Day 1: From Opatja to Njivive (Croatia)
July 31, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Hello there, I will try to document my biking trip this way but not sure how often I will be able to update this, I guess it depends on my phone battery, the wifi, or if I just prefer being lazy at the beach instead. ;D
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Starting close to Opatja, the tour took me up and down along the Croatian coastline, with steeper hills than expected. I had to get off and push my bike quite a few times, and almost even failed at pushing in some parts. Guess I'm not (yet?) trained for steepnesses above 8% with all the extra weight due to my bags. Things I realized at Day 1 already:
- 30°C + degrees is way too hot to cycle uphills in the sun!
- I may have a little too much stuff with me.. at least it's obvious that the weight is pretty hard on the tyres of the bike..
- The bike is shaky with this much weight on due to my bags, which can be dangerous when sharing the road with vehicles. The vehicles on the main roads mostly ignored me and the campervans only kept little distance when driving past me, also it was hard to keep the bike straight due to the wind.
- Don't trust komoot, not even if you paid for a premium account. :D Just because kommot tells you there's a connection between roads doesn't mean there is one or thar it's even suitable for biking. (And yes, the app was set to road biking. :D) At some point I found myself in the middle of nowhere on a dead end road blocked by concrete blocks. Standing on the edge I could see the main road 20m below me. The only way to get down there was to take off my bags and carry the bike down the steep hill first and go up again to grab the bags. From there on I tried to stick to main roads..
- If your destination is on the way to a bigger city, "Lidl"-wallpapers every 3km are a great indicator for your progress on the road. :D
I initially planned to get all the way to Krk city that day, but around 7pm I decided to stop in a little village called Njivice and search for a camp ground. They said they were full but they will squeeze me in after I told them I really don't want to ride any further today. :D So I set up my tent and went for a swim during a colourful sunset at a pretty prebble beach with amazing clear water, showered and cooked pasta after. :) Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the beach and sunset since my phone was charging during this time in a locker.
I had a little chat with Marcello, my Brasilian/German tent neighbor and went to bed after. :)Read more
Day 2: From Njivive to Krk City
August 1, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
I kept it short on Day 2 and only cycled from Njivive to Krk City, where I wanted to go diving with the dive instructor who taught me diving 14 years ago. I planned to get up super early to cycle while it's still cool outside and to arrive early at the diving school as a surprise and go diving the same day. Well, that didn't work out. 🙈 I had a terrible sleep that night and couldn't get up in the morning, so I arrived around noon. Even though it wasn't that far, I felt the muscle ache from the previous day. Also, it again shared the main road with really wreckless mobile home drivers.
Once arrived, the diving school staff recommended me a beautiful camping ground on top of a hill. So I went there, set up my tent and chatted with tent neighbours (Germans, of course 😅). After, I went back to the beach and the city for a swim and some strolling around. :) In the afternoon (once the diving boat returned) I went back to the school. It was great seeing everyone again and I put my name on the boat list for the next day. 👌😁
I also went to a bicycle store that day since I noticed a "bumpy" feeling I assumed to be caused by the front tyre. The guy wasn't really keen on finding the cause but added air to both tyres for free, which was nice but didn't actually solve the problem. 😅 Will figure that out another day.
Some lessons learned today include:
- Don't put sunscreen on while sitting on your camping matress, the oily spots will now last forever I guess.. -.-
- Fig trees are great for spending shadow and a snack, but if there's ripe fruits on it you'll have ants EVERYWHERE if you forget to close the tent for just a second.. 🙄
Looking forward to diving tomorrow!! 🐙🐠🐡🦈🐢🐬Read more
Fun Diving Krk
August 2, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
No cycling this day. Instead, I had a great day on the diving boat with two amazing dives at the coast of the island Plavnik. 🐙🐠🐟🦀 We saw a couple of catshark eggs hanging onto an old fisher net at 27m and 34m depths. 🦈😁👌 When placing the torch underneath the eggs we could see something little wiggle inside!! :)) Other than that we saw colourful fish, an octopus, ans played with a crab. The water was pretty cold down there with only 17 °C but the dives were totally worth it and it was nice seeing my former diving teacher again! :)
Unfortuantely, there's no room for an underwater camera on this trip.. but here are some photos anyway. :)Read more
Day 4: From Krk (City) to Rab (City)
August 3, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
I got up early this morning, had breakfast with my two tent neighbours, packed my stuff and saddled the bike to get to the ferry terminal in Valbiska. It was only a 10km ride with around 200m elevation, but it was ridiculously hot day and I arrived pretty exhausted at 11:30am. I was also rushing a little since ferrys here don't always stick to the schedule (they arrive, load, and once their full they just leave again), and I was late - as usual. 🙈
The ferry ride took about 1.5 hours and offered some great views on the surrounding islands on its way. I mostly stayed inside the air conditioned sitting area though and read a little.
I arrived in Lopar on the island of Rab. From this very touristy place I cycled along the coast towards Rab City. There were some amazing views along the way and for some kilometers I was cycling right along the sea, which was great.
Once I arrived in Rab around 5pm I went to a campground close by to ask for a night stay, but the lady told me they are more than full and I should cycle further south and try a little campground in Barbat. So I went there but as expected, it was also full. 😬 Germans on the campground offered me to set up my tent in their pitch but the owner didn't allow it, however, he offered me to use the washrooms and recommended to just sleep at the beach without setting up my tent. This way it wouldn't be too obvious and they apparently don't control this beach too frequently (wild camping is forbidden in Croatia, it's a 400€ fine if they catch you 🤑🥴). I didn't feel very comfortable just sleeping there thinking I wouldn't get a proper rest.. it was a pretty busy and open beach and there was nowhere to hide my stuff and bike. So I checked up the ferry time table to leave the islands again and decided to cycle back to Rab to catch the last ferry to Pag island at 6:55pm. It was around 6:30pm when I arrived in Rab City again and I had to check the way to the ferry terminal when I stopped along the road where two other bikepackers where jist having a break. We started talking and they told me that they mostly wildcamp and never got caught. They offered me to join them for the night instead of taking the ferry which I then did. So we cycled again(!) to the south to find a sheltered sleeping space, which we found on a dead end road past the houses on a hillside. We set up the tents, when a curious older couple came past. Since they obviously noticed us, we asked them if we could stay for the night which was fine with them.
