Category Archives: On Tour

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dublin to Nepal, On Tour

Day 39: Lake Blidnje to outside Sarjevo

We woke up by the shore of the lake too young guy in a punto stopped in the road staring at us. He drove off after we waved hello to him. 
We set off form the lake out along the plateau, it was, so far p, the most isolated place we had ridden through. Very few houses around, and the dark clouds blowing in over the mountains probably added to the feeling. After a while we saw someone sat down on the side of the road. It was a hitchhiker, a guy from the Czech Republic by the name of Felix, though how he had gotten all the way out here we didn’t know, no cars had passed us all morning.

 

the road we met Felix on

 
Turned out he had gotten a lift out to the village on the other side of the lake and walked yesterday evening and this morning. After a short chat we left him to trying to grab a lift out here in the mountains. We felt bad for him, he’d probably be there a while.

  
Not long after our encounter with Felix we started to come down out of the mountains along a spectacular valley, all of which was a national park. Huge spires of stone stuck up on either side of the valley as we rode through it down into the town at the base where got lunch. As we had been descending a kid tried to race us on his bike, then a car passed us with one of the passengers waving frantically at us – it was Felix, he had gotten a lift after all!

 

entering the national park

 
  
The afternoon had us riding back uphill along a river for a while, which was not too tough, nice and gradual. It was long though, before we were back climbing into the mountains. This was the last ascent we would have to do before getting into Sarjevo tomorrow though, so we pushed on into the evening to get over the top.

 

last climb of the day

 
At the peak there was a spring where we filled up our water bottles. Lots of other cars and trucks came by to fill up their water too. We got talking to one of these guys at the spring, a really friendly guy who worked out of Sarajevo by the name of Amir. He gave us a few tips for Sarajevo and then wrote his number down as he was leaving, saying to call him if we needed anything in the city!
We were only 25 km from the city now, but it was evening and we wanted to find somewhere nearby to camp so that we could roll in in the morning to get more time in the city. After looking for a spot to camp at for a while we finally found an abandoned lot next to the road where we could camp out of sight of the cars for the night.
We’d only been there maybe 15 minutes when some old Bosnian guy came over to us. After a lot of gesturing and indicating we managed to communicate what our deal was and he had let us know it was his land, but was happy with us sleeping there tonight. After standing around awkwardly for a bit he told us he’d be back at 7 the next day. He also offered to let us sleep in the building on the lot. We probably would have said sure if it was raining, but it’s been so hot at night we prefers to stay outside camping.

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No more passes
First sight of Slovenia
Celebrating our arrival at Lake Bled with Gin and tonics and wasabi and chilli nuts
Lake Bled
We weren’t long out of Germany and Austria before the bike paths disappeared, roads started getting narrower and the house a bit shabbier
Slovenia was full of rolling hills and little villages
” I’ve always wanted to camp under a bridge ” Hugo
A group of roadies cruise past us
Most of Slovenia had rolling hills like this
Hugo using our swat signal to stop
Border crossing into Croatia, all they wanted to know was if we we smuggling in cigarettes
Dublin to Nepal, Finnian's Galleries, On Tour, Slovenia

Slovenia

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Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Dublin to Nepal, On Tour

Day 38: Trilj to Lake Blidnje (Border crossing! Into Bosnia and Herzegovina)

We started the day by riding out of the flat basin we’d camped in uphill to the border crossing into Bosnia and Herzegovina. This took most of the morning, we got up to the top of the ridge of hills where the border was a bit after 11. 

looking back on the mountains, behind them is Split and the Adriatic

 

The border was dead compared to the crossing into Croatia which had cars backed up on both sides. Here, only maybe three or four cars passed through the border while we were there. 

 

border checkpoint to get into Bosnia

 
On the other side we stopped for some food and revised where we would finish for the day. We found out that there was a big mountain lake a reasonable distance from where we were so we figured might as well head for it. We descended a short way down from the border and then arrived at the shore of another lake.

