This is the question that had to be answered in a kinda short time… Or, to transform a short trip, a courtesy visit, into a full time trip, with one of the best routes that you can have in the Balkans? This is not a hard question to answer. 😀
Even though last year I went alone in a 6000km tour around Alpes and few countries in Europe, I haven’t left the country by myself. So, a short 2000km trip back and forth, 4 days on a relatively straight road through Romania, Hungary and Croatia shouldn’t be a problem. Ok. But how about 3500km along the Dalmatian Coast and through the Balkanian Mountains in Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo and Bulgaria and 8 days on „not so straight roads” and passes? :)))
Will I be able to do it, even though my friends said I’m crazy? And above this, will I be able to do it while i got a cold and I have an almost broken „wing” and a damaged headlight? Will my already worn tires get me back home? Hmmm… Let’s see an let’s test our limits! What could happen? :)))
The story started around 3 weeks before leaving, when a good friend of mine, that lives in Zagreb, invited me over. Eh, we’ll just go have a coffee in Zagreb, is not so big deal. Unfortunately, the period wasn’t that good for me, financialy speaking, so he offer to help me with half of the gas costs. I said, „Ok Bea, you’re just at the limit with budget even with the help from Robb, but it’s ok for this short trip” – you’ll see few paragraphs later why I had to mention that.
Few days ahead, I prepared for the trip, took some days off, and 2 days as a reserve to have time to rest too, made the maintenance on the bike: oil & filter change – check; cables, wires and hoses inspection, good enough, the clutch cable looks a bit worn, but ok after few drops of oil, so… – check; tighten, clean & lubricate the chain – check; tires, ah, well, few milimeters until the sign should be ok, but since the last time i got some very soft racing tires, they get wasted very quick, but I have only 2000km to drive so… – check. Everything looks good for this. The last thing: tire pressure, that can be done in that morning, shouldn’t be a problem.
Of course that few days before the trip I got a very nasty cold that kept me most of the time in bed, while I took a lot of pills in order to get rid of it, before the roadtrip. I’ve failed, of course. :))
The First Day – The stars were telling me to turn on the other side and sleep
So, in the morning of 11 april, I woke up, a bit late, took (again) my pills, make the first selfie with my bike and the plan was to arrive in Budapest, later that evening.
In the first day, all odds were against me, so I have nothing much to tell you about: I couldn’t find a functional exchange ATM, only in the next city – Pitesti. When I stopped for tire pressure at a service, the service guy couldn’t unlock the valve cap, so I had to go at a special service where they could made it. :)))
I drove on 2 highways, and I started to feel a bit tired after 530km, due to this and maybe because I was ill. After the second highway is ended, from Deva to Arad is a very nice road, along the Mures river; if you ever enter the country from this part, or go out, you cand consider this route, because the road is also very good: Deva – Arad.
For me, the odds were still against me, so, near Arad, 50km before leaving the country, I had an accident that left me without a headlight, a wound to my left hand, and with a damage at my helmet, that didn’t allow it to open (I have a flip up helmet). That night I didn’t felt so good and I was wondering if the trip should continue or return back home. Fortunately, two bikers and a girl stopped and helped me to find an open motorcycle service that could replace the broken headlight. All of them nice people and probably if they haven’t helped me, I think that continuing my trip wouldn’t have been possible anymore.
The second, third and fourth day – Can’t wait to get to Robb and rest a bit… Yeah, right :)))
Before going to sleep last night, I called a friend to help me out with some money, due to the fact that I had „unexpected events” on the road.
The morning after, when I came down to the bike, even though she wasn’t that pretty anymore, my heart started to gallop and butterflies started to fly in my stomach. It was clear. The only thing that I had to do was to continue the trip. I forgot about the bad light that I had, forgot my hand that was hurting, and forgot that the helmet is not opening. I remembered this deficiencies only when I had to squize the clutch lever and only when I turned my head and the wind just get into the helmet like I had none. Oh, and that time when I needed light during the evening. But these are only details… :)))
So, I got on my bike, start driving and in the afternoon I was near the border Hungary-Croatia, having lunch at McDonalds, of course.