I had a sunset swim in the sea, went back to the camp and chattet with Heike and Chris for two more hours before we went to sleep.
They are truely amazing people from Berlin. They are in their 50s and already did many of such trips, this time they started cycling in Vienna. I was lucky to bump into them! :)Read more
Day 5 - I think I lost my passport..
August 4, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Good morning people - I lost my passport. -.-
Chronologically:
Chris, Heike, and me woke up around 6am this morning because the guy from yesterday came by and parked his car literally right next to hour tents. He fed his sheep and left again. We then packed up and cycled back to Rab City to grab a coffee and some breakfast. My plan for the day was to stroll around the city and catch a ferry in the afternoon to Pag. Before we left our bikes and bags unattended, I wanted yo grab my valuables to take them with me. Well, I couldn't find my passport. I unpacked everything but it wasn't there anymore. I started to get stressed. It's the only valid ID I took with me and I will need it to get into Albania since it's not EU territory.
The last time having the passport for sure was at the first campground in Rab City where I took it out to check in. Once that didn't work I put in the front pocket for easy access at the next campground. On the way there, I took my phone out of this pocket for navigation a few times. I assume the passport fell out at some point. 😞 I also did leave my bike unattended for a few minutes twice that time for a swim and the supermarket. But I honestly doubt it was stolen.
I skipped on the city tour and drove back to the first campground, then our sleeping place and called the second campground. I unpacked everything again to make sure and called the police then. They told me to come by to get a confirmation for the loss which would allow me "to get out of Croatia and back home", since Croatia is not a Schengen-country. So I went there and it took the very friendly police officer 1.5h to manually write down in Croation bold letters what happened. He asked pretty detailed where I've been since I recognized the loss, even wanted to know the supermarkets. I had to kind of alter the reality a little when it came to the sleeping situation, so I told that locals allowed us to stay with them but holding back the fact that it wasn't actually their propery..🙈 In the end he recommended me to stay for another night on the island in case it was found and handed to the police, and to call the embassy in Zagreb to get a replacement.
So I will stay for another night on the island wild camping with Chris and Heike, waiting for a call from the police which didn't happen. I called the embassy and willl go there on Monday for a day. They will give me a temporary one year passport that will allow me to continue my trip for 540 Kuna (~70€).
The rest of the day was pretty relaxed, not much cycling but camping in one of the largest and mosr beautiful holm oak forests in the Mediteranean area and having a swim in the sea.Read more
Day 6 - No call from the police..
August 5, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
I woke up quite a few times that night because I heard something moving around the forest close to the tent. I tried not to bother about it too much and eventually fell back to sleep. Around 6am (it was bright already) I heard it again amd decided to get up and check. In about 10m distance to my tent a sheep and a little lamb were staring at me. 🐑🐑 I guess we were camping on their trail and they weren't sure what to do about it. At some point they walked off into the woods again but I stayed up and continued reading my book in the hammock until Chris and Heike woke up.
Once we packet our stuff, we went for a little cycling trip in the holm oak tree forest / national park, in which we got a little lost. On the way out we wanted to take a different route and ended up carrying our bikes and bags individually down a very steep and rocky hiking path for about 600m. 😅 Not the best start of the day but once we grabbed breakfast in a little town nearby it got better. We cycled back to Rab where we split up and said goodbye for now. I stayed in Rab for some strolling and a ferry to Pag island in the afternoon, while Heike and Chris moved on to the south. I locked my bike including all my in a very public and busy spot, thinking that the more people there the less likely it gets stolen. I'm still struggling a bit with leaving all my stuff unattended for quite some time but it's way too exhausting to take it with me on a walking tour. It was still there once I got back. 😁 I also called up a campsite in advance to check for availability this time so that I could search for wild camping spots along the way alreafy if there's again nothing available.
The taxi boat ride to Lun (Pag island) took around 20 min, when I got to the small boat I wondered how all people including me and my stuff will fit on it but the captain didn't seem to worry. 😅
Arriving in Lun I had to cycle up a really steep hill (well, I pushed half the way), but once I was up there it was worth all the hassle!! There were beautiful olive trees everywhere and cycling along that ride with sea view on the right and the Velebit mountains to the left was amazing. Also it wasn't that hot anymore.
I arrived at a little campground and went straight for swim. After I was hanging out in my hammock at the beach and read a little until the sun was set.
All in all it felt good to leave Rab island and it felt like moving on from my passport disaster, even though it wasn't found that day..Read more
Day 7 - From Potočnica (Pag) to Rtina
August 6, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
Crazy day. It started all pretty easygoing, not much traffic, elevation gain was fine. Until I reached Novalja. I dodn't know that it's also called the New Ibiza, a party place for young people. And there were hundreds of them with packed suitcases waiting along the road for their busses to pick them up when I drove through the city in the morning. I didn't like the place too much so I didn't even stop there and continued on a pretty nice well paved highway out of the town. Unfortunately, theany busses I just passed where soon to be passing me again, most of them won't even give me some space while driving by. 😒 It wasn't fun at all and at some point I even stopped to let them pass and get off the road anytime I saw one coming.
After a few kilometers komoot finally told me to take a turn and get off the highway to cycle along the coast instead. At first I was pretty happy about the decision, shortly after I found myself on a never ending gravel road with huge holes. Eventually, there was no road anymore and I had to cycle back to find an alternative road. It was boiling hot in the sun, my 2.5l water supply was almost finished and there was nothing there to refill and nowhere to hide from the sun. I continued until I finally reached a little town and paved road again. I was pretty exhausted so I stopped for swim at a pretty beach right at the road.
A while later I continued and met a cyclist from Seoul ( I can't recall his name 🙈) in Pag City, who was going the other way. He started about six weeks ago in Ankara and pland to go all the way to São Paulo. The first thing he said was "I'm so tired of mountains", since the southern countries are more hilly and expected. 🥴 We exchanged some knowledge about the roads to come and continued cycling im different directions. Again I found myself on a gravel path gor 7km. 😞 But that wasn't even the worst part of the trip.
