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To the motherland

September 2023 - March 2024
With a detour across the balkans
And an even longer detour across Turkey. Life happens. Read more
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  • 47footprints
  • 13countries
  • 185days
  • 390photos
  • 31videos
  • 12.5kkilometers
  • 1.0kkilometers
  • 973kilometers
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  • TravelerTo the motherland
    Day 6

    Mali Lug

    September 22, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    Got very optimistic when the rain let up half an hour in the morning. Worst rain I’ve been in for a long time, but the bags are fully waterproof.

    Made it to the coast where the bad rain was swapped for even worse wind. It’s like a line from snatch, init?Read more

  • TravelerTo the motherland
    1
    Day 8

    Wiiiiind along the coast

    September 24, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Tim and Melissa — german couple whose tent almost flew away during the night - decided to walk, I was somehow convinced “it will be fiiine”. Well it wasn’t.

    Two days of trying to cycle, getting off and walking, having your tent nearly ripped off the ground (mine is really, really able to withstand a storm), and trying to make any plan that allows coping with the wind somehow.

    If you cannot understand what im saying thats because it was quite windy. Oh yeah, my sunglasses were tossed into the wind at some point, but I found them back! (This willbe a recurring topic, those glasses)

    My diary entry: to go, or not to go, that is the question.    Read more

  • TravelerTo the motherland
    Day 9

    Karlobag

    September 25, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Well the forecast said the wind would become less. I was hopeful once again.

    It mostly wasn’t, except from some bits where I genuinely thought the wind gods were being nice. Yes, it did weird things with me. For all intents and purposes, they were being nice, but only on some sections. Totally playing games with me. Just like any deity has ever done in history, which also made me again begin to doubt their existence, viz. their benevolence. Just in case, I didnt upload the video where I cursed them when the wind started again.

    Then stumbled after about 50 km — during which I actually tried hitchhiking, since the wind was so impossible — upon this empty, closed off, beach bar. Had this awesome swim and just decided to sleep there.

    So of course — not the first time i can be accused of being naive — someone woke me up at 10-12(?) yelling “camera, camera, police, go!”. Words that will go down in history.

    He then proceeded to actually let me sleep there for one night after all. No persuasion needed. Nice guy.    Read more

  • TravelerTo the motherland
    Day 10

    Escaping the grasp of these windgods

    September 26, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    So, the forecast was again that the wind would die out, and only be like bft 3 instead of 7-8. Wake up, look on my phone… same wind wind warning, except this time bft scale 6-7. I just wanted to leave this coast, but that required cycling uphill, against the wind, over the mountains.

    So… mostly wind, no gopro footage —not sure if it makes you less aero — and no fun. I hate the Croatian coast. Also, remember those sunglasses? Well I tried to hide it from those wretched windgods, but then they took the nosebridge at some point. I considered going back downhill to face them, but decided against it. Would be a losing battle.

    In the end too tired to look for a place to sleep, so just went for a hotel.

    The town I ended up in, gračac, and everything along the route, is so different than anything along the coast. Little tourism, way more poverty, quite friendly people, and happy that I stayed at their hotel: they have very, very little tourism and few other sources of income.

    Oh yeah. I hated myself over losing that part of my sunglasses to the wind, but was too tired to be angry.    Read more

  • TravelerTo the motherland
    Day 11

    Dobro jutro!

    September 27, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Way fresher legs than the day before, and little wind!

    First person I met was a farmer, herding her flock, and was greeted welcomingly, "dobro jutro!"

    It is shocking that the more you go inland, the more garbage you see next to the roads. No recycling, no separation, frequently a “just dump it anywhere” attitude. Even in national parks. Oh, the few actual recycling bins, were only in bigger towns and cities, and clearly there due to the European union: it’s got its name written all over it.

    Car drivers were also becoming more of an issue here, honking for no reason whatsoever, leaving no space in passing. I think (though hard to distinguish) this is the unfriendly type of honking.

    I know you cannot see landscapes properly with a wide angle lens, but you cannot capture experiences on a camera anyway.