The moment you cross the border you can see that the asphalt it’s better, the roads are very curvy, everything is cleaner, the air is fresh, damn it, in Croatia even the grass is greener and the sun shines stronger. :)) I love this county because here you have everything; besides the things I’ve mentioned, you have the sea in one part and 2-3km away you have the mountains. You can just seat on the seashore or have a bath and watch the water and the mountains; either you can just go and stay on top of the mountain and watch the sea. Amazing…
Around 21.00 I arrived at my friend, somewhere in the upper Zagreb. There’s no point to try to explain what view you can have there, and how the city looks at night. I’m sure that living in a place like that increases your creativity and make you feel peaceful. Nice view, fresh air, everything green… Perfect.
In the second day in Zagreb, we went to visit the city, wandering a bit on the streets again… First stop: Lotrščak Tower, in upper town. Since 1 January 1877 the cannon is fired from the tower on Grič to mark midday, but as far as I understood, they stopped doing this because somehow they managed to damage something at some buildings.
After this we went around the city center and stopped a bit in front of Zagreb Cathedral to rest a bit. Did you knew that the two towers that the Cathedral have, are not the same lenght? The people made a mistake when thy designed it. Yeah, I know that you can’t see the towers in my pictures, not because I’m not a good photographer, but because I didn’t what to show you something unaesthetic. #lies #lieseverywhere #lackofartisticsense:))
In the evening, we went for a small beer to Caffe Arka-Šestine, were the conclusion for the night was that the key to a better life is to be „Radiant as fuck”. Even when is raining outside. 🙂
The plan for the next day was to visit the castel near Zagreb – Medvedgrad, that is located on the south slopes of Medvednica mountain, approximately halfway from the Croatian capital Zagreb to the mountain top Sljeme. The only problem was that I was already tired and the castel was, of course, on a mountain. So.. Me + walking on a path that climbs a lot ≠ LOVE, but Me + admire the view while chatting and drinking coffee = LOVE :))) We stopped right before the road started to go up, had a coffee at Šestinski Lagvić Restaurant, then had a walk around, before going into the city again.
Because the next day I had to go, I though that it would be a shame to return on the same route Croatia – Hungary – Romania, even if I should have come home sooner, under the given circumstances. So I made a small adjustment: Zagreb – Dalmatian Coast – Kotor, Montenegro – Skhoder, Tirana, Albania – Skopje, Macedonia – Pristina, Kosovo – Sofia, Bulgaria – home. Sounds a bit better than the first route, isn’t it? 😀 They money problem should also be fixed, so nothing is holding me back. In theory, at least. :)))
The fifth day, Dalmatian Coast, my love… First stop: Split
Dalmatian Coast is purely amazing. This is actually the third time when I get the change to ride here. Is the main reason why I love Croatia; sea and mountains, beaches at 2m from the roads, the opportunity to have breakfast on the seaside, or lunch, or dinner, or a short nap. I couldn’t wait to go on the road again, to rest a bit and have lunch on the seaside.
I took the bike out, but the bags on it, take my jacket, gloves and helmet and I was ready to go. As mentioned before, my friend lives in upper Zagreb, where the streets are very narrow, steep to climb and downhill. And I had to turn in front of the house so I can go. And… I’m very short; I can touch the ground only with one foot. And… Yeah, because the road was a bit sloping, I couldn’t reach the ground with my right foot. Of course, the bike fell; but there’s no problem, „I collect battle scars”, as my good friend says. :))))
That happened at less than 10m far from the house. All good, the first 10m meters were the hardest ones, now I have only 2100km left to home. :)))
60km far from Zagreb I had to stop for gas. Damn it! I forgot to take the money from Robb. But is not such a big problem since I had on me 20E only for stuff that I can’t pay with credit card and my VISA. Of course, at the gas station I wanted to pay with the card, since I knew that my friend sent the money few days before. Haha; surprise: not enough money to pay :))) It seems that it took a bit longer than we expected (shitty romanian banks and laws). I called at the bank and they ensurd me that the next day I’ll had the money. I called Robb and we sent me some money too, but unfortunately the transfer wasn’t visible immediately. :))) I made the math, so if I pay now, I have enough to get to Split ad eat for that day. Ok. Let’s hope that tomorrow the money will be in my account.