About 1.8km before passing the bridge to the mainland again I was on top of the mountain ridge with an incredibly strong side wind blowing me off the road. This wind is called Bora in Croatia and it blows from the mainland out to the sea. It became impossible to continue cycling, I had to get off the bike and push it. Once I arrived at the bridge it has gotten even worse and I seriously doubted to be able to pass the bridge even as a foot passenger with bike. I thought about turning around but I didn't pass any camp site and I would have to get up the hill again the next day. So I thought I give it a try and made it, but I'm bruised up to my hips on my left side since the bike was constantly pushed against it by the wind. On the other side, I walked for another kilometer until the road was more sheltered from the wimd and cycled the last bit to the campground.
There I got a great pitch first row right at the beach. I was too tired for a swim though so I just did the regular routine (setting upy tent, cooking, cleaning) and had a nice chat with my tent neighbor Andy from London, who was also bikepacking in Croatia before going off to sleep.Read more
Day 8 - From Rtina to Zadar
August 7, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
Another ridiculously hot day (37 °C In the sun) but luckily I only had about 25km left to Zadar, where I wanted tostay Sunday to Tuesday. That way I could get to the German embassy in Zagreb on Monday for the day to get a temporary passport. I had also called the police in Rab again but my passport remains lost.
I wasn't too keen on cycling, so I was again having a nice chat with Andy instead and and booked bus tickets to Zagreb for the next day. I left the camp ground around 11am. Stupid me - it was way too hot for cycling and I felt pretty exhausted from the previous day. I chose the straight way to Zadar to avoid extra kilometers, which lead me inlands. There were some really steep parts with 17% elevation, I had to get off the bike and push it instead. There was hardly any shade along the way. It wasn't possible for me to stop, as soon as the wind from driving was gone it was umbearable stay in the sun.
Once I found a spot I stopped and called up campgrounds to check availability but only an RV campground had vacancies. It is located around 5km away from the bus terminal but the only safe option I had for leaving my bike and my bags. It is seriously the worst campground ever. It's in the middle of nowhere right next to the highway, there are almost no trees and it's ridiculoulsy expensive since they charge me the same amount as if I was there with a campervan. -.-
I arrived there in the afternoon and left my stuff with a nice dutch guy since the reception was closed. Once the tent was set up, I cycled into the city to see where the bus is leaving in the morning and how to get there. Turns out that I don't want to leave my bike there all day until almost midnight and the locker room is closed ad 10pm, which is too early. Also a taxi ride turns out to be about 30€ for 5km. -.- So I decided to have a morning and night walk instead.
I also had a stroll around Zadar and went back to the camp ground, where I had a nice talk and drink with the dutch guy before going to bed.
I didn't take many photos that day, it was simply too hot to stop along the way. :DRead more
Day 9 - German embassy in Zagreb
August 8, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
I had to get up around 6am, to start walking to the bus station in Zadar around 6:25am, to be there for the departure at 7:30am. It was a nice and refreshing morning walk. I was pretty tired though since I woke upnaroumd 3:30am having around ten mosquitoes inside my tent. It didn't really cool down at night, so I left both tent entrances open for just a little bit. Apparently this was enough for the tiny little beasts. It took me about 20min to get them all and I couldn't really go back to sleep afterwards. They bit me really badly all around my fingers so I basically just soaked them in cream for the rest of the night. Certainly won't make this mistake again.. 😒🙈😅
The bus ride was fine (3.5 hours) but I had to hurry a little to get to the embassy once we arrived. It was only open until noon, I got there 11:40am. 😅 I don't know exactely what I expected but I certainly assumed it to be well organized - I mean it's the German (!) embassy. 💁♀️ I went to the main entrance which was locked (of course) when a guard came and sent me around the corner to the line. And it was a mess. There were around 20+ people sitting oiside on the street with documents in their hands. Obviously all of them Germans, some of them had beem waiting since 9am even though they had an appointment. Occasionally a lady screamed out a name onto the street and that person got up to go inside. I was a little confused and went up the stairs to at least put my name on the list. Some haven't even done that, how would they eben know that they're waiting outside?! 🤔 I still don't get the system. 😅 I was lucky, 20 minutes and 540 Kuna spent I walked out again with a cheap looking green temporary passport. 👌😁
Next I went into the city center and spontanouslyet up with some couchsurfing people (two travellers from Germany, one from Indonesia living in Germany and a local guy Ante who gave us a fun little tour of the city center. We enjoyed hanging out together and found a lot of common interests. I'm sure I'll see some of them again at some point. 😊 I liked Zagreb, it's a pretty coolnplace with lots of history and lots of green parks in the center to hang out. 👌 After a couple of hours I had to get back to bus, where I currently sit in and eventually arrive at my tent around midnight.Read more
Day 10 - From Zadar to Nin
August 9, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Recap from last night:
When I arrived at the bus station in Zadar around 11pm, it already started raining. So I hitchhiked with a German family to the camp ground instead of walking. Think I gave them a huge fright when I approached them at the red lights in the middle of the night. Once I arrived at the camp ground, I found my tent to be soaked and muddy from the bottom and strangely in a slightly different place. Also my power plug, which I left inside (!) the tent was removed. Apparently, someone tried to move my tent to make room for more campervans, even though it was my pitch. By trying to move the tent (I assume it was pulled, even though all my bags were in there and it could have ripped easily due to the weight), the underlaying protection matt got twisted, which caused the tent to leak from the bottom.
To sum it up: it was a pretty bad night and most of my stuff was slightly wet in the morning. I woke up around 6:15am already and starting cleaning off the mud. Around 7am, the owners of the campground arrived for their morning visit and I asked the woman whether she knows anything about moving my tent. She admitted that it was her and the husband to squeeze in another campervan. I told her about all my stuff being wet and that I find it disrespectful to take stuff out of the tent without asking or me being there. She told me "Okay, you don't have to pay but go." I told her again that it's not about the money, but that's not how you treat paying guests. She didn't even apologize and I went off to get my stuff. I was really sick of this place.
