Montenegro, Podgorica, 19 July 2013

Posted on Saturday, 20-July-2013 by Chris Desmond

Left Sarajevo cool and blue skies straight into the mountains, the road gradually deteriorated until it was one lane. Came to a line of parked cars rode through and saw the holdup was due to a crane lifting a Land Rover up the side of the hill. Driven by some French people it had rolled down the hill yesterday when giving way to an on-coming car, went too close to the edge (this is a one lane road) the road dropped away and over they went, no one hurt but end of the holiday. I got there at the end of the saga some had been waiting for hours.

Got to the border, the Bosnia guys just waved me through, crossed the bridge over the Tara river which is the border. Montenegro Immigration said the copy of my Green card was not good enough and I had to buy their insurance, cost 10 Euro, probably a scam of some sort. Temp is now in the 30’s when I left it was 13c, road improved until about 45k’s out of Montenegro it became a 2 lane highway, arrived in Montenegro without realising it until I looked at my GPS, it looks completely deserted, hardly any traffic. Temp 34c, 240km in 5 hours, best ride so far though I would not try this on a Sports bike.

Posted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 17-18 July 2013

Posted on Thursday, 18-July-2013 by Chris Desmond

A very interesting and charismatic place, the mix of cultures and religions, the location in the mountains, many people speak English and they use the Latin script, voted by Lonely Planet as one of the Top 10 cities to visit in 2010 and its not expensive.

Its small enough to walk around if you can walk 5-6 km a day, there is public transport but I never used it, the steep roads are fun if you stray from the city or old town.

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Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, 16 July 2013

Posted on Wednesday, 17-July-2013 by Chris Desmond

Blue skies and rush hour on the freeway leaving Belgrade, onto secondary roads very quickly which were good except for a few dodgy bits near the border, many small towns meant average speed was 60 kph, very little traffic. Serbian immigration scanned my passport did not exit stamp it and said “thank you”, Bosnia immigration guy was an ah could not speak English, said green card which is the bike insurance, then he said something else so I gave him the registration, he could not read either so he stamped my passport and gave them back to me and told me to hurry up with gestures, I was putting my helmet and gloves back on.

Straight into the mountains now climbing to 1275m and 14c, did not have my liners on but was having too much fun to bother with the cold, no traffic great ride, 310km in 5 hours. Descended into Sarajevo where the WWI started, its in a valley so the streets are narrow and very steep in places, heard the Mosque call to prayer for the first time since Brunei but no other signs of religion, women dress normally, alcohol is freely available and there was a Dogs Trust sign on a tram. It has a Mosque, Catholic church, Orthodox church and Jewish Synagogue within the same neighborhood. Lots of tourists wandering around and the few people I spoke to understood me. The altitude here is 560m and greater Sarajevo has a population of 650,000.

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Serbia, Belgrade, 12-15 July 2013

Posted on Monday, 15-July-2013 by Chris Desmond

The ride from Zagreb to Belgrade was on a freeway all the way a little bumpier on the Serbian side. Miles long queue of trucks waiting to cross the border and a 20 min wait for cars as well, not sure what the Croatian guys were checking as everyone was leaving the country. Immigration  just looked at my passport and waved me on, short ride to the Serbian side, I took my helmet off without being asked, the Immigration officer spoke good English, he stamped my passport chatted about the bike and waved me on, next Customs and no stopping, the guy just waved me on as well all over in less than 5 minutes.

As soon as I got off the freeway in Belgrade I noticed horns being used and at the first roundabout it was a free for all with a cop trying to maintain order, lots of old Soviet era bangers still running around. Next I tried to withdraw money from an ATM and it went through the motions until the “Please take your cash” but no cash came out hahaha so I went into the bank and explained, the manager was very apologetic and said it was too late now and he would investigate on Monday and that I should also call my bank in Australia and sort it out, which I did. When I checked my account online, the money had been taken out and then refunded but the amount was $1.68 short. Anyway after that I avoided the ATM’s and did not use my cards at all, just changed the Euros I had as required. Its got me slightly worried as I do not carry a lot of cash and there are a few more countries to get through before I arrive in Greece. The other strange thing I noticed, my Windows Phone 8 apps cannot connect to the store to update but the internet works fine.

This is a big city with a population of 1.2 million, the per capita GDP in Serbia is USD $10,600 which is about a quarter that of the Netherlands.  There are lots of old buildings in dire need of some TLC, the old town has the usual outdoor cafes and tourists. There is a huge fortress and some big churches, the National Museum and the Museum of Yugoslavian History were both closed for renovation, they had small exhibitions so you would not go away completely disappointed.

English is not widely spoken, some of the people I dealt with looked at me like I was the enemy when I spoke English and others went out of their way to help. NATO was bombing this place not that long ago in 1999. The script is Cyrillic and the religion is Orthodox Christianity.