The plan was to stop and visit Krka falls, because in Plitvice i went two times already. Amazing park, the only bad thing is that is too crowded… I passed by Krka but I wasn’t in the mood to let the bike and start walking. I’m lazy, I know.
The curvy roads that i was telling you about
All good. The tires seems to resist pretty well. I still have few milimeters.
At this moment I was near Split and had to get to my host, Nikola, that lives near Split, in Kastel Novi.
Great guy Nikola; we went at the seaside and drank a beer (a light one for me of course), had some long talks about travelling and Couchsurfing and visit the place a bit.
This area is wonderful; the beach is very clean and very close to the houses, nice view, peaceful place, near to the airport, so from time to time you can see an airplane, hydroplane that lands in front of you… Yeah, I could live there. 😛
Later, we had dinner on top of the dam; so relaxing, with Split in front of you, and all the city lights like little stars on Earth…
It was a good day, with 420km behind the wheels, since I left Zagreb. Now, rest. Tomorrow we have another 430km ahead.
The sixth day, Dalmatian Coast to Kotor and Podgorica
Even if the bed was very confortable, I couldn’t sleep more than six hours. I woke up at six in the morning, packed my stuff, say „Goodbye” to Nikola, and that I hope we’ll meet again soon; then, hit the road. Ah, such a nice feeling.
And the feeling was better, since I checked my account and the money were there. 😀
I feel so happy, like I haven’t had a ride for months! Couldn’t wait to get out of the town, out of the villages, grab something to eat, and have lunch on the seaside. Again. 😀
I stopped at the Makarska beach and managed to find my perfect spot.
After one of the best meals, but time to go. There’s still around 330km ahead, but the schedule is ok. I should be there in the evening, when there is still light outside, so I won’t have problems because I can’t see the road with my headlight.
You have no idea how much struggle it was to leave from this place full of flowers of chamomile. Not because of the nature, or the nice smell, or laziness… But due to the jack that sank in the gravel and the bike leaned at very small a angle, almost falling.
So, with my hand, already injured, I tried to pull it up, few times in a row and I managed to damage my arm even a bit more… :))) After few fails, I managed to pick the bike up a bit and then let it slide downhill a bit, so the area were the jack will stop will higher. Of course, after that I could pick it up entirely and continue my route. Otherwise I think that I could have to camp there for the night; the cars were very rare in that area and especially that is wasn’t a „holiday seson”.
Dubvrovnik from above. Unfortunately I’m not into visiting cities too much, and I didn’t got there. From my point of view, Split is way prettier and bigger. It has much more places where you can sit and have a drink or a nice meal, you have also a big port where you can stay and have a coffee between the ships, you have train and buses stations so it’s easy to move around. Dubrovnik is a small cozy town, with an amazing view from the city walls. But I don’t recommend to go there while is full season because is too crowded and you won’t get to enjoy the beauty of the town.
Next stop was In Montenegro, right after the border, at the first gas station, for a quick dinner and chilling a bit.
Coffee, hazelnuts biscuits and a Kinder Bueno, perfect for dinner. I was like: „I’m on a sea diet. I see food and I eat it!” 😀
I had to visit Kotor last year, but in the first 2 days of my trip I still was with some friends (after that we separated and I continued alone my trip through Alpes) and they couldn’t ride anymore, so we had to cut this part and replece it with Niksic – Dubrovnik. Too bad. Now I got here and this place is simply amazing. The roads are good, the view is like… As very view on the coast is – extraordinary :))
Kotor from my point of view, is like the Venice of Montenegro. Only that the water doesn’t smell and nature exists here 😛
To cross to Kotor you have two ways: either to go by ferry, either on the land. Of course, taking the ferry has no sense, since you can drive along the golf and the distance is not that big – 45km on the road, instead 1km by ferry, but it’s worth it!
In the golf they built the two catholic churches on the water, because getting there might take a while – Sveti Dordje Island contains Saint George Benedictine monastery, and Gospa od Škrpjela (Our lady on the rocks) is an artificial island that also has a museum.
From Kotor I started to go up to Podgorica, at my next host, Djordjo. This route is amazing. I’m so sorry that the last 20km weren’t so visible anymore, because it was late evening, but, I’ll go there again this year, only the see what I missed the first time.
