The week in Italy which I spent together with Wife, Sister in law and parents in law ended pretty much as it started. Extravagance, Opulence, Fantastic views, Food, Music etc. It was a great break from riding. As we had rented a car in Italy to get us around I left my bike in Milan. My plan was originally to leave Milan on the 20th but since something has come up in Dubai on the 2nd of October I wanted to try and get back for that date. It is going to be a stretch anyhow so I changed my plans and left Milan in a hurry on the 19th of Sept at 2pm instead. Approximately 6 hrs and 650 km of booooring highway and expeeeensive road tolls I made it to Rome. I checked in to a simple hotel which had a courtyard parking since I had heard from several sources that there were more than a few dishonest people in Rome.
After showering, figuring out the subway system and checking out fountains and stairs of different kinds for a couple of hours I went back to the hotel for a good 8 hr sleep.
Rome to Bari is about as interesting as Milan to Rome. In addition to this it is quite the sorry sight to enter Bari. Not only do they have a good for nothing football team, they also have a good for nothing city architect. Oh, it’s ugly. Typical suburban concrete-jungle feel to it. With a touch of gloomy.
The vibe of the city didn’t really bother me though as I was heading straight to the port to complete my only mission in Bari: To get on the 10pm ferry to Greece and get the hell out of there as soon as possible.
The route I had planned through Greece went from Igoumenitza to Thessaloniki and then on towards Istanbul, Turkey. There was no other plan. I had done the Balkans on the way up and I was done with that part. Fate however, had other plans for me. The very in-compassionate lady at the ferry check-in counter said with a stone face, as I smilingly asked for a ticket to Greece, that the Ferry was full and that the next ferry was leaving in 24(!) hrs.
This is where I put on my charm offensive/puppy eyes and really tried to squeeze a “feel bad” ticket out of her. Nothing. I might as well have been talking to a bouncer with an attitude. I got the old stone wall. Nothing.
After re-grouping and telling myself for the millionth time on this trip that everything happens for a reason, I go outside and mount the bike to try and find a crappy hotel room where I can bunk up for the night. The biggest issue I had with this failure is that I hate sitting around. I have no patience. And I had left Rome one day early so I could get a head start and now all that time was going to be eaten up by way of sitting on my ass in Italy’s most distasteful city?
As thoughts of similar nature whirl around in my head I pass the other ferry terminal with ferries for Croatia. I suddenly snap out of my doomsday thinking when an exciting idea enters my head: What if I go to Dubrovnik in Croatia instead of Igoumenitza in Greece. Won’t it be approximately the same distance to Istanbul?
After doing a brief (and probably very poor) estimation comparison on my GPS I decide to head inside and see what I can do. That’s where I met this lovely couple:
World travellers
Erling and Karin from Denmark. They have been married for almost 50 years. They have 3 sons and 8 grand kids. They have lived in Kenya for a total of 8 years and love the country like it’s their own. More importantly, if I would have gotten on the ferry to Greece I never would have had the pleasure of meeting them, sharing a bottle of wine with them and indulging in the most interesting conversation with them.
So that was it. My next destination was not Igoumenitza, it was Dubrovnik. I found this episode very inspiring in a way. How nothing is permanent and there’s always something one can do about one’s situation. It’s all down to attitude and split vision. If you keep your head up even when times are tough, you might spot the solution. If you look at your feet in grief and sulk away, you are sure not to find any answers…
This is how happy I was when I arrived in Croatia…
…and this is why I was so happy…
…and this
…and this…
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. The Adriatic coast line is absolutely stunning. I have seen many fantastic places on this trip so I’m not going to say it’s the most beautiful spot in the world, but it’s definitely up there…
Dubrovnik is on the south tip of Croatia so it wasn’t long until I entered Montenegro. I was so happy to be back in this part of the world. It’s something sunny, happy and easy going about these countries and I highly recommend that you travel around the Balkans. Note that I left Dubrovnik just after 7am.
There’s a little place on the coast of Montenegro called Herzig-Novi. In Herzig-Novi there’s a little hotel called Spinnaker apartments. Spinnaker apartments was the only place on my 22 day trip up north where I stayed for 2 nights. Not only do they have very clean and neat rooms in the centre of town + close to the beach but also an eccentric loving hostess who loves reading called Buba. There’s also a long sleeping, super social bartender (Vlado is his name) who is willing to take you out at night for various adventures. Needless to say I stopped by to say hello.
As I was having coffee with a just awoken Vlado and discussing my continued route through Albania he mentioned to me to be very careful while passing through. As a matter of fact, his exact words were: “Don’t stop in Albania – not even for gas if you don’t have to. They are natural born thieves”. Hmmm…what he said combined with all the stories about the Albanian mafia actually made me nervous for the first time on the whole trip. I don’t know what it was but as I left Buba, Vlado and Herzig Novi behind me I was not more than mildly uncomfortable.
The above picture sums up the first part of Albania pretty well. Very narrow, very bad roads through a fairly barren landscape with abandoned, rusted gas stations all over the place.
My rear tire needs changing. That added to the excitement in Albania. I think I’d rather have a flat in Iran than in Albania. However, my plan is to make it to Istanbul before I change it. I know there is a KTM dealer there so I can get the right tire and some peace of mind.
In any case, because the roads were so bad in Albania, I, for every bump I hit, sent a small prayer to the tire God to keep me safe. It worked. I made it through some unbelievable mountain landscapes on crazy roads. I as a matter of fact feel a bit proud to have done this part of the trip. It was very extreme.
Can you spot the road?
It’s very difficult to see but all the faint lines in the mountain are tiny serpentine roads that I rode. Lots of fun for 1-2 hours but after 5, with more or less nothing to eat…
I negotiated my way more than 200 km through the mountains in to Kosovo. It took me more than 5 hours. Since I didn’t want to stop, or as little as possible, the only thing I had to eat was a small bag of chips and a red bull. That red bull kept me flying but by the end of it I was finished. It takes complete focus to ride these kinds of roads. One mistake and the only thing to remember you by would be one of the grave stones that they put on pretty much every corner (I wonder if they do it to scare people or if that many people really died on these roads?).
Oh, a shout out to the guys at KTM in Trosta and Hammarstroms motor. The bike is running like clockwork and today I was more than proud to ride a KTM. I pushed the bike really hard and it felt like it was screaming I LOOOOOVE THIS! GIMME MOOOORE!
Leaving Albania was a good feeling. Entering Kosovo wasn’t that great. Especially as the time was nearing 5 in the afternoon and I was tired but had another 150 k to make it to Skopje, Macedonia which was my goal of the day. The roads were better here but as they all go right through little towns the traffic is bad and the speeds are low.
Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo and Finally Macedonia. 4 border crossings in one day. Eid Mubarak to everyone by the way…people were on their way back from the eid holidays so the borders were packed with people. I made it to Skopje by 8 and it took me about an hour to find the hotel that I liked so much (Hotel Aleksander).
Tonight won’t be to interesting. I’m going to update my facebook status once more and then….Good night. Will I make it to Istanbul tomorrow???
Peace and Love!
A
