• Michi, der
elokuuta 2021

Balkanistanien

Vierrädrig hin, zweirädrig rum und ab die Post zurück! Lue lisää
  • Matkan aloitus
    6. elokuuta 2021

    Sausageduft

    6. elokuuta 2021, Saksa ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Yum yum, the car smells like Würstchenbude now that I leave from Mom's place in direction of Yugoslavia's former mine fields.

  • Kaputt?

    6. elokuuta 2021, Saksa ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Ha, what the heck is going on with my good old Passat? Shorty after Hamm I notice a rattling sound coming from the front left wheel. Something with the tyre, or the axle bearing?? I stop and do a quick visual check of the tyre. Nothing. One Rastplatz further I stop again. The sound appears only while decelerating and vanishes while braking or accelerating. A bearing problem does not make much sense. Hmm, I decide to unmount the wheel for a more detailed check. But, wait, what? Now, two wheel nuts are missing! Wtf?
    I steal one from the back wheel, drive to the nearest Werkstatt, buy two new ones and off I go on the Autobahn again. The reason for all this? Don't know. Always check your wheel nuts before a long trip!
    Lue lisää

  • Tswishen Stop

    7. elokuuta 2021, Saksa ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Surfing the biggest couch I ever surfed on, with the tiniest kittens I ever snuggled with, at the place of the vikingiest sailor I ever sailed with. My beloved Carsten is immer gut für ne Nacht! At breakfast I am blessed by the very first wasp of this year.Lue lisää

  • SLO rock!

    8. elokuuta 2021, Slovenia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    In Germany I always complain when leaving Lower Saxony because this also means stopping to receive great rock "Radio21" in the car. NRW offers just crap as radio stations and even in Bavaria I could not find famous "Rockantenne", even around its broadcasting home town of rock city Augsburg! While crossing to Slovenia I leave all clouds behind, pure blue sky! I turn on the radio. First statio: Highway to Hell. Thank you SLO for this welcoming greeting from your "Rock Radio"! \m/
    I sleep in the car on a grassy lawn next to the bordering river Kupa and take little notice that in fact I park next to an established camp ground :p With a breakfast of cheese burek and poppy-seed-filled somethings I cross to Croatia.
    Lue lisää

  • Plitvička turistička

    8. elokuuta 2021, Kroatia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    After bathing and coffeeing in river Korana I proceed to Plitvička Jezera where I dive into a flow of tourists to examine the indeed pretty lake formations with crystal-clear, turquoise water. A small hike around the surrounding hills follows but I have to leave this crowded place even though the majority of the crowd consist of damn-pretty Polish girls. Seems like whole Poland migrated to Croatia.Lue lisää

  • Traces from the past

    8. elokuuta 2021, Kroatia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Quickly leaving the tourist hot spot, I spend the late afternoon on the deserted military air base Željava which has been built into the rocks! There are hangars leading into the mountain. The airstrip is overgrown but you can drive around freely. I have been warned of patrolling police but the only beings I meet are other Croatian tourists and a young bear crossing the airstrip. Have to return here one day ... this region offers many interesting lost places. Nearby you also find Petrova Gora with a deserted fancy memorial where I have been with my motorbike in 2018.
    In good mood I leave for the Bosnian border with the setting sun in my back. I dream of a last local restaurant to devour Croatian tastiness but ... the last town Ličko Petrovo Selo before the border has nothing to offer. Also Bihać on Bosnian side does not accept my credit cards to withdraw cash. My illusions are destroyed. Thank God I have my car full of cookies!
    Lue lisää

  • Una river trout

    9. elokuuta 2021, Bosnia ja Hertsegovina ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    I think about wild camping at Una river but spontaneously stumble across live-saving Chefik who prepares me a fresh trout for dinner. Argh! It's the best trout I had for years! Crisp skin, soft flesh, I leave nothing but the bare bones and get rewarded by a flat rate of home-made šljivovica. Chefik also has a camp at the river shore where I sleep next to three campers from Augsburg Rock City.Lue lisää

  • Getting ready for action

    9. elokuuta 2021, Bosnia ja Hertsegovina ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Two deliciously home-made pite/burek with spinach and cheese and a Bosnian coffe. Let's start into the hills!
    There I will visit Matej and Leon whom I met in 2018 on my motorbike trip.