I was so exhausted from the trip to Zagreb that I didn't feel like cycling all day, so I decided to go to Nin to have a beach day and meet up with Chris and Heike again. On the way I stopped at a bicycle shop in Zadar to have my front tyre checked - I was so annoyed by the bumpy feeling, I just wanted it fixed by now. The guy at the shop was super helpful and friendly, within minutes he not only fixed the bump but also adjusted my brakes and gear switch, and added oil to the chain. It felt like riding a new bike after and he only asked for less than 5€. He made my day. 😁👌🚲
In Nin I found a nice spot on the beach to set up my hammock. I read for a while and dozed off. It was very windy unfortunately, so I didn't feel like swimming anymore. But at least I could watch many kite surfers in the lagoon. I then strolled around beautiful Nin with Heike and Chris and we had a swim at a different beach before going to a restaurant in the evening to which they invited me. Since they have already spotted a nice place to wild camp on the night, we could take it easy that evening. :)
The spot was a bit outside Nin close to a forest. We got there on a gravel road along a river during sunset. Arriving there we heard occasional shots in the area, probably someone was hunting ducks. Luckily it stopped once it got dark, it was a little creepy to be honest. 😅Read more
Day 11 - From Nin to Turnaj
August 10, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
We woke up early around 6:30am, packed our stuff and went back to Nin, where we found a good Pekara (bakery) and a nice coffee place for breakfast. 🥐🥖🥨☕️ Since it was already hot in the morning, we decided then to go to a beach for a swim before I wanted to head off by myself. Since I planned to couchsurf at a girls' place in Trogir on Saturday, I head to complete some kilometers that day. The water was much (!) colder than in previous days but refreshing. 🥶 😅 Heike and me where chatting for almost two hours when we then decided to cycle back to Zadar together.
In Zadar, we went back to the bike shop I've been to the previous day to get Heike's bike checked. In the meantime, we had a stroll around Zadar. After an hour I hit the road down south by myself without having a fixed destination. I also wasn't sure whether I should wild camp for the first time by myself or search for a camp ground. The road wasn't that great, I followed the main coast highway, mostly without a bike lane and a lot of traffic. Shortly before the village Turanj, I saw a dirt road going off the main road into an olive tree yard on a hill. Following it I found a great place to wild camp without neighbours but sea views. Since it was too early to set up my tent yet, I cycled into Turanj, went for a swim and a shower, and cooked dinner at the beach. :) I then headed back to my spot. Since it was quite windy (during the previous night I woke up many times because of the wind flapping my tent.. I didn't attach it properly thinking it wasn't windy and thus not necessary), I properly set the tent up this time in a spot covered by bushes.Read more
Day 12 - From Turanj to Tisno
August 11, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
I was up with the sunshine, packed everything back on my bike (I'm getting better at but it still takes me around 35 min), and cycled to Turanj for some breakfast from the bakery (burek with cheese, they do an amazing job with that in Croatia!). It was already hot in the morning with around 27°C at 8am, so I thought I better get some kilometers done in the morning and have a break during noon.
The route took me slightly away from the sea along the freshwater lake Vransko Jezero. Unfortunately, it was mostly gravel road and I felt sorry for my already.. 🙈😅 After a few kilometers, I looked for a spot to set up my hammock but realized that there's no place where I could put it, the ropes were too short. This has happened before and I got pretty annoyed by it, so I decided to buy longer ropes as soon as possible and searched for hardware stores along the way. Without a proper break, I cycled for another hour to get back to the sea and stopped at a nice coastline for a swim and lunch break. It wasn't a proper beach, I had to climb down some rocks to reach the water but that way I had the spot all to myself. I topped my lunch with some figs that are literally growing everywhere (I don't understand people buying them here, you'd always find a tree within walking distance). During lunch, I texted with Heike and Chris to see how they're doing. They send me an image of their view from a coffee shop right by the sea and it looked pretty similar to my view. When I got back up to my bike, I saw theirs leaning outside the coffee shop just 50 meters away. 😅 So we randomly caught up again, sat in thecafé for another two hours and decided to cycle together for the rest of the day. We stopped for another swim in Pirovac, a beautiful little village with old brick stone buildings and colourful windows. It has a venetian vibe to it and seemed to be less touristy. It was nice to see locals hanging out on the beach or sitting outside their houses enjoying a coffee on a little table. From there, we cycled another 15km to a little town called Tisno on the island Murter around 4pm. Since the island is quite hilly, it wasn't that easy to find a good spot for camping, so we split up searching around Tisno. We eventually found a good spot, again in a beautiful olive tree yard. Heike and Chris went for dinner in the evening, while I cooked myself some pasta, washed some clothes and reorganised my messy luggage. It was more than necessary. 😅Read more
Day 13 - From Tisno to Šibenik
August 12, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
We got up early, as usual, packed our stuff and went back into Tisno for breakfast and a stroll around. Weird thing that happened during our morning coffee in the café: Suddenly the entire city of Tisno was cut off from fresh water, and the café staff seemed really surprised by it. 😅 It happened when I went inside to ask the bar lady to fill up my drinking bottle with tab water, when only little water came, followed by no water at all. She stared at it in a confused way, asking her collegue what just halppened but nobody knew. When I went back outside, we soon found out that there is some major construction on the water pipe line going on in the city but they kind of failed to let the restaurants know. 😅 At least we could charge phones a little and had our coffee already served.. 😁
After breakfast, we decided to cycle to the north of Murter island. Apparently there is one of the most beautiful beaches of Croatia and I didn't want to miss out on it, even though it's the opposite direction.😅 Chris gave directions and we cycled for like one hour and what felt like 300m elevation gain, even though he insisted that Google said it's only 100m elevation gain. Close to the beach on top of a mountain we locked our bikes and walked down. What we thought to be a remote beach with only fee people turned out to be a really crowded beach with lots of fast food stalls and yachts. It was still beautiful though and we managed to find a more private spot between the trees, where I could set up my hammock. The water had a really unique blue colour and was crystal clear, but freezing cold. 😅
I stayed there for about two hours with Heike and Chris, before I hit the road again towards mainland and the south. I wanted to ride another 40-60km that day so that I wouldn't arrive too late at Dunja's place (girl from couchsurfing) the next day.
