha and I started in the town of Dubrovnik where we spent a couple of days topping up on food and good wine from the local Dalmatian vineyards

The fortress and walls of this old trading town where incredible and luckily the town that is usually a mob scene with a couple of cruise ships and tourists from every point of the compass was pleasantly quite. Dubrovnik has seen a huge increase in tourists over recent years especially since the movie series Game of Thrones was filmed here.

A very interesting history to this town, we learned on a Free Walking Tour, was that realizing that it would always be vulnerable to the big powers of the day, Venice and Constantinople, it concluded trading deals that basically paid them off to stay away- an early protection racket.

Main Ave in the Town of Dubrovnik

A gargoyle found in the Fortress wall

View from our room in Pomena on the first island we visited, Mljet. The ferry system between the islands is very efficient with high speed, twin hulled vessels running on regular schedules.

Next stop was the island of Korcula with another magnificent walled, fortress city

Even the nuns were willing to have their photos taken

 

Next ferry ride took us to the town of Hvar on Hvar Island, which although having a reputation as a party town we found to be very pleasant.

The beach at Pokonji dol was a 40 minute walk from the town center but well worth the effort to swim in the crystal clear, warm waters of the Adriatic. 

Back on the mainland in the town of Split we walked through this old Roman town where the palace built by the emperor Diocletian in the 4th century AD was incredibly well preserved in some parts but then incorporated into buildings of subsequent centuries in others. The emperor Diocletian reigned the Roman Empire for 20 years which was unheard of up until then as the average life expectancy of an emperor was only 1 year before that. 

 remember the whole Et tu Brute thing? 

 He was the last of the emperors who persecuted the Christians as his successor Constantine, was the first to allow the open practicing of this relatively new, at that time, religion.

This apartment within the old city did not get the memo about sprucing the place up because the tourists were coming and especially the part about hanging out your dirty laundry.

I got a little confused when I learned that they kept dragons down here in the cellars under the palace but it turns out that was once again the Game of Thrones rewriting of history. 

Two days in Split and we were ready to move on so we rented a car and drove back down the coastal road. 

Our last stop before returning to Dubrovnik was in Ston, built in the 14th century. The salt pans that gave rise to this town are still in production today with the defensive wall of more than 7 km being the longest in Europe.

Now back in Dubrovnik, with Tasha having flown home today I am preparing to get back on the motorcycle tomorrow and head into Montenegro.

War and Hope in Bosnia

 

It is difficult the travel in Bosnia & Herzegovina without coming across signs of war but no place quite like Mostar brings home just how destructive that war was, both in human terms as well as the senseless demolition of property

The old bridge over the Neretva River in Mostar was a casualty of the siege of Mostar with the almost total destruction of this UNESCO world heritage site. But just ten years after the devastation much of the old town and the bridge had been reconstructed. The bridge was rebuilt using the same techniques as well as a lot of the original stonework from when it was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent and completed in 1566.

It is 72 ft ( 22m ) into the water and a group known as the Keepers of the Bridge will jump, for a small donation, or dive into the crystal clear water below. It is possible to get training to do this but only if the Keepers of the Bridge deem you worthy - I did not apply, unworthy that I am.

It was nice to get out of the thick forests and into some high mountain pasture land where large sheep flocks would cross the road at any given opportunity

Usually accompanied by the Keepers of the Flock

I had a very tough morning riding out of Mostar and after two and a half hours of this type of terrain I had managed to manhandle Moto Naranja a mere 17 miles ( 27 km ) 

This was just after I had dropped the bike and had to offload bags to allow me to get it right side up - remember the adventure bit of this story.

Riding back into Croatia  should have been an easy hour's drive on a paved road but of course I decide to take the long way offered by Google maps. Not looking too carefully at the map I set off and unexpectedly came across the Border to leave Bosnia. No problems with that part but then just around the next corner was the other border post to get into Croatia -- um then why the hell does it say Welcome to Montenegro. Now I had truly had messed it up as I could not go back into Bosnia before first entering Montenegro.  I cursed even more when it took me ages standing in the hot sun in full riding gear waiting to get back into Croatia at the border post on the coast near Dubrovnik.

I have found a place to safely store my moto for the next 12 days to allow me to explore the islands off the Dalmatian coast and the best news is that Tasha will be joining me!!