  
Following this lake around brought us to a ridge where the flat land around the lake rose up into hills. After climbing over the ridge we rolled down onto another open plain of almost perfectly flat land. Here we stopped for a little while at the town of Tomislavgrad to get out some local currency. We followed a road out of town along the flat. This we rode along for about 20km before starting to climb up into the mountains.

 

looking down into the plains that held Tomilsavgrad

 
 

look! a hill!

 
Lake Blidnje was situated up at 1100m so we had a bit of climbing to do to reach it. It was all very gradual though, so not too difficult, just get down to the granny gear and spin it out. The road was pretty good most of the time, but once we started to descended it went from sealed tarmac to loose gravel. It made the riding a bit more challenging, but it was a good sign for us, it meant we were getting out to a remote area.

  
Just before we arrived at the lake we passed a Shepard herding his flock up the road. He gave as a wave a and a toothless smile as we passed by and then down out to the lake, and what a sight! It wasn’t huge but it stretched out across a flat plateau that almost completely barren and two huge peaks rose up behind it.

 

   
There was a sandy shore not far from the road where we set up for the night. Across the road there was a stand of pine trees. We had a bit of time to kill as we had finished up a bit earlier than normal so we gathered some wood and lit out first campfire of the trip later that evening.

  

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Croatia, Dublin to Nepal, On Tour

Day 37: Split to Trilj 

The early ferry got us into Split at 9. Finn went off to find a mechanic to fix his bike and got back, good as new, just before noon. We then went out to the post office to see if anything had arrived and, unfortunately, nothing had. 
  

getting on the ferry just after dawn

 
Leaving the post office a bit dejected we rode to nearby Lidl to pick up some food and started out of Split not long after that. Split rose up into mountains almost as soon as we left the coast, so for the first hour of the ride we were climbing back up to about 400 meters above sea level.

  
Almost as soon as we emerged on the other side of the mountains very thing suddenly became a lot quieter, more dispersed, more rural. We rode along a road that followed the motorway for a bit. This road then turned into a rocky, unsealed surface for almost 5km for a while, which made for some interesting riding.

  
We turned back onto a bigger road shortly after this though, crossed a big gorge and then followed the river all the way down into the sleepy town of Trilj. Here the land was flat for miles around, ringed by some small hills with a river snaking through the plains. We followed a dirt track out along the river for a while until we found a small grassy bank where we could camp. It was a good nights sleep, the grass made a welcome return after all the rocks we had been laying down on for the night the week before.

  

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Arriving in Austria
At 34 degrees the first stop in Salzburg was for an ice-cream
Hugo loves a good church
Mozarts birthplace
The discerning art history major in his element
Look at that happy unicorn !!
After taking a wrong turn and walking to the other end of Salzburg we finally found our coffee shop.
Crawling under the children’s entrance to the toilet in McDonalds to avoid paying fifty cent is just part of the average day of a bicycle tourist
I never knew mozart was such a fan of chocalate
He had his own store and all
Salzburg
There was a pretty big climb out of Salzburg
Even at 7 in the evening it was hot enough to have me covered in sweat by the end of the climb
Sunset out of Salzburg
First sight of Lake Fuschl, passing the hotel on the lake we saw 8 Ferrari’s in the carpark. It felt pretty nice to be camping for free on the waterfront thinking how much it was costing the residents of the hotel
Sunset at the lake
Sunset at the lake with us
Waking up on the waterfront
The road back out of the lake
Ready for some climbing
Lake Wolfgang
To lazy to get the knife at the bottom of one of my panniers
Cycling’s great craic
This wasp wouldn’t leave our morning pastry alone so I trapped him leaving a very angry wasp attached to my pastry. Not really a better situation at all.
What to do now?
They’re getting closer
Taking a fully loaded touring bike on a BMX track is probably not the best idea.
After 500 metres verticalin 34 degree heat I spent quite some time rubbing all the sweat out of my eyes
No better reward after a climb then finding an open janitors closet and getting some free toilet paper
The descent after our second climb in Austria
Hugo carrying his bike to riverside spot
Bath time
Having a good scrub
Billa’s are shit
26 km of climbing up to our highest pass in Austria, pretty daunting
It turned out to be very gradual after the initial kick
Other than the odd group of motorbikes zipping past us it was quiet enough
Hugo picking up his precious jellies, you can’t waste any fuel
After stopping to fill our water bottles in the mountain stream
Thinking we were nearly at the top after some pretty steep climbing we turn a corner to see a sign telling us we have 300 metres left to climb. Seeing a turn off we stoped for lunch
A local dish ‘Specknorkrel” (gnocci with pancetta and onions) hit the spot
The view back into the valley we had just come up
Not actually at the top yet but any excuse for a break, the last 300 vertical were a killer
We made it
View from the tarp in the morning
The glorious tarp
A lot of heat in the sun even at 8 am
The view into the valley after our second last Austrian pass
Hugo after a great descent
With the quite smooth roads descending in Austria was great
Our last pass out of Austria turned out to be full of crazy steep percentages and Hugo was not impressed with the imminent switch back
After a while we were talking a break every couple hundred metres
More breaks
Austria, Dublin to Nepal, Finnian's Galleries, On Tour