Luckily, I chose a different route back to Tisno along the coast, which was not hilly at all and was right by the sea. 😁👌
The road to Šibenik was fine, but it was a little windy from the front. I tried passing the bridge across the by shortly before Šibenik by using the passenger line since the road was narrow and there was a lot of traffic. Due to bungy jumping (no one was there!) in the middle of the bridge, the passenger walk was closed half way and I had to take all the bags off the bike to get it to the other side. There was no sign for that at the beginning of the bridge.. -.-
Past Šibenik, around 5:45pm, I stopped after turning to check whether it's still the right way and found a little kitten. 🐈⬛Read more
Day 14 - The kitten
August 13, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
I found the kitten (previous day) in the bush of a gravel pitch at the end of a little village with a few new houses on the other side of the street. When I stopped to check my phone, I heard a high-pitched, frequenly occuring and desperate "meow" coming from a little kitten inside the bush right next to the street. It was really thin and in bad condition, and by itself even though it seemed quite young. I decided to quickly go to a grocery store to get some cat food. Twenty minutes later I was back at the spot, she was still there screaming at me and really shy. She didn't appraoch the food until I backed off quite a distance. A local from across the road, Marian, watching this from his terrace told me, that he heard something screaming for the last four days but never saw anything. He came around and brought some water for her, she drank for at least two minutes straight. Apart from being in a miserable condition, I could see that she was limping a little and had a hip bone standing out. Once she was full of food and water, she still wouldn't stop screaming. So I sat down on the floor and held my flat hand out, thinking she would be too shy to approach. Turns out, after a few minutes of holding still, she actually came over and was the cuddliest little kitten ever. I didn't know what to do with her, I looked up animal rescue, shelters, anything in the area. Marian told me that Šibenik is full of street cats and that the shelter will probably not even take her. Other neighbours also said, that it happens quite often that cats get dropped at this location since it's the end of the road/village. Marian was also not sure what to do with her, he has a dog and cannot take her for that reason. We asked around the neighbourhood if someone is happy to take her, but without success. Marian then repeatedly suggested that I should take her with me until I found a solution, so eventually I didn't see any other way and we started improvising a solution to take her on the bike with whatever we had at hand. We attached a strong karton box at the front between the steering horns of my bicycle, in which I could transport her safely.
It was quite late already, around 8pm and starting to get dark when we were done. I asked him about potential camp grounds or wild camping spots in the area, but since he just recently moved here from Zagreb, he didn't know. Probably seeing me there a little desperate, he offered me to stay in a spare room at his appartment for the night, which safed me and the kitten the hassle of finding something in the dark, so I gladly accepted.
In the morning of this day, the weather looked quite miserable for the first time of the trip, also it started raining around early noon. I wasn't sure whether I could do the roughly 60km to Dunja (Couchsurfing) with such weather conditions AND a kitten. It was fine with Dunja to arrive a day later and bring the kitten with me, she even offered that she might be able to take her for a while until I found a longterm solution.
Since the kitten reacted really badly to Marian's dog Bady (she growled and hissed at him constantly and we had to lock the dog away for his own safety), there was no option of leaving her at his place. 🙈 Also, Marian was already so helpful and generous to host us for two nights, It would have been a hassle to find somewhere to stay once it got dark. So I thought that staying with Dunja would be the best temporary solution in this situation, even though it involves a bike ride with the kitten.🐈⬛🚲
Luckily Marian didn't mind us staying for another night due to the bad weather, he even got some more kitten food that morning, which she ate within seconds. (At that point we weren't entirely sure it's a she, but the vet confirmed it later.)
The day at Marian's place gave me some time for organisational tasks. With the help of my cousin, I got into touch with an NGO in Rijeka (Kitten Safe House). They told me that they are happy to help with everything, such as travelling documents, vet, etc. But they are not able to take her, they are past their limit already. They also put me in touch with a vet in Split to visit on Tuesday, which is not far from Dunja's place.
In the afternoon we replaced the karton box on my bike with a proper little basket to make it more comfortable for the kitten on the bike. She seemed to like the basket and happily layed in there for a snooze. :) I'm aware it's not ideal, but it was the best option she had regading the circumstances..Read more
Day 15 - From Šibenik to Kaštela
August 14, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Big day ahead with about 60km to go. Around 10am in the morning the kitten and me started our trip to Dunja in Kaštela. Luckily, the road conditions were perfect, not much traffic, no gravel roads, a little bit of wind to cool down and some clouds to protect us from the sun. 👌😁🚲⛅️
I didn't know how long it would take us to get there, how many breaks to take with the kitten, and how well she would adapt to riding in the basket, but she seemed to be fine in there. Luckily again, she was calmly laying down for most of the ride, occasionally sticking out her head to see what's going on and sleeping half of the trip. She did meow occasionally, but was easily reassured and I think she mostly meowed for food. The coast ride was so beautiful but because of the kitten I didn't really stop to take any pictures. Towards the end of the ride, she became almost a little too curious, so I got afraid she would jump out. Even though she's in a little improvised harness for her own safety, I knew she could easily get out of it if she wants to. But I didn't want to risk her running off on the street frightened from the traffic. We had an hour left before meeting Dunja so we stopped in a little pine tree forest close to the beach. I let her walk a little and relaxed in the hammock with her. 🏖🐈⬛
Dunja's apartment was really nice, but unfortunately the kitten and Dunja's dog didn't get along too well either, again mostly because of the kitten. Also, in her one-room apartment there was no room to physically seperate the two, which I hoped for knowing she has a dog. I slept on the balcony with the kitten, which was actually really nice on such a warm night. ⭐️😁 We had a really fun evening cooking a German improvised Spätzle dish and talking, despite the two hairy friends that didn't get along too well. Actually, the kitten didn't like the dog, the dog was perfectly calm and not interested at all. 🙈😅Read more
Day 16 - Sticking around Kaštela
August 15, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Dunja and me enjoyed a nice breakfast/brunch in the morning, continued our talks from the previous evening until the kitten and me finally left her place around noon. I didn't feel like cycling much today, also we were already pretty close to Split where we had to go the next morning for the vet appointment. So we went back to the pine forest beach. Even though it was only a short distance, it was already exhausting keeping her in the basket. On the beach, we relaxed in the hammock for couple of hours and I went on little walks with the kitten. She was still easily frightened by other people, sounds, and especially vehicles. But our spot wasn't busy at all and she enjoyed exploring the area. She even started playing for the first time by chasing grass hoppers. 😅 It seems like she's slowly getting out of "survival mode" and back into normal kitten behaviour.