  • Welcome to "Valmar"

    10. elokuuta 2021, Bosnia ja Hertsegovina ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Wahoo, good to be back to Foijnica! Matej and his brothers Leon and Anton run the local veggie and fruit distribution business "Valmar". They work hard, day and night! They get the best tomatoes. They have the best raspberries. Their blueberries are awesome. And they are drying fruits. And they are distilling fruits. And Matej can drive 6 km on the back wheel of his bicycle. And I get my own room for a night. And unfortunately I have to leave again. But! I might be staying for a few days of "far from home office" on my way back.
    First, I have to join my Fahrradboys in Mostar and change from 4 motorised to 2 musculised wheels ...
    Lue lisää

  • I get picked up

    10. elokuuta 2021, Bosnia ja Hertsegovina ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C

    I park my Passat somewhere in the backyards of a residential area of Mostar and get my things ready when my German fellows appear within 5 minutes on their bicycles! Lukas, André, Craig and Karl. They started in Tivat some days earlier. The first three also visited me last year in Botswana.

    While unpacking my bike I notice a flat rear tyre. What? Aha. Wasn't flat this very morning. Hmm. The diagnose reveals a leaking inner tube repair patch. Did not remember that I repaired this tube at all! Probably the patch was old and did not stand the high pressure. My boys act quickly and return to a cycle shop which they passed at the last corner and buy a spare inner tube for me. I did not bring one because previously I never had problems on my last long-distance adventures. What do I learn? Always check your bicycle's inner tubes (and you car's wheel nuts).

    As a present for joining them I get a fresh cycling shirt in yellow-violett pizza style which Felix organized. Unfortunately he could not join but is caring for our sweet flat in Braunschweig instead :-P
    Lue lisää

  • Buna spring

    11. elokuuta 2021, Bosnia ja Hertsegovina ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We spend the night sleeping in someone's garden near the spring of river Buna in Blagaj. Apparently the boys do not value a more idyllic random camping spot or are too lazy to move 2.5 km further out of town. The street lanterns and the many cars driving around make me curse half of the night ... and it is warm ... and we ate way too much for dinner ... and someone is snoring ...Lue lisää

  • Hot and steep beginning

    11. elokuuta 2021, Bosnia ja Hertsegovina ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    The day starts very warm, the sun burns and the 800 m ascent to Nevesinje combined with the previous evening's heavy meat platter kills one of us who hitch-hikes the last bit on the back of a lorry. In Nevesinje we get a relieving thunderstorm with a little bit of rain which this area was longing for for so long! Our following route to Gacko follows beautiful curves through forests and plains on higher altitudes with good air. But Gacko smells like shit because of its ancient coal power plant. No people around. We get decent food in the one and only good restaurant though. At night the town reveals some friendly creatures walking on the streets. Funny.

    Underneath great stars in the sky we continue some kilometers to the artificial shore of lake Klinje wich is used as water reservoir for the power plant's turbines. Not super sexy but the water is crystal-clear! I take a midnight swim and meet two Serbs who are from Gacko but are studying in Novi Sad, Serbia. While I dry in the night's wind they tell me interesting insights about this Yugoslavia thing which is pretty difficult to grasp for us non-involved Europeans. Yet another opinion which helps me to fill my puzzle about Bosnia and Herzegovina and the surrounding nations. This night is again well-interrupted by shitty cars passing nearby. In the morning we realize that we slept right at the tourist view point and probably made it into every visitor's Instagram story :p
    Lue lisää

  • First peeks spotted

    12. elokuuta 2021, Bosnia ja Hertsegovina ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Starting from Gacko we want to reach Montenegro's border today. Around national park Sutjeska we get great views on the first higher peeks. The main road leads along rivers through deep and steep canyons with many tunnels. At Tjentište we stop by incident at the OK festival which is about to start today. The setting looks very promising but we have no time for music :-P Today is even hotter than yesterday. The next cycling trip in this region must be planned in spring or autumn because the temperatures are unbearable. We want to shortcut the main road's detour through Brod/Foča by crossing an old bridge over Drina river further southwards but this bridge turns out to be in such a bad state that crossing it would require balancing on naked steel with all your luggage 20 m above the water. No, thank you! Craig reveals some suicidal tendencies though, but we manage to convince him that he should first enjoy Durmitor national park before trying to cross this damn steel bridge.Lue lisää

  • Re-energising

    12. elokuuta 2021, Montenegro ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We cool down in the confluence of rivers Tara and Piva at Šćepan Polje. The surrounding area is overfilled with rafting camps. We dine at one of those because it looks cosy and offers a great view on the rivers and into the north-western valley. It also features a grassy lawn as parking lot which we pragmatically choose for overnighting. Done.Lue lisää

  • 1750 m upwards

    13. elokuuta 2021, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Where most other blind, ignorant and motorised tourists follow the main road south, it's time to push the group to take the panoramic route easterly to Trsa because it’s just a feast for the eyes. I came here on motorbike already once and could drive this road up and down every day! In Trsa we hope to find fulfilling food because the previous day we were too lazy to buy sufficient rations for traversal of this rather remote region. Some of our guys tend to over-optimize the route and saving of a 4 km food-supplying detour results in having to rush through this overwhelming landscape “because we do not have enough food to stay a day longer”. Stupid. Apart from that, one of us decided to travel “ultra- lightweightedly” and simply does not have space to stuff enough snacks for multiple days. Hmm. Now, Trsa’s one and only restaurant just offers ugly meat and unsatisfying service.

