So, we have moved on from the warmth and familiarity of Western Europe and entered a new phase of the trip.
We crossed the border from Slovenia to Croatia through a small village called Vinica. The nearest big town close to the border we went through, was Crnomelji, which is not very big.
As we went through farmland and small villages we could not help but notice the difference between reasonably well off Slovenia and the little corridor of Croatia we cycled through. Ais is very curious to see how different the coast of Croatia is, compared to the farming area.
We made a stop at Plitvice Lakes National Park for a day and ended up camping on a farm. The man who owned the farm was building a small guest house and as it is now low season, allowed us to use the kitchen, when it rained. We were very grateful for that!
Plitvice Lakes NP is very beautiful. It is made up of a sequence of lakes at different levels which are connected by waterfalls. It is truly the kind of place where you think magic takes places or fairies would live! But of course life is not like that and there are more practical, geology type reasons for the lakes formations, such as build up of rock deposits and porous rock letting water through. It is well worth a visit if you ever go to Croatia.
We did not spend very long in Croatia as we head down to the coast further along our route. As we approached Bosnia we were quite surprised at just how many abandoned buildings there were. Some homes still had pock marks of bullets from the war. Some houses had plastered over these, but they were still noticeable. We did not find any supermarkets during this part of the journey and what shops we did find, had hardly anything. We struggled to make a meal with the stuff available. We found plenty of cafe bars, but these don't sell food so we could not eat out. It was clear that this part of Croatia has not yet recovered from past recent events.
As we entered Bosnia we continued to see what appeared to be small villages, abandoned, with only the shells of houses left. In the 1990s, who would want to live here, by the border, on the main road to Sarajevo? It felt strange to be here, even eerie at times. Yet, in Bihać a Bosnian town close to the border of Croatia, there were a number of hotels (all over priced) and a good quaility campsite. Bihać is one of the few towns that appears in our Lonely Planet book. Apparently it is a well known white water rafting area. But about 10km from here we saw landmine warning signs at the side of the road.
Now we are in Jajce, a pretty little town, which we think will take off in the next ten years. It has a waterfall, some pretty houses, which did not get destroyed from the 1990s war and a section of old walled town. The town suffered badly in the last war and that is still clear to see, with burned out houses. pocked marked walls and signs in english, letting the tourist know that a building had been here for a few 100 years, but did not survive the 1990s war.
We still have some hills left to climb to Sarajevo but hopefully the snow/rain/sleet will not be too bad!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Slovenia: around Ljubljiana
From Skofjia Loka to Ljubljiana was a short ride on a fairly flat road. This was lucky since Pugz had a slight hangover!
The night before had involved much drinking and chatting with Romano and his friends. We were paying for the room, but the welcome made us almost forget this! It was interesting hearing his friends opinions about religion and who's who in the former Yugoslavia. These are subjects which our lonely planet guide book suggests avoiding in conversations with locals, but the subjects often seem to come up - perhaps it is something to do with pugz having a slightly islamic looking beard! One of the guys (who wore a large crucifix around his neck) seemed particularly anti muslim. He was a Slovenian who had been brought up in Libya and had a bad experience there.
Like many people we have met in the Balkans so far (and some people closer to home!) Romanos friends all warned us against going to Albania (bad roads, crime etc). We were also asked the question "why are you going to Bosnia? there is nothing there, why not go to the beautiful Croatian coast instead?" This is something that we have heard a few times before in Slovenia (which, like Croatia, is mainly Catholic). Do we get asked this because Bosnia is less interesting/beautiful than Croatian coast, or is this view clouded by racial/religious opinions?
Pugz and Ais tried to be diplomatic throughout the whole muslim-christian debate, in our "multi-cultural Londoner" type way, but we got quite steam-rollered by others who had much stronger opinions! On the flip side of prejudice however... One of the friends, who proudly owns a Jaguar car, told us a story of how he drove it to London for some repairs and because of his eastern european accent was asked by the garage owner "do you actually have enough money to pay for this sir?"