Austria

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Croatia, Dublin to Nepal, On Tour

Day 36: Šibenic to Split

We woke to find that we had pulled off a lot closer to the road than we thought, and the bush that had seemed so big that we sheltered behind was half the size in the light of day. We got dressed quickly as cars whizzed passed us under a thankfully clear sky.

In the morning we followed the road along a beautiful stretch of coast, all rocky bays and inlets. The road wound around the creases in the coast and the clear turquoise Adriatic looked extremely inviting. This continued for fifty-odd kilometres until we cut inland for a short while.

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After our brief overland excursion we arrived at the back of another inlet. The last few kilometres to getting back to shore had been a bit difficult as the inlet and the mountains functioned as a funnel for the wind which blew in off the sea and was concentrated on the road we were travelling.

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Inlet where we had lunch

After lunch at the inlet we started on the last leg to Split. It had gotten quite warm in the afternoon and instead of waiting it out like we normally would we pushed on through. There was a big climb out of the inlet that tuckered us out, but from there it was a long descent and then flat almost into Split.

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The last few kilometres before Split was on a busy three lane road that oftentimes narrowed to one as road workers were frequent but dispersed. This made the riding, especially in this dusty heat, pretty unenjoyable.

When we finally arrived at the centre of Split, the magnificent ancient site of Diocletian’s Palace we were wrecked. Tired, dusty and sweaty we wheeled our bikes though the narrow streets crowded with tourists trying to find the accommodation Caroline (Finns mum) had booked us.

Well, Caroline had done a great job (Thanks Caroline!) the place was right in the centre of the palace ruins. We got the room key and were greeted with the refreshing blast of an air conditioner and – what a treat – two comfy beds and a shower. After getting clean for the first time in a week we collapsed on the beds for a long nap.

The view from our room - very well located!

The view from our room – very well located!

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Croatia, Dublin to Nepal, On Tour

Day 35: Mali Lošinj to Šibenic

We had most of the day to kill, what with our ferry not leaving until 4.30. We just sort of bummed around, did some admin putting up blog posts, sorting through photos etc.
We knew that we were going to have to cycle into the night once we got off the boat so taking it easy in the morning seemed like a good idea. The ferry ride was going to be long, about 7 hours as it stopped at a lot of smaller islands along the way and wouldn’t get into Zadar until 11.
We boarded the ferry and found somewhere we could lay down for a nap. Maybe halfway through the trip a Croatian guy, another passenger on the ferry came around and asked if we wanted to pass the time playing board games with him and some other passengers he had rounded up. The rest of the trip did, indeed go by much quicker sat around one of the small tables on board playing games with this motley crew of international passenger: Germany, Canada, Ireland and Croatia.