    We continue in direction of the peaks around Bobotov Kuk and decide to camp westerly of the border of Durmitor national park in a wind-protected ditch at around 1800 m. It’s the first time we pitch our tents for breeze protection and cook pasta in one of the tents. The day was pretty exhausting with being exposed to the burning sun and having climbed a total altitude difference of 1750 m. Hujaka bujaka!
    Lue lisää

  • Durmitourista

    14. elokuuta 2021, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Early start. Great landscape! Most of us carry 3-4.5 litres of water and “the lightweight” just 1.5. But after yesterday’s refilling and cooking we have only little left. Craig separates from the group as the remaining 4 of us spontaneously decide to walk up the peak of Bobotov Kuk. Water is not enough for a whole day of climbing and continuing on bike. But we will have to continue after the descent because we are out of food. Grml. I see a trend for underestimation of crucial factors in our group and get a bit pissed. My arguments are not considered by the pushing party. On the hiking car park, I manage to organise 3 more litres for us ascending guys from other travellers. Now I’m in good mood to go. During the ascent then I notice that we did not take all our available water with us. What the fuck? Miscommunication and overhastiness at the start were probably the reason for that. The peak of my personal pissiness is reached when the faster two of us stop waiting for André and me and just haste onto the mountain top, with our remaining water and our snacks and MY BELOVED GERMAN FLEISCHPEITSCHEN which I brought all the way here for this moment. There is this – for me unexplainable – stress factor which makes the group continuously rush forward without any real reason. Little room to enjoy the journey's path.

    I decide to descend with André – having reached just the lower saddle under the peak. Funnily, we stumble across the three German campers with whom I spent my first Bosnian night at river Una with the delicious trout. They still have a long way up in the mid day's heat, hehehe.

    We pause at a small lake. In the distance a lot of smoke from burning forests is filling the air and the view is getting hazy. The wind brings smell of burning wood from the south. Back down at our bicycles the missing two fellows are already awaiting us with grinning faces. For me there is nothing to grin; they left us without water and ate all my Fleischpeitschen. These bloody Arschgeigen! :-P Anyway, I probably would have acted similarly in rushing up the mountain ... and devouring their Fleischpeitschen in their absence ... but would have left a word before.
    Lue lisää

  • Reunion

    15. elokuuta 2021, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Further down in Šavnik we meet up with Craig and share a great dinner. The town’s children’s playground with bathing place in bathtub-clear water becomes our place for the night. Evening bath, morning bath and naked Germans on the town square for breakfast. That's definitely not only holiday for us but also for the locals =)Lue lisää

  • Into the smoke

    15. elokuuta 2021, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    From Šavnik to Danilovgrad Lukas the routing minister leads us across a wonderful plateau landscape. We stop in Nikšić for Burek, pita Sirnica and Zeljanica. What a deliciousness!! The city is a great relic from Soviet times with its rotting steel factory, the pompous boulevards and the radial street layout.Lue lisää

  • Danilovgrad

    16. elokuuta 2021, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    In Danilovgrad we again have discrepancies about the sleeping location but I have to admit that the chosen meadow north of river Zeta just opposite of the city centre proves to be an awesome place. Even though I get woken up at night by a hedgehog sniffing at my hair and later in the early morning by two idiotic dogs barking at us in the dark for about 20 minutes without any reason. We start with a nice breakfast. Our sleeping bags are covered with tiny crumbs of ash. The forests around are burning, the air is smoky and preventing a clear view. A familiar bacon flavour is emitted from all things you touch. We start with a bath but today is getting really hot. "Hot" as in "really damn fuckin' bloody hot"!Lue lisää

  • From smoke to spring

    16. elokuuta 2021, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    We bypass Podgorica on narrow and badly paved tertiary roads and head towards the beautiful river at Rijeka Crnojevića! The descent south of the highway is brutally steep and offers great views which are hazed by all the smoke. A helicopter is repeatedly fetching river water to fight the distant fires. It's a short ride today and the heat keeps us at lunch break for a long time before we continue to the river's spring in a narrow valley. Cold, fresh water, naked asses, superb air, yeeehaaaw!Lue lisää