We reached Ljubljiana at lunchtime and went for a pizza at a little restaurant. Very pleasant compact little city. We spent the afternoon wandering round the city (although it was a bit annoying lugging the bikes around with us) looking at the market, cathedral, and pretty bridges along the river.
We spent the night at a resort style campsite on the edge of the city. There we met some other cycle tourists (the first ones we had seen for quite a while) called Jesse and Leticia. They had just started their trip having got the train from home in France to lake Bled. It made us feel like we were very scruffy because all our clothes and equipment look quite well used by now, whereas their stuff still looks new (no oil stains on their white tee-shirts yet, I wonder if that is still true?).
The ride away from Ljubljiana started with some top-notch navigation by Pugz. We tried to follow a path along a river which got very muddy and ended at a farm. We turned back a short while and took another track which fortunately lead to a road. Not having any clue where the road was on the map, we used the compass to head east. This took us to a motorway. We managed to find another road (again, no idea where this was on the map) and followed the compass east again. This road ended at a factory complex, where we took a dirt track which miraculously took us to a town. When we found the town on the map, Pugz felt very pleased with himself because (by pure fluke really) we had ended up on the road we had planned to be on! This road was a pleasant run alongside a river for the rest of the day. Lots of other cyclists out from day-rides but, as usual, we seemed to be the only people picnicing on the side of the road which always gets us a lot of stares. Our attempts to find accommodation (in the small town of Litija) were similar to the attempts at navigation earlier in the day. We cycled around aimlessly for a few hours and asked people in cafes and on the street if they knew of any campsites or rooms. The day ended in success when we found a room above a pub (a bit pricey at 45 euro, but it was nice enough).
From Litija we cycled on to the next big town (Novo Mesto). A fairly uneventful ride, but as with all of Slovenia we have seen, the countryside was very pleasant. We stayed at a campsite by a lovely river in the grounds of a castle-hotel on the outskirts of town (Grad Otocec). A great spot except for the noisy motorway not far away. We stayed for a rest day (hand-washing again, grrr) and were joined that evening by our new cyclist friends Jesse and Letica. We were very impressed by their attempts at catching fish in the river and collecting yummy walnuts and chestnuts which they shared with us.
Our last ride in Slovenia took us to the small town of Vinica at the Croatian border. A fair bit of climbing for most of the ride. We were overtaken by a tractor heavily laden with logs but we had our revenge later when we reached a good downhill on a smooth road and we steamed past him!
The night before had involved much drinking and chatting with Romano and his friends. We were paying for the room, but the welcome made us almost forget this! It was interesting hearing his friends opinions about religion and who's who in the former Yugoslavia. These are subjects which our lonely planet guide book suggests avoiding in conversations with locals, but the subjects often seem to come up - perhaps it is something to do with pugz having a slightly islamic looking beard! One of the guys (who wore a large crucifix around his neck) seemed particularly anti muslim. He was a Slovenian who had been brought up in Libya and had a bad experience there.
Like many people we have met in the Balkans so far (and some people closer to home!) Romanos friends all warned us against going to Albania (bad roads, crime etc). We were also asked the question "why are you going to Bosnia? there is nothing there, why not go to the beautiful Croatian coast instead?" This is something that we have heard a few times before in Slovenia (which, like Croatia, is mainly Catholic). Do we get asked this because Bosnia is less interesting/beautiful than Croatian coast, or is this view clouded by racial/religious opinions?
Pugz and Ais tried to be diplomatic throughout the whole muslim-christian debate, in our "multi-cultural Londoner" type way, but we got quite steam-rollered by others who had much stronger opinions! On the flip side of prejudice however... One of the friends, who proudly owns a Jaguar car, told us a story of how he drove it to London for some repairs and because of his eastern european accent was asked by the garage owner "do you actually have enough money to pay for this sir?"
