Europe

Change of plan today.
I've cancelled tonight's ferry to Bari and booked for tomorrow. I've also booked a hotel half way from Sarajevo to Durres because the weather was awful when I woke up and the forecast was grim for the whole day all the way to Durres.
When I set off at 09.00 it was raining so heavily that I put my phone in a plastic bag in my pocket and wore a thin waterproof jacket over my biker jacket just to be sure.
After an hour it stopped and I was better able to enjoy the ride which ended up being one of the most memorable ever despite the rain. Continuous twisting roads through mountain passes with many crude unlit tunnels cut through the rock some of them quite long. I loved every minute. I took many photos which I will post but they can never do justice to the spectacular scenery. Some of the roads on the Bosnian side were very bad with big sections missing which had fallen hundreds of meters down into the valley and places where an avalanche had blocked half the road.
The Montenegro side is much better most of the time. Read on.
I stopped at the first cafe in Montenegro as although they are not part of the European Union they do use the euro as currency.
Soon I was joined by about 10 bikers I had noticed way behind me at the border. Take a look at the shabby huts used by border control on the Bosnian side. The bikers were part of an organised tour, they were from all over the world and in rather nice bikes.
I left them as they ordered meals to ride the last hour. The first twenty minutes were nice but then the sky turned black and the rain came very heavy. Just after it started I joined a queue as there were road works. I went to the front and became part of an amazing scene. They had just laid a very hot tarmac. So hot that steam was rising so much that I couldn't see and just had to guess. That came to an abrupt end as I dropped several centimeters down onto the underlay which was a yellow gravel which had me slipping and sliding for the next few minutes. Then that ended and I dropped again into earth which although muddy was not as slippery as the underlay. The continuing heavy rain then washed the bike.
Now I'm in a very posh 4 star hotel which is costing 40 euros and includes breakfast.
My bike is parked under cover in the outdoor restaurant.Baca selengkapnya