Public transport is good with frequent buses and trams that go everywhere and a flat fare of 72 dinar (less than a dollar) for a ride. You buy a card with 10 rides and swipe it every time you get on a bus, the reader shows you the balance remaining on your card, very simple.

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Croatia, Zagreb, 10-11 July 2013

Posted on Thursday, 11-July-2013 by Chris Desmond

Zagreb’s old town is split into the Lower town and the Upper town, lots of grand old buildings most of which are museums now, this was once a wealthy city. The lower town has some big parks and the Upper town had endless open air cafe’s and a church or two, markets, the parliament and many tourists including a few Korean and Japanese tour groups with their own guides. English is not as widely spoken.

After a day of wandering the Upper town you will be glad to get back to your desk at work to rest those aching knees and calf muscles, unfortunately I cannot afford that luxury.

The trams are modern and a convenient way to get around 12 kuna a ride about $2, there are also buses, no plastic you have to buy a ticket, they are available at kiosks and supermarkets everywhere. The trams of course only operate on the flat, no hills.

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Croatia, Zagreb, 9 July 2013

Posted on Tuesday, 9-July-2013 by Chris Desmond

I rode from Ljubljana to Zagreb today, 133km in 1:45hrs. Both these countries are in the EU and in the Schengen area but you still have to stop at the border and you get stamped out of Slovenia though this did not happen when I entered Slovenia from Austria or in any of the other Schengen countries, then the police check to see if you have a Vignette (Toll pass) stuck to your windscreen, lucky I had done this the day before, the Vignette is not valid if its not stuck to the screen. Then the Croatian guys stamped my passport as well but neither of them asked me to take my helmet off. So far no Customs has showed any interest in my bike or its paperwork. No tunnels on this ride you just have to go around the hills instead of through them, a lot more fun.

Unloaded and went walkabout, first impressions of the town are that its a bit time worn, in need of a coat of paint. The currency here is the Kuna not the Euro, population 793,000.

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Slovenia, Ljubljana, 6-9 July 2013

Posted on Tuesday, 9-July-2013 by Chris Desmond

Ljubljana – population 280,000, Altitude 298 m, Average temp Winter -2c and Summer 20c, Currency Euro, Member of the EU.

A very nice place, the people are easy going, friendly and helpful, the second language is English, very organised and clean, buses are modern and a cheap way to get around. You buy a plastic card for E2 and then its E1.20 a ride which can last upto 90 minutes on multiple buses/routes

Lots of old buildings, cafes, pubs and restaurants in the old town where all the tourists hang out, very green with many trees, the roads are good and traffic is sparse.

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Netherlands to Slovenia, 3-6 July 2013

Posted on Saturday, 6-July-2013 by Chris Desmond

Left Veghel, Netherlands in a  drizzle and it rained all day through Germany except for an hour just before crossing the Swiss border. Riding in the rain is very tiring as helmets do not have wipers and you have to keep wiping and turning your head constantly to blow the water off the visor. A freeway toll pass costing 40 Swiss franks is required to drive on the Swiss freeways, its valid from December to January of the following year 14 months, so if you buy it half way through the year you only get the rest of the year plus January to use it and you have to buy the annual pass even if you are only in the country for a day. Stayed in the village of Gondiswil for a couple of days while visiting a friend, went on a day trip to Lucerne.

Left Switzerland and rode through Leichtenstein and Austria to stop in Sistrans another village in the hills above Innsbruck, very pretty, lots of tunnels some very long with their own tolls. The Austrian freeways also require a toll pass but you can buy one for 10 days for E9.55, this is the minimum amount.

The road from Sistrans to Slovenia was right through the Alps and not a freeway  so very slow going many towns and villages and being a weekend all the tourists were out and about, millions of other motorbikes on the road. Again more tunnels and tolls going through a short section of Italy, average speed 60 kph, fine sunny weather all day, looks like summer has finally arrived. The Slovenia freeways also have a toll pass and you can get one for a week for E7.50 for motorcycles which is half the price of the car pass, I already like this place hahaha.

Posted in Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland | Tagged | 1 Comment

Belgium, Beer, 30 June 2013

Posted on Sunday, 30-June-2013 by Chris Desmond

There are around 130 breweries in Belgium producing 1,100 different types of beer.

The dark beers have a high alcohol content, averaging 7% and going up to 12%

Many of the beers are bottle conditioned (second fermentation with yeast in the bottle) and come with their own style of drinking glass.

http://www.specialtybeer.com/brewery,index,caracole.html

 

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Belgium, Hastiere, 28-30 June 2013

Posted on Sunday, 30-June-2013 by Chris Desmond

I was invited by friends to visit their holiday home in Hastiere, Belgium. This is in the Ardennes region of Belgium which has extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and rivers and people come here for their holidays, rock climbing, kayaking etc. There are also many small brewery’s in the local Abbeys run by monks.

Nearby is the historic town of Dinant where Adolphe Sax the inventor of the Saxaphone was born, it also has a large fort on a hill called the Citadel.

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