We reached Ljubljiana at lunchtime and went for a pizza at a little restaurant. Very pleasant compact little city. We spent the afternoon wandering round the city (although it was a bit annoying lugging the bikes around with us) looking at the market, cathedral, and pretty bridges along the river.
We spent the night at a resort style campsite on the edge of the city. There we met some other cycle tourists (the first ones we had seen for quite a while) called Jesse and Leticia. They had just started their trip having got the train from home in France to lake Bled. It made us feel like we were very scruffy because all our clothes and equipment look quite well used by now, whereas their stuff still looks new (no oil stains on their white tee-shirts yet, I wonder if that is still true?).
The ride away from Ljubljiana started with some top-notch navigation by Pugz. We tried to follow a path along a river which got very muddy and ended at a farm. We turned back a short while and took another track which fortunately lead to a road. Not having any clue where the road was on the map, we used the compass to head east. This took us to a motorway. We managed to find another road (again, no idea where this was on the map) and followed the compass east again. This road ended at a factory complex, where we took a dirt track which miraculously took us to a town. When we found the town on the map, Pugz felt very pleased with himself because (by pure fluke really) we had ended up on the road we had planned to be on! This road was a pleasant run alongside a river for the rest of the day. Lots of other cyclists out from day-rides but, as usual, we seemed to be the only people picnicing on the side of the road which always gets us a lot of stares. Our attempts to find accommodation (in the small town of Litija) were similar to the attempts at navigation earlier in the day. We cycled around aimlessly for a few hours and asked people in cafes and on the street if they knew of any campsites or rooms. The day ended in success when we found a room above a pub (a bit pricey at 45 euro, but it was nice enough).
From Litija we cycled on to the next big town (Novo Mesto). A fairly uneventful ride, but as with all of Slovenia we have seen, the countryside was very pleasant. We stayed at a campsite by a lovely river in the grounds of a castle-hotel on the outskirts of town (Grad Otocec). A great spot except for the noisy motorway not far away. We stayed for a rest day (hand-washing again, grrr) and were joined that evening by our new cyclist friends Jesse and Letica. We were very impressed by their attempts at catching fish in the river and collecting yummy walnuts and chestnuts which they shared with us.
Our last ride in Slovenia took us to the small town of Vinica at the Croatian border. A fair bit of climbing for most of the ride. We were overtaken by a tractor heavily laden with logs but we had our revenge later when we reached a good downhill on a smooth road and we steamed past him!
A few photos from Aisling's camera
.
Beautiful lake Bohinj, Slovenia
Mmmm toadstoods. We found so many different types during our hike up the mountain with Gibbo near lake Bohinj, Slovenia
Gian Vittoria and family, at their home in Feltre, Itlay
Emergency wheel bearing repairs at Lake Garda, Italy
Amazing carved marble facade at the Pavia monestary, Italy
Pugz on the beach by our Alpine Lakside campsite at Embrun, France
The Castle at Sully-sur-Loire, France
Wheat fields near the Somme, Northern France
Louis, strapped on to Aisling's bike
Beautiful lake Bohinj, Slovenia
Mmmm toadstoods. We found so many different types during our hike up the mountain with Gibbo near lake Bohinj, Slovenia
At the bottom of the Vrsic pass (see blog text) in Slovenia. We got used to the lack of vowels in the slovene language after a while, but this sign amused Pugz and the other pictures from the ride didn't really do it justice.
Frescoed facade in Feltre, Italy
Gian Vittoria and family, at their home in Feltre, Itlay
Emergency wheel bearing repairs at Lake Garda, Italy
Amazing carved marble facade at the Pavia monestary, Italy
Pugz on the beach by our Alpine Lakside campsite at Embrun, France
The Castle at Sully-sur-Loire, France
Wheat fields near the Somme, Northern France
Louis, strapped on to Aisling's bike
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Mountains: Trento to Slovenia
From Trento in Italy we continued heading east, across more beautiful mountains. We have been through so many mountains now, it is very hard to do them justice with words! To illustrate this point, just look at a map, preferably one with contours if you can fnd one. Our route ran roughly like this:
Trento > Levico > Arsie. Two lovely lakes and dolomite mountains. Very steep out of Trento but then much of the ride was downhill on a cyclepath (seemingly quite rare in Italy!). One of our favorite rides.