  • Bye boys

    17. elokuuta 2021, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    At 8 we are on the bikes and ready for the crazy breakfast ascent of 660 m to Cetinje via a lovely old and bumpy road full of serpentines. The view back into the river valley is just amazing! Today two helicopters cope with the fires in Lovćen national park. In Cetinje we get freshly squeezed juices and bureks but have to spare out the coffee due to a city-wide power outage. Here I leave the boys behind with a broken heart. They will continue via Lovćen NP and Kotor to Tivat from where they fly back to Germany in three days. I continue my journey northwards back to Mostar via Bileća. And this is when today's fun begins ...Lue lisää

  • Oh boy, what a day

    17. elokuuta 2021, Montenegro ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    In Resna north of Cetinje there are just 3 houses at the junction. I find 7 people drinking beer. I ask for coffee, get a tasty Turkish one and don't have to pay. Even though I resist to marry the bar's owner.

    The next 20 km through the mountains lead on a curvy, narrow, well-paved road without any traffic at all! 100 m up, 50 down, 50 m up, 75 down and so on. From here I see many bush fires. Some traces lead to glass and tin rubbish in the roadside ditch even tough it is not much littered. Seems that locals removed most of it. I meet some of them equipped with self-made water-based extinguishers walking into the woods.

    All villages seem to be empty of people. Many abandoned houses. In one village a pack of dogs attacks me. Two or three grab both of my rear bags, pull back and slow me down while the others dance around me who is trying to get away. Dogs run faster then you can accelerate. Apparently nothing happens as I make it into the district of another rivaling dog which does not take interest in me but rather prefers to chase the others away. Good boy. I power-nap on a deserted soccer pitch.

    Before reaching Grahovo I decide to take a shortcut northwards on OpenStreetMap which is not in my paper map. Holy banana, what a steep ride! It gets me up on 1100 m where the track's pavement changes to deep and loose gravel. Many times I have to push the bike up the hills because I just don't get any grip. This region is really wild!!

    Before the top of a hill a gigantic and pretty aggressive Shepard's dog darts at me. A second later a guy appears and calms it down with one command. He invites me for a drink. It's around 7 p.m. already. He has a beautiful home, clean, modern, colourful. Flat TV, washing machine, high-tech stove. Not comparable to anything else up here! Flowers and kittens in the garden. I sit down with my juice. He sits down in front of me. After a short small talk he claps my knees, graps between my legs and tells me that he'd like to suck my weenie while he makes a sucking gesture whith his thumb. Aha? What is going on here? I throw Polish and Russian complaints at him in order to make him understand that I am the wrong person for his appetite. There is this huge dog. And there are rifles on the wall. And his brother with whom he is allegedly living together might return soon. I decide to better quickly leave that place. He insists in showing me the path over the hill and accompanies me with this dog. I say goodbye and push the bike upwards as fast as I can. Puh.

    Two hills further a copy of this very dog awaits me but the now appearing guy does not manage well to control it. "Never look into the dog's eyes" keeps my problem at distance. The map is wrong here and the old guy tells me to take a different path. Hmm, ok. I continue. 20 m up, 30 down, 50 up. Holy shit. Already now my GPS reveals approx. 1900 m of climbed altitude difference for today. My power is gone as dusk approaches.

    Another two hills further I meet two young kids playing with a baby dog not as evil-looking as the previous ones. Their grandma appears, gives me traditional coffee, feeds me well with home-made bread, home-made bacon, home-made air-dried sheep ham - freshly cut from the poor wooly fellow's hind leg - and with home-made cow's cheese. And I get fresh lemonade. Do I need any more reasons to stay over night?
    Lue lisää

  • Home-made

    18. elokuuta 2021, Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    For breakfast the same home-made awesomenesses as for dinner. The two boys Kristo (11) and Bogdan (12) are well-entertained by my presence and act as translators to their grandparents Rudmilla and Branko even though English is not the best option for us. I am more successful with Russian than with my Polish. But the previous evening I could not communicate the concept of "sleeping under the free sky" when they insisted to shelter me inside their tiny hut. I pitched the tent as compromise. Now, a morning coffee and lemonade later I continue descending the gravel paths to Vilusi and turn towards Bileća Lake.Lue lisää

  • Illegally legal

    18. elokuuta 2021, Bosnia ja Hertsegovina ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Down, down, down with refreshing breeze and little rain. Perfect final ride! The lake is a nearl empty and rather ugly water reservoir but at its eastern shore I follow a perfectly even gravel path on an old railway track. Illegal border crossing back into Bosnia and Herzegovina, yay! This was my plan. The border people don't care at all and I still have a valid entry stamp in my passport because I didn't get any exit stamp. Apart from that I generally love discussions with customs, border and police officers, so they are free to catch me if they can.Lue lisää