 

arriving back on the mainland in Zadar

 
We got into port a bit before 11. I don’t really remember much of the ride, there wasn’t that much that stood out in the dark. We then rode through the night sixty kilometres until 1.30 and then pulled over into a field by the road and fell asleep. It rained for the majority of the ride and through the night as well. It was enjoyable though, riding in the cool of the night. We didn’t get to see much of the view, but I suppose that’s the trade off. We were happy to go for it anyway, knowing that tomorrow night there would be a bed waiting.

where we slept, the next morning

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Dublin to Nepal, Finnian's Galleries, Germany, On Tour

Germany

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Croatia, Dublin to Nepal, On Tour

Day 34: Osor to Mali Lošinj (Lošinj Island)

Down into Osor in the morning where we got food from a bakery in the small town. It was a nice little place, it was Sunday morning when we rolled in and the square was busy with people milling about after church.  
Our plan today was to ride to Mali Lošinj, a town on the island right next to Cres and we get a ferry from there. It was a short ride from Osor along the coast and up over the low land of the island.

 

Cres on the right, Lošinj on the left

 
We got into Mali Lošinj and got tickets for the ferry, it was leaving at 4:30 so we had a bit of time to look around. Now, we had planned to go hang out by the shore for a bit, have a swim then head out to Lidl to get food for lunch and dinner. A big storm blew in at 2 though – all the restaurants and cafes by the shore rushed to get their stuff indoors. 

storm front blowing in

  
 The storm continued for hours, and in the excitement of it all – or at least in trying to take shelter from it – we sort of lost track of the time. An ill advised last minute rush to the shop to get food for the 7 hour ferry trip after the storm cleared resulted in the boat leaving without us.
Normally this wouldn’t be to bad, just take the boat tomorrow. This time though, we actually had somewhere to be, a timetable to keep. Finn’s mum had booked some nice accommodation in Split and we were supposed to be arriving the day after tomorrow. With the only sailing to the mainland at 4.30 (arriving at 11) the next day we realised the only solution was going to be a night ride tomorrow evening.
We went back into town for the rest of the night, it had gotten busy now the storm had passed over. When it was time to sleep we rode our bikes over to the other, uninhabited side of the coast only 10 minutes from town and camped by the shore.

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Croatia, Dublin to Nepal, On Tour

Day 33: Bestrova to Osor (Cres Island)

We started the day rolling down hill into the bay that the ferry would depart from. It was about 5km winding down to the coast and at 2km from the the shore the line of cars for the ferry started. It was bumper to bumper the whole way down but we just rolled past them all, down to the kiosk to pick up our tickets and then onto the ferry. 

 

waiting for the boat

  
It was a short journey, the island of Cres is really close the the shore and we were off the boat after 25 min. We waited for all the cars to pass us and then started up the climb on traffic free roads to the top of the island.

  
It was a long but gentle climb. The peak was a thin spine that you could see either side of the island from, the mainland to the right and more islands off on the distance on the left.

  
From here it was a long descent all the way back down to the shore and into Cres town. By now it was the heat of the day so we left our bikes and went to get lunch and wait out the afternoon in town.

 

Cres town

 
It wasn’t until 4:30 that it was cool enough to start up again. We left Cres and started the ride out to Osor, the last town at the southern end of Cres. We rode along through the middle of the island, past rocky fields with sheep and olive tree farms. 
The plan was to keep riding until a bit before Osor and camp, however around dinner time we passed a small restaurant on the side of the road cooking pig on a spit. It looked so good we had to stop. It was delicious, and cheap too now that we had left the tourist hotspot of the island behind.

  
We left the restaurant with full bellies and rode on until just before dark. We pulled off on an access track to a cell tower and the continued a bit behind it and camped in a rocky field overlooking Osor.

 

   

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