Arsie > Feltre > Vidor > Folina > Revine Lago. See previous blog about fantastic Feltre. The rest of the ride actually came down out of the mountains for a little while, which was a welcome break, but a long ride.
Revine Lago > Vittorio Veneto > Cordignano > Aviano > Maniago > Frisanco. This ride was a bit too long, although much of it was on the flat. Vittorio Veneto looked like a very nice place for our next visit (no time this time!). Maniago provided us with a very welcome ice-cream, which was unfortunately followed by a big slog uphill to our campsite. Our rest day at the campsite was very pleasant. Adrian rode back down the hill in search of food and a bikeshop (lots of fun trying to buy spokes and wheel bearings using pictures, gestures and pointing!). We were kindly invited for lunch by the only other campers (Stephano and Rosemario). Its amazing how you can converse with very little common language if there is food on the table!
Frisanco > Flagogna > Gemona. We challenge you to find our route through here on a map. We certainly had trouble! It was a very pretty ride though. In Gemona got talking to the man who runs the cafe at the supermarket who kindly found us someone who knew the whereabouts of the campsite. We followed the guy in his car to the campsite, which was knackering! Here we met David and Janeane, who kindly gave us tea and chat (check out http://www.strawberryfields.org/).
Gemona > Tarcento > Uccea > Bovec. Across another border. Being within the EU, there was nobody at the border post, but there was a very big hill (surprise surprise, the area is called the Jullian Alps). Noisy campers from Czcech republic kept us awake that night grrrr!
Bovec > Trenta > Vrscic> Kranjska Gora > Dovje. One mountain too many perhaps! This was a beautiful ride but extremely hard going starting at about 400m altitude going up to 1600m altitude. We wished we had taken a few days rest halfway because the hiking around Trenta looked great. When we got to the top at Vrscic we had a big audience of Italians, Slovenes, Dutch etc who cheered as we reached the summit. Most of them had driven past us at some point and watched us panting puffing and pushing (a little bit).
Dovje > Breg > Bled. Utterly shattered after the previous days ride, this short ride seemed to take forever. We tried to follow a cycleroute which ended in a steep rough dirt track (we turned back!) and then ended up on a main road with "no cycles" signs for a while.
We made a home for ourselves in Bled for about a week at the 5-star campsite (the best campsite loos in all Eurpoe!). After a few days rest, mild food poisioning for Ais (seafood risotto in a tourist hotel...) and some pleasant easy walks around Lake Bled, our friend Gibbo visited us. This was a welcome chance for us to talk to someone familiar, other than ourselves - I hope we didn't drive him crazy. Apologies to Gibbo for being late meeting him from the bus (typical Ais and Pugz time-keeping). We all had a lovely hike together up a mountain near Lake Bohinj, followed by a little rock climbing, all fueled by a 200g tub of smoked pig fat, Mmmm. We all decided that Bled, although very pretty, was a bit too "mass-tourist".
Bled > Radovljica > Kropa > Skofjia Loka. Interesting little towns with pleasant wooded scenery. A lunch stop and visit to the blacksmith museum in Kropa - amazing ornate ironwork and exhibits about the towns' history as europe biggest manufacturer of hand-forged nails in the 18th century (Adrian was a bit disapointed not to see live blacksmithery though). Horrendously steep climb out of Kropa! We found accomodation in Skofjia Loka by asking at a florist who took us to a small hotel which was a bit beyond our budget so the owner organised for us to stay with his brother (Romano) at a guesthouse out of town. Romano arrived and loaded us and our bikes into his builder's van. He gave us beer, honeymead, and our very first burek whilst we spent a very pleasant evening meeting and chatting with many of his friends and family.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