Now the sun started to go down, and I still have 90km to go. I have enough time if I only make two short stops for photos. Yeah, right… Only that there were too many stops :))) And of course, the sun didn’t wanted to wait for my to get to the destination, so, I had to ride around 20km in the dark. With almost no lights. So the road and especially the obstacles on the road weren’t to visible. Oh, whatever :))) I just stood in the back of a BMW 730 with very very good lights so I made it to the city. That wasn’t so bad. 😀
Budva. Different angles, different heights. Sunset.
Finally I got to meet Djordjo. Unfortunately he couldn’t host me anymore, but fortunately, he talked with his friend Mileta, to do it. Yeah, that was at first, an awkward situation, since the guys were looking like the adventurous type :)) But after we had a coffee and talked for a while, everything was good. Actually, great guys, both of them. I hope to meet them again when I’ll be in Podgorica.
Day seven, Albania, Lake Ohrid & Skopje – Macedonia
Even though I got to sleep around 2.30 in the morning, at 6 AM I was awake and watch the ceiling. It has been a hours since I didn’t ride. Wasted time :))) I packed and around 07.30 I left the building.
Right after the border, some albanian cops stopped me. The first thing than went through my mind was: „Come on, you know that you’ll let me go in few seconds, I don’t wanna take my helmet off…”. I stopped, put my helment on the head and one of the policeman approached me, saw the number, saw that I’m girl, made a bow and a sign to leave and wished all the best. This is the first time when the albanians impress me, and not the only one, as you’ll see.
I was kinda „sad” in these countries because the don’t have fast food, which I love :))) I prefer it because it’s fast (duuuh), you can pay with credit card, and you can’t fail. For me is a bit hard to try new food in a foreign country because I don’t usually eat met (only some chicken every two weeks or so) and I never know what I actually eat if I don’t get along very well with the waiter.
But today I was in mood for scrambled eggs with cheese and fries. Oh, I haven’t eaten that for a long time. I stopped in a gas station in Shkoder where they had also a restaurant. Happy happy, joy joy! I was starving… At the restaurant I had the pleasant surprise that one of the salesclerck, Rea, helped me with ordering the food, gave me a brochure with things to see in Albania… He and the owner stayed with me to have a coffee, and had interesting words to share. I honestly never thought that albanian peope can be so open minded and willing to help you. Good guys!
But, even if the people let me with a good impression, the traffic there is terrible. People overtake the large trucks even if the road is not clear and other trucks are coming from opposite direction, so if you are on the bike, the risk to wake up with a car in front of you is even bigger. That happened to me few times, and two times I had to go on the gravel, next to the road, so I can avoid them. In the roundabouts you have to very, very, extremely careful because the drivers don’t care about the right of way so you can be hit in the first second you eneter in a roundabout. Other than that, the cities are very crowded and again, the people don’t really respect any rule. From this point of view, Albania looks alike with India, where they also don’t respect any rule.
Driving from Shkoder to Tirana I got into a guy, Boby, with a Volkswagen Golf that drove the car like crazy. Good, my style. :))) Even more, every time that there were Police ahead of us he warned to slow down; even when the road became bad on a few segments, he put the damage lights on so I know to be careful and sometimes he gave me signals to avoid something. 🙂 There’s no sense to say that I followed him until we got near the Tirana Airport, where he had wanted to go. Then, I hailed him and continued my journey, but he managed to catch me right where I entered Tirana and we stopped to have a coffee in the center of the city. Not such a good move because it was extremely crowded and hot. It took me almost one hour to get out of the city, but I finally managed.
Next stop: Macedonia border and lake Ohrid. In front of me, near the lake, the mountains still had snow on them. Good think that I won’t go there. Even though the temperature was good, I guess that there might be a bit cold and wet.
Lake Ohrid, near the border Albania – Macedonia.
As I thought before, good think that I won’t go through those mountains; but somehow I don’t now why they seem closer and the road is in that direction… :)))
Well, maybe because the road is through there. „Maybe”. Just sayin’.