In the afternoon we saddled the bike and started riding out of the city center towards Split, searching for a good spot for wild camping again. On the way I wanted to grab some food and water in a tiny little grocery store, so I parked my bike outside and didn't really know what to do with the kitten. A lady working at the store came out, saw the kitten and fell for it immediately. She said that I cannot take her inside but she's happy to take care of her to the time being. So I hurried up, forgot half of what I intended to buy and was back at the bike within five minutes. 😅
It's really not easy travelling with the kitten, honestly, even though she's calm and not making too much trouble. 😅 Since I cannot trust her to stay in the basket by herself, I cannot just walk into restaurants to fill up my water bottle or use the bathroom. Grocery shopping has also shown to be more complicated.. As I later figured out, setting up the camp is also quite exhausting having to watch or hold her the entire time. Luckily, she loves the tent, she went straight in there and cuddled up on my pillow. It was also easier for me to cook when she was in the tent. I wild camped that night again in an olive tree yard, just this time in nice kitten company and with a fig tree right next to my tent - really great snack opportunity. 😁👌🐈⬛🏕
Texting with Marian on how things are going with the kitten, I told him that it's gotten pretty exhausting. 🙈😬😅 My plan was to get her official papers from the vet to be able to travel in EU, find her a nice home in Germany and get her there. However, I wasn't sure how to get through the days until I found her a transportation from Croatia to Germany with all the challenges we have on the road. So Marian, again, offered me to pick us up by car in Split once we were done with the vet and let us stay for a couple of days more. 🥳 I was pretty relieved about the offer and thought it would be best for the kitten as well.
I was so exhausted from the day, that I fell asleep around 9:30pm already.Read more
Day 17 - From Kaštela to Split
August 16, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
The kitten woke me up super early at around 5:30am by walking over my face. 🐈⬛ 😅 But she was still cuddly and layed down again, so I found no need in getting up so early. I planned to arrive at the vet around 10am, half an hour before arriving I should give a croatian woman a call for further instructions at the vet. So I thought I'd have plenty of time to pack and get there.
Well, I should have packed up this early because around 7am a local guy came to pick some figs from the tree next to my tent. 🥴 Let's say he wasn't amused about me being there and clapped his newspaper against the tent, but once he saw the kitten he didn't bother much anymore but I started packing up anyways then. He basically ignored me. 🙈😅 I don't think it was his olive tree yard but a neighbour or so and he was "stealing" the figs. I was stressed slightly anyways. 😅🥴
Even though it was only like 17km to the vet in Split, it took forever. I didn't want to go on the bigger roads with the kitten, so I trusted komoot in sending me on an alternative route - huge mistake, again. 🙈 Not to talk about super steep gravel (!) roads that ended up in road closure due to construction (which I realized after pushing the bike up the hill for at least 10 min, struggling to keep the kitten in the basket), I also ended up with no road at all on a roman historical site at 9am. At least it offered a beautiful view on Split. 🥴 I managed to get over it with the help of three German girls walking their dog. For the last six kilometers I've sworn myself to not get off the main road anymore, even though the ride through Split was hilly as hell.
I arrived at the vet around 10:20am and Marian was already waiting there. I tried multiple times to reach the croatian woman, but couldn't get through. After calls back and forth between the NGO we finally got hold of someone who told the vet about what to do (some legal issues with the quarantine time had to be discussed) and we finally got to have the appointment.
I didn't name the little kitten until then because I didn't want to get too attached since I may not be able to keep her. Also, I wasn't 100% sure about the gender. It is a she and they required me to name her for her documents. I named her "Mali", it's croatian and basically means "little". I liked the sound of it. :)
So the vet found that Mali has a previous injury on her back leg, a broken hip that healed the wrong way. The vet also told me that if she's not using the leg, it may be better to amputate it. After the X-ray, Mali got chipped and vaccinated, and finally got her travel papers. I will go to a vet once we're in Germany to get a second opinion on the leg. But in my opinion she's pretty fine with the leg and using it to jump and run around the appartment. The vet didn't see that since she was just sitting down on the floor frightened and not walking. So far from seeing her using the leg, I don't think it should be amputated, but will get a second opinion from another vet.
I was so glad to get in the car and back to Šibenik once we were done in Split instead of going back on my bike. I think Mali agrees..Read more
Day 18-21 - Staying in Šibenik
August 20, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
During these days I searched for multiple options to get Mali to Germany and also asking around friends and family friends whether someone wants to adopt a little kitten.🐈⬛🏡
Regarding transportation, Dunja actually suggested me to check on Blablacar for available rides. Apparently this is widely used not just in Germany, didn't know that. I found a suitable ride and the girl driving was really happy about me having a kitten with me. I decided I take a few days off to bring her to Germany myself rather than giving her to strangers and hoping she will get there eventually.
The finding a new home situation will hopefully be resolved soon, too.🙃
Besides the organizational stuff going on, Mali got better from day to day. Also, I enjoyed having a few days break from the trip, a proper kitchen to cook, a shower, and a bed instead of camping. Marian and me explored the area a little during those days, we went to some beaches as well as St. Nicholas fortress. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't always great, so we also spent some time just watching TV. 👌😅Read more
Day 22 - Šibenik to Germany
August 21, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
We had to get up around 4:45am since the shared ride I found on Blablacar departed at 6am from Skradin, which is about 35min drive away from Marian's place. Mali was pretty sleepy still and layed on my lab. The description of the meeting point in Skradin wasn't really accurate (it said "little Supermarket" and a postal code - obviously there was more than one supermarket in that area), so it took us some back and forth messaging to finally meet up. I drove with a girl (I guess early 20s) and her dad, they are from Waterloo in Belgium and funnily played the song "Waterloo" by ABBA quite a few times. 😅 Another girl joined the ride to Munich just a few kilometers further. Mali's travel box was fixed in the middle back seat, but most of the time she would just sleep on my lab or look around. She got bored easily in the box but overall she was the most amazing little kitten during the drive. Besides the nice company, the drive itself didn't go well. We had tons of accidents (we passed a car laying om it's roof in a tunnel) and therefore lots of traffic jams and delays, also at the borders. -.- We were supposed to arrive close to Stuttgart around 4:30pm - well, we arrived 10:30pm. It was a 16 hours drive. We stopped ever two hours or so and I went for a walk with Mali, also to get her do her business, but she was too scared from the cars I guess. She was pretty blown up in the last two hours, probably because she didn't move much but ate her food. I was worried, so I massaged her tummy until we arrived. My mum picked us up in Stuttgart, she brought a litter box with her which Mali immediately used. 😄🐈⬛💨 Still can't believe she held it in for so long.. 🙈
After another hour we finallt got home and went to bed being pretty exhausted. Mali slept on my pillow again, not leaving me much room. 😅💕Read more
Day 23-32 - Germany
August 31, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Back in Germany I went to another vet with Mali the morning after we arrived. She got another vaccination (cat flue) and a second opinion on her leg: The vet said that she can certainly keep her leg, so no need for amputation which is such a relieve. But he strongly recommended a surgery to remove the broken off femoral head stuck between joint and bone.