    Tomorrow Im leaving the EU.    Read more

  • TravelerTo the motherland
    Day 13

    Into bosnia

    September 29, 2023 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Highlight here? Very very heavy climbs, and the poverty and total “balkan” feeling in bosnia. Dirty polluting cars, waste wherever, dangerous driving. Here the honking was sometimes friendly, sometimes again someone that wants to pass. Or rather, is going to pass, “you better get out of my way cyclist”. There are supposed to be busses here, but I haven’t seen them.

    Two days in one. Ill just only share a nice video of suffering uphill. Climbing, headwind, climbing. I needed pizza afterwards (they serve that with majo and ketchup here).

    Then into mostar.    Read more

  • TravelerTo the motherland
    Day 14

    Mostar

    September 30, 2023 in Bosnia and Herzegovina ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    So, 2 october im still in mostar, feeling pretty shitty or under the weather. The weather is awesome though.

    Yesterday I chatted some american up about turkish coffee (and how this weird cup arrangement that they serve it with is to be understood—turns out there is no unique proper etiquette, they just do it confuse people) and he recommended the museum on the war and genocide. Being in a particular predilection for a good understanding of history, I continued to study the horrors that were being done in this country. (This odd usage of language is just for my own pleasure.)

    Well, having had little knowledge of the geopolitical history of the conflict, I ended up with a chat with an employee of the museum. The yugoslav wars were very complex, but unbelievable brutal.

    Basically, in my understanding, the croats wanted independence from yugoslavia, and then, having nationalistic ideals, croats in bosnia also wanted a self-proclaimed “croat republic of herzeg-bosnia”. Serbs (by far the worst in the conflict in terms of genocide and mass-rape) were ultra-nationalistic, didn’t accept the new state of bosnia, and sought for a greater serbia, including republica srpska. First the croats fought with the bosniaks (who were given a very small piece of land under proposed partitions), against the serbs, also defending mostar. Then after a while, the croats talked with the serbs about a new partition, fell out with the bosniaks, and attacked their former allies and destroyed the bridge here in mostar.

    This is not intended as a full summary, but just serves to remind everyone that these nationalistic tendencies —also of greater hungary, austria, slovakia— will only lead to horrible wars. They are misconceptions, this unity that these people believe in doesn’t exist. Self-proclaimed states or annexations only lead to atrocities, and will not solve any issues in life, it will only end it.

    Yeah this is still a travel blog: nothing said that travel blogs cannot be educational or opinionated.

    Also, watch “quo vadis, aida?”    Read more

  • TravelerTo the motherland
    2
    Day 17

    Back to the coast

    October 3, 2023 in Croatia ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    Pretty heavy day here after still not waking up super confident that I was fit. But despite my previous quarrels with this coast, I wanted to see it again. I'm all about love/hate relationships, you see.

    The ciro trail is super cool! Mostly quiet, mostly flat, mostly following an old railway line, and with a lot of history behind it. (Paid for by the EU by the way; they do cool stuff, like cycleways in Bosnia!). The austrian emperor built this railway from mostar to Dubrovnik and, even though it is not running anymore, they made it into something of an open-air museum. (According to my dad ^^; I frequently get background info from back home.) But I was a bit too focussed on making it to the coast to do proper sightseeing.

    Oh yeah, this deity thing: I was a bit stressed out at some points, so found myself saying things like "thank god" a couple of times. Its just nice to posit some benevolent force — whatever that means physically — making sure this trip goes smoothly, you know? (But fuck those wind gods of the other day.)

    Oh yeah, no wind today at the coast. And the campsite Im at is closed, so I dont have to pay.    Read more

  • TravelerTo the motherland
    Day 19

    Olive garden camp

    October 5, 2023 in Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Yesterday had a chat on the free ferry here in montegro with an italian touring cyclist. Conclusion: yes, drivers here are insane, they dont give you space, and they should stop honking.

    Didnt get too far yesterday (had to swim and chill at the ocean) and went again to a (also again closed) campsite, because along the coast wildcamping isnt really doable. Today again along the coast but body wasnt into it, so only did a third of a day. Then stumbled (well, not really stumbled, it's way up above the city of bar) on an idyllic "olive garden camp". https://olivegardencamp.com/ (super annoying cats here though, wont let you eat because they are hungry, but what do I know about cat food?)

    Oh, yeah, had a flat yesterday because all my sealant dried up.

    Also tried cycling the bike without luggage up this hill; its such a different experience. You can actually get up hills.    Read more

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