What I didn’t like about Macedonia is that they don’t have too many roads. From lake Ohrid to Gostivar is a nice road, through mountains, as seen before, but from Gostivar to Tetovo and then Skopje, where I had to get, to my host there, Tony, you have only the highway, which personally I don’t like. Too much wind, straight route (usually, and in this case too), you don’t get to see any of the life the villagers have or their why of living, and you have to pay taxes too, which means that you have to stop every time at the checkpoint and search for money in all of your pockets – the tax for this route was about 5 euro per total and 4 checkpoints, as far as I remember. At least, while riding, I had the chance to see the snowed mountains and few houses from time to time.
Around 6PM I got to Skopje, where „the hunting” started. I start searching for Tony, he started searching for me. :)) No result though, but in about 30 minutes we managed to meet, finally. My GPS (or maybe the city) have a problem: I couldn’t see the map of the city, but only the main street that cross from an end to other.
We got to Tony’s place and after a quick chat we decided to go around the city and visit a bit. The center is full of great and imposing statues of lions and important people that contributed to the country’s wellfare and rights. The tour deserves 2-3 hours to spend there.
During the weekends, the City hall organize a „street party”. A DJ comes and play music, and all the people get around and dance, drink, have fun and stuff. It was a bit strage to see so many people who just dance in the middle of the street, but, as long as they’re distracted, i guess everything is good. 🙂
Starting from the back of the new Parliament building, right after the citadel, the albanian part of the city starts. I don’t know why, but this part is stranger than most of the areas in Albania. Gypsies sleeping in the middle of the street, women covered in sheets, shady mosques at 1m from the bars… At one moment it was very awkward because I was standing with Tony in a nice bar, good jazz and rock music, at the border between albanian part and the macedonian one, and suddenly I heard some screams – they were praying! :))) So, right when you’re enjoying a beer at this imaginary boundary you can witness two different worlds that mingle in front of you.
I went with Tony, by car, right in the middle of the albanian neighborhood. There is no difference between them and the gypsies that live in some poor villages in Romania… The streets are dirty, everything is dirty and shabby, you can see children playing in a pile of garbage; is not a good place to go there by foot, and especially by night. I managed to take only two pictures from the car, but should be enough.
Before going home to sleep, we went in the upper area of Skopje, were you can see the city, the citadel walls, the Parliament building, the bigger statues… The road goes up very nice, on some hairpins that can be a bit dangerous if you go be night. but the view is worth it.
Day eight, my attempt to enter Kosovo (and failed) and Sofia
As my trip is coming to an end, i start feel a little sorry. Even though i missed extremely much my baby, Lady (a Chihuahua mix with Dachshund), I still wanted to make the best out of this trip before returning home.
I woke up around 8 (it seems that I was a bit lazy this day :)) ), packed my stuff and I was ready to go to Kosovo! Happy happy, joy joy!
I had to exchange another 15 euros for their special insurance because when you enter the country you have to make an insurance because most of the insurance companies don’t recognize Kosovo as an independent country, but as part of Serbia, so they don’t offer services for it. I prepared my papers, money and camera and left Skopje. Even if Kosovo is not recognized as a country by UE, the good thing is that you can enter only with your ID – as I read on most of the sites. Or not.
From Skopje to the border with Kosovo you have around 20 km to go, then to Pristina another 50-60km on a kinda curvy road. Tony warned me about this road because from time to time rocks are falling right in the middle of the street and it may take hours until the road is cleared. He works in Kosovo, so I trust his advice.
The road was ok, per total, with few segments where it’s waving a lot, in some parts you have sand on the road, in some parts you even have some holes which are not so pleasant because they’re right in the middle of the curve.
What I’ve noticed is that most of the times, Albania had better roads than Macedonia. Maybe is because the albanians just started to build roads and highways, but still… In Macedonia even on the highways I had some very bad parts of the road, with bumps and holes in it.
Finally, I got to the border. Yeeey! I was very hungry and I couldn’t wait to get to Pristina to have lunch. I stopped to make the insurance (2 weeks – 15euros), then… Surprise, they didn’t allowed me to enter the country because I didn’t had passport and my ID wasn’t enough… It seems that yes, you can enter the country only with you ID, but only if you have a biometric one (new ones with CIP, like credit cards). And I didn’t of course. At least the officer canceled my insurance and I could take my money back.