After a couple of days I got into contact with a neighbour (Annika) of my dad who was happy to adopt Mali and give her a permanent home. We talked about my criterias for adoption (I wanted her to move freely outside, also the surgery is a must if recommended by the vet) and luckily agreed on those! 👌😊 Since she was still on holidays for a week, I stayed in Germany until Mali transitioned into her new home. During this week, Mali enjoyed exploring the garden a lot, also she was really focussed on my dad's aquarium so I put a chair infront of it where she would sit and watch the fish for hours. 😅 Once Annika was back from her vacation, we did a slow transition over three days during which Annika and Mali got to know each other and Mali got familiar with her new place. She's in such good hands and will be spoiled rotten. 😁👌🐈⬛💕
So from now on no more cat photos, promise. 😅😬Read more
Day 33 - Travelling back to Šibenik
September 1, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ 🌧 22 °C
The previous days I constantly searched for non-flying ways to get back to Šibenik, but unfortunately there were almost no rides in Blablacar available. The ones I found were leaving mostly from Munich and it was a huge struggle to get there in time before the ride (didn't want to rely on trains..). So the option I was left with was a flight from Basel to Split if I didn't want to spend another week in Germany, which I booked two days in advance - most spontaneous flight for me so far.
Arriving in Split in the afternoon in miserable rainy and rather cold weather (20°C - notbised to it anymore after almost 40°C the previous week). The flight was fine and you could tell by the clapping after landing that mostly Germans where on the plane. 😅 I didn't plan how to get to Šibenik in advance but thought I either hitchhike or take a bus to get back to Šibenik. Once I arrived, I decided for the latter and took a local bus to Trogir first, which took around 30min even though it wasn't far at all. Apparently, the traffic in the Split area is terrible which I also realised while waiting for the bus to Šibenik for more than two hours! 🥴 It was surprisingly chaotic: In Trogir I asked a service lady at the bus station for a ticket and she told me I would get it on the bus, I just need to wait at platform 9 (in the rain, only a tiny little shelter that was already crowded with people), that's were all long distance busses stop. The lady also said, that busses might be delayed for multiple hours and that they might be full already. So I stood there for more than two hours, as did a nice French guy Damien, who was also waiting for a bus going this direction. As I didn't know where all the other 20+ people were heading, I eventually booked a bus ticket online to be sure to get on the bus once it arrived. Around 6:45pm, the bus finally came. After an hour on the bus chatting with Damien I got off in Šibenik, where Marian picked me up by car. After having some surprise tasty chocolate birthday cake at his place and pasta, I went to bed being pretty exhausted.Read more
Day 34 - Šibenik to Trogir, again
September 2, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
I slept in this morning and slowly packed my biking bags again. It was a huge mess in the room. 😅 Around 11am I left Marian's place, it felt a bit weird being back on the bike again, especially cycling the same route again that I've cycled with Mali already just two weeks ago. After some time I really enjoyed being back on the road though. Also, this time I was able to take some pictures of the beautiful coast, in my opinion the most beautiful coast road on this trip so far. In the early afternoon, I stopped at a little beach along the road for a swim and some lunch for an hour. The weather was much better this day already and not too hot for cycling. Half way to Trogir, I then found a smartphone laying in the middle of the street, but it's owner was already running towards me. 😅 I have no idea how it fell out of the window of a driving car, but the guy was super lucky since it wasn't even scratched. 😅 Other than that it was a relaxing ride to Trogir, where I arrived at a nice little camp ground around 4pm. I set up my tent right by the sea and chatted with my tent neighbours for a while, Jens and Mimi from Cologne. They are such lovely people who offered me to store groceries in their little fridge and also invited me to eat with them later in the evening. I then went into Trogir for some sightseeing. It's a beautiful little city (Unesco World Heritage site) with tiny little alleys with art shops, local goods, and restaurants. Once the sun set, I walked back to the camp ground and sat with Jens and Mimi until 11pm, having some beers and delicious rice and seafood that Mimi cooked in a Thai style (that's where she's originally from). 😁 I slept really good that night! :))Read more
Day 35 -Trogir to Jelsa (Hvar)
September 3, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
It took me a long time to pack my stuff and get ready for the ride this morning, probably also because I had coffee with Jens and Mimi and chatted with other neighbours that were curious about my trip.😅 I also wasn't keen on the ride from Trogir to Split via the mainland, there's just an aweful amount of traffic on the main road and as soon as I would go off it (like I did with Mali), road conditions would be terrible. 😅 So instead I took a different route along the coast of the island and a ferry to Split. When arriving at the ferry harbour in Slatine, only few people and two bikers from Italy were waiting already. I wasn't sure whether it was possible to take the bike on the ferry, neither were the Italians. More and more people arrived and we got a little worried. 😅 But it turned out to be fine, it was just ridiculously crowded and certainly overloaded. 😀 On the pier in Split a French couple with two children (maybe around 4 and 5) approached me, asking where I'm going. Turns out they are also bikepackers on a sabbatical who travel with their kids on tandems for a year. 😅 We exchanged numbers and I might see them again in Albania. 😊
Arriving in Split around 1pm I went straight for decathlon since I needed some chain oil and a new drinking bottle. After that, I booked a ferry ticket to Stari Grad on Hvar island (5pm departure, no earlier one available) at the terminal and had around two hours left to stroll around Split while phoning with a friend. It's a nice city but also pretty crowded. The ferry ride to Stari Grad took around 1.5 hours, it was raining during the drive and gotten a little cold, so I stayed inside and read while charging my phone. It was also about to get dark when I arrived at 6:30pm but I wanted to get to Jelsa (around 10km away) still since there were lots of campgrounds there. For the first time, I had to put my lights on for cycling. I thought about wild camping, there were many potential spots but it was already a little too late and dark to be sure about the spot. The route I planned on taking going past barking street dogs that were running around, so I decided to stay on the main road (more elevation..😑).