Mined

 I had heard that there were still areas in Croatia and Bosnia where mines still had not been completely cleared from the Balkans wars in the 1990's but it certainly gave me pause to reflect what this adventure is all about. I saw many monuments along the way with names of young boys who went off to war, many of whom I am sure thought that what they were doing was also just a big adventure. Is war ever justified? 

On a lighter note all calls of nature after this have been made strategically right in the center of the trail!!

Predjama Castle Slovenia built 1274

It is funny but as I am riding mainly on forest roads I have absolutely no idea where I actually am at any time. Coming out onto a main road I saw a sign for a castle - this is what I ended up finding.

One of my first stops in Croatia was the Plitvička jezera National Park. This entire area is a karst region and has many limestone caves, lakes and waterfalls. At one time a huge underground cave system existed but over the eons has become a series of open-air lakes as the roofs of the underground caverns collapsed.

The town of Senj on the Adriatic Coast of Croatia

Communist era statues in the main square striking heroic poses

And now for the obligatory trail phots for my motorcycle buddies.

The trail was often narrow and took a lot of concentration to not veer off into the woods

An unintentional parking job after a wild ride down a section with a few badly placed large rocks - no damage done.

I kept a careful lookout for my spirit animal on the roads but they were staying out of harms way. There were however a lot of very large bear poeps on the forest roads thus answering the age old question of whether bears do it in the woods.

I crossed into Bosnia & Herzegovina near the Croatian town of Strmica. This was the first time I had all my paperwork thoroughly checked, passport, Covid card, title and insurance.  When my paperwork was handed back to me as I was sitting on the bike I dropped the whole lot and in trying to grab it the papers, my bike and me all ended up on the ground - looked like a yard sale!

This gives an idea of what the Bosnian countryside looks like in the region that I am now traveling in. It is going to take me more than a little while to work out how this federation of states works in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Who is who far from easy and in my reading I came across this:-

The difference may be insignificant to us but can cause quite a stir. Bosnian refers to the nationality and Bosniak (Muslim) is an ethnicity. Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs can be Bosnian. Only Bosniaks are Bosnian Muslims. After the 1990s conflict, make sure you never get these terms mixed up. 

 

Across the Roof of Italy

 

In the high Alps of northern Italy a thick coat is essential even in summer. After working out which end was which to this guardian of the entrance to the Rifugio I cautiously edged around him to the front door - and he disdainfully ignored me.

I found many of these Rifugios in the mountains on my over 2000 km ride across Italy on some of the most amazing mountain passes, both paved and gravel. After a long day on Moto Naranja a warm bed, good food and a cold beer sure as heck beat camping in temperatures that could get way below my comfort zone.

The tiring part of the riding was the absolute concentration it took as there was always a possibility of a little old man coming round the corner in his dilapidated Fiat Panda. Although the idea of a guardrail had at one point crossed the mind of a road engineer the reality of building it was another story.

In so many parts of the world gas stations have become a place to get out of as soon as possible. Just what if they were all like this one where the wonderful lady owner not only filled your tank personally but also took pride in her gas pumps?

I have many more mountain and flower photos if anybody would like a personal slide show when I get home. 

Moving further east I entered the Dolomite mountains with equally steep switchback climbs and descents but now with vineyards in the wide valleys.

If all the roads on my travels cannot be gravel then please can they be like this paved woodland masterpiece. I did come across sections of gravel where there was no way my fully laden KTM was going to make it without taking a serious hammering to both bike and body. In these cases I did what most dirt riders would do - I pressed on.

This relatively "new" country which came about from the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990's  and ensuing Balkan wars is so welcoming to foreigners. The two days I have spent here have been a delight. It is a great help that so many people speak English, the food is good, accommodation cheaper than Italy and the beer plentiful.

The paved and gravel roads are kept in very good shape in Slovenia but good roads are not what I am looking for on my moto odyssey. Following the TET ( Trans European Trail ) has been incredible because it guarantees that I will be staying away from most of the real big cities and tourist areas. Some tracks get just a little too tight for a larger motorcycle and this was the case in here where even to turn my bike around took a tremendous amount of manhandling, sweating and the occasional expletive.

This is the town of Piran on the Adriatic that was recommended to me. Never having heard of the place I was very pleasantly surprised by the charm of this old walled town on a peninsular that is closed to all cars.

I write this blog post from my hotel room with a view of the deep blue Adriatic - I love my life!!