So, the border officers made me a document for rejecting for enter the country, and we stayed and chat for an hour at a cup of coffee :))) That is ok too, than nothing. At least I had a contact with „a part” of Kosovo and I like it.It’s obviously that next month I’ll go to make a passport. In summer I’ll go again, so the guys didn’t get rid of me yet. :)))
I returned to Skopje and take the way to Sofia.
Since I didn’t went to Kosovo anymore, and the route was easier than usual, I though that getting to Sofia to Ivailo, my host, is a good idea, so we can spend more time together. Ivailo is also a biker and since the moment I talked to him, I felt like I knew him for years. The initial plan was to go to a biker’s bar in Sofia, where he usualy meets with his friends, Rock It, and have a chat with Kosta, one of his best friends, about a Round the World Tour. Kosta has already been five years ago in a tour like that, with a Kawasaki Drifter, so I have a lot of things to talk with him, since I plan a tour like this in two or three years. The more I was thinking about these guys, the more I couldn’t wait to get there. 😀
Before the border with Bulgaria, from time to time you have the chance to see some crafted houses, looking like they’re abandoned, but actually inhabited by albanians from those parts of Macedonia. This places look alike with those poorly areas in Skopje.
The route was very nice, large curves or where there weren’t curves, the road was straight but with ups and downs, so you never get bored.
But this road has a problem. It goes straight to that mountain covered in snow. And the weather doesn’t look good there either. If I’m lucky, the road will go around that area. I hope.
And… The mountain is getting close…
I got at the border with Bulgaria and fortunately I passed near that mountain.
Unfortunately, the clouds were chasing me and another challenge was expecting me after the border. Some cops also. :))
Of course, the episod with albanians was a replay in Bulgaria; they didn’t even needed to take my helmet off. It seems that I’m very lucky when it comes to police officers, and not only in my own country. 😀
Still… At least I won’t get to that big snowed mountain while raining.
Wrong :))) That mountain is right near Sofia, the place where I needed to get. I past through some passes and I got in the middle of a storm; perfect time to test my new raining suit! I was driving in storm until I got 10km near Sofia, where you could see that here the rain just stopped.
I met Ivailo at a store near the center and went to his place. Later we went to his friend’s house, Kosta.
I have to admit that these guys were some of the few people with who I felt comfortable since the moment I met them. We had some long talks about a world tour, they gave some great ideas and advices, which I appreciate very much; Kosta cooked us dinner and then we played cards, he showed me pictures and movie clips from his trip… It was the last night from my trip, but one of the best. They reinforced my belief that I must go in a World Tour as soon as I can, that doing too many plans won’t help anybody, that all I need is the desire to succeed and a little financial help. Thank you guys, once again! Next time I’ll be in Sofia we’ll go to Rock It and have a great time again!
Day nine, the last one. On my way home, to Lady 🙂
For the last day I had in mind to get back home on Troyan Pass and Veliko Tarnovo; but the weather wasn’t on my side. In the morning the weather was a bit cold than before and clouds were above our heads. And now that back tyre started to get very worn, I said to myself that is not a good combination: worn tyre + rain + cold asphalt ≠ LOVE. So I took the shorter way, around 410km through Botevgrad and Pleven.
In The road was better on this part but it started to have some very dangerous bumps in Bulgaria. So big bumps that at more than 120km/h you can easily lose control, especially when the road is curvy and you are leaning. Other than that, nice views.
At a moment I was on a bridge, on the highway and stopped for some pictures. When a big car or truck passed, the ground was shaking like it was an eathquake. Not fun. :)))
Even though the weather started to look better after the rain in the morning, still there was cold and very very windy all the way to Romania.
Finally I got home, at my mother’s, where I left my baby. There’s no point to describe the happiness that was in us in the moment we saw each other. The pictures will tell you all. I didn’t even had time to take my both gloves off. 🙂
In few words, this trip was worth it and I’m so glad that I choose the answer to question: „TO RIDE! Definitely!”. Always choose this answer, no matter what. Things will settle on the go, all the time. After all, if you run from challenges, you’ll never know what you’re capable of!
Handlebar therapy 