When I arrived at the camp the reception was closed already. So I asked a woman camping nearby and she said to just set up the tent anyways and tell them in the morning, which I did. It was luckily no problem at all. 😊 I showered and finally cooked some dinner before going to bed, I was really starving. 😅Read more
Day 36 - Jelsa to Podaca
September 4, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
I woke up around 6am aready and couldn't get back to sleep, so I thought I just get up already. I made myself some porridge on the stove and slowly started packing up my stuff. In the meantime, the woman I asked about the pitches the night before (journalist from Slovenia) was also up already and we shared a nice conversation about bikepacking. :) I was the first one at the camping ground reception when it opened and left the camp shortly past 7am already. I went into Jelsa and got some croissant and cheese burek in a Pekara (bakery). Once I left Jelsa, the road was winding up for aproximately 9km to around 300m elevation and a doable but exhausting slope of 5-12%. 😬 There were some amazing views on the mainland during that first climb though and the road wasn't busy at all, which was nice for a change. :) Around 9am, I took a turn to Humac when just before reaching the first peak. It's a little village with a few stone houses from the 13th century, no one lives there though. I had a look around and heard a bell ringing in the bush but couldn't really see what it was. Something was moving around and I assumed it was sheep.🐑 It was a little creepy though so I left again. On the road to Humac I found some wild rucola, which was a great snack with the tomatoes I had left. 😁👌
I continued cycling through little villages, sometimes even just a few houses on the side of the road. Around 2pm I finally found a supermarket to get some snacks. Just after Gdinj on top of the hill I had two obvious punctures in the front tyres, the thornes were still stuck in the tyre. 🥴 So I unpacked my fixing gear and started repairing the inner tube, when a Danish couple (Brigitte and Daniel) passed me asking whether I needed help, which I luckily didn't. Just 15 min later another British couple (Ian and Maz) stopped who also offered help. I was almost done fixing it, so they went on. Annoyingly, one of the patches was still leaking air (turned out later that it was actually gour puncures and the other two were leaking air, the pstches were fine). 🤔😒 I didn't want to waste more time on it so I just put a new one in. I think I lost about 1.5h due to that. When I arrived in Sućuraj at the tip of Hvar island, I had a quick look around but eent almost straight to the ferry. At the harbour, I met both couples again and we shared a booth on the ferry, having some nice conversation. 😊 Turned out that Ian and Maz were planning on going to the same campground than me so we rode there together for another 6km once arriving in Drvenik. The campground was really nice and cheap. While I was having a swim, Ian and Maz went for a 30min run. 😂 I wasn't able to move anymore, so I just went for a swim. The campground had a nice common sitting area and some sort of kitchen with an electric stove on which the three of us cooked some pasta that night. It was a fun evening and I enjoyed their company a lot. They are on a two-years bikepacking trip, starting in the UK and going tk Greece, from there flying to Abu Dabi and cyxling Oman, next Southeast Asia. Crazy people out there. 😅👌Read more
Day 37 - Podaca to Slano
September 5, 2022 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Ian, Maz, and me had some very tasty porridge breakfast together with all the fruits we had available (figs, pomegranate, banana) and chocolate. We decided to cycle together until Ploče, from there theybwould cycle inlands while I decided to stay on the coast. It was a lot of up and down in the first 20km and I felt my legs being really sore from the previous climbs on Hvar island. 😅 Before we split ways, we stopped at a nice lookout point onto a freshwater lake to take a picture together. 😊 From Ploče it was a short flat ride along the sea, before the road went inlands again and up the hills. The "backcountry" was very different to the coast with a lot of farming going on and it was really green even though there was a draught. To be honest, it was really exhausting climbing the second mountain that day. When I had a break, a German guy (Leo) on a road bike stopped for a chat. He is also going to Istanbul, but taking the inlands route via North Macedonia. Also he's travelling really light-weighted and doing around 150km a day. I told him to go ahead and not wait for me.😂
Funnily I soon met him again at the border to Bosia and Herzegovina, where he had to unpack all his bags and was beimg searched. They let me pass without issues at the border and I cycled into the only city of this country located on the coast called Neum. On the way I met another bikepacker from Serbia who was going the other way, Nikola, we also had a chat for some minutes and Leo caught up again but kept going after a few minutes. 😅 With my phone in flight mode I cycled through Neum and had a quick stop at the supermarket for some lunch. Unfortunately, I had no clue about their currency, I just payed but later found out that it was super cheap! 😁👌
Just around 5km past Neum on top of a hill I was back at the border to Croatia. The border check point didn't look like anyone was there, so I slowly cycled through it until someone suddenly screemed "stop" at me. 😅 There was an officer sitting in the last little house, I couldn't see her since the blinds were down in the window. Being a little annoyed by me, she quickly scanned my passport and said "you can go". 😅 I still had another 26km to go until Slano and it was quite late already. The road was amazing though, winding along the coast with doable ups and downs. Just 15km before Slano, I suddenly saw that my front tyre is really low on air. Confused I stopped and searched for a damage on the outer tube but couldn't find one. So I decided to pump it up again instead of exchanging it, which I had to do every 5km. I wanted to check on it properly once I was at the campground. With a really flat front tyre I rolled onto the campground and was lucky to get a really nice spot very close to the beach. It even allowed me to set up my hammock. ;)) I set up my tent and went for a swim and a shower. I was too tired to check on the tyre and decided to do that in the morning. I then walked into the little town to a tiny and expensive grocery store where I bought some groceries for pasta. I was starving when I cooked almost 400g or pasta, thinking I would eat it all. 😅 I had a nice conversation with a German guy after dinner and finally went to sleep in the tent around midnight.Read more