Month: November 2016

Alen tells me that there is nothing much to see if I head north towards Hungary and I should head to a town call Travnik and Jajce north west of Zenica.  Travnik is well known for its old fort and blue water spring and Jajce is famous for a waterfall within the city. So last night I was conflicted on which direction I should go. To Budapest and follow the Danube cycle route to Basel or towards Zagreb and see what happens. One is predictable and safe the other is totally the opposite. I planned to sleep over it. 

Next morning I woke up to winter wonderland. There was a snow dump last night and it is the first time in my tour so far that I have seen snow. After checking the weather the report seems to indicate that it will be grey, snowing and cold. I did not want to stay one more day as the forecast for the week isn’t any better so I decided to push on regardless. But where. 

After a nice breakfast of local goat and smoke cheese and toast, I made up my mind  to Travnik and be unpredictable and see what happens. There are two ways to get to Travnik one is along the river which means a highway or one across the mountain via a rural route which is shorter by 9KM. Guess which route I took ? The mountain one of course since it’s shorter. Who cares if there’s climbing involved. What goes up must come down right ? 

Well it was tough and messy. The climb was alright but with the overnight snow dump there is still a fair bit of snow on the road and I get an ocassionaly splat of wet grimey snow from passing vehicles. The bonus is there was some incredible vistas all round from snow covered rooftops of quaint villages against a stunning backdrop of white capped mountains. This was worthwhile. 

After about 15 or 16 KM of climbing to the peak of around 800m, downhill ! The downhill was quick and thankfully not too uncomfortable even though it continued to snow here and there. 

I stopped for half an hour in a coffee shop right after the downhill to warm up. 

Eventually I reached the town of Travnik in time for lunch. I had the best meat Burek ever. It was fresh from the wood fired pan and was fantastic. I had it with a yoghurt drink like the locals. After that I went to look for the blue water spring and then visited the old fort. The fort was closed by the time I got there so I only managed to see it from the outside. 

After that I went to shop for my dinner and ate something simple before turning in for the night. The forecast for tomorrow seems to be good. Well not sunshine but at least no snow or rain. It will be around 70 KM to Jajce via the river and valley and 41KM via the mountains. Guess which route I took ? Stay tuned tomorrow. 

Lions Project : RM 235.20

Wow already 50 days on the road. That went past fast. Well you know what they say about time when you are having fun. 

The weather though was not so fun these days. Another moody and wet day today. At least it’s not raining too heavily and not too cold. 

After a quick breakfast and a strong cup of coffee, I checked out of the hostel and pushed off towards Zenica. Why Zenica? Well it’s not really a tourist spot and there is really nothing special there. However since I had plans to head towards Budapest in Hungary to join the Danube cycle path, Zenica happens to be along the route. Also I have a host on Couchsurfing agreeing to host me in Zenica. 

It was a grey day the whole time I was riding. So not too many pretty pictures. Also the route is mainly along the great Bosna River, which was flowing rapidly. The river was also muddy looking. 

I did come across a hot spring right by the road side which was interesting. 

Upon arriving at Zenica, I started looking for my host’s apartment. My GPS brought me to the right area but there were so many blocks so I had a little trouble locating the host’s block which was 13B. I was at Block 7. After checking to no success in the pizzeria I bumped into someone in a bicycle and he said he would help me look for the block. He went around asking the locals there and finally got the location of the block. He then said he would bring me to the block. With his help I managed to get to the host apartment eventually. 

My host is a young Bosnian chap named Alen Tataravic working from home and mostly doing projects for the UN. He stays in the apartment with his brother who is away touring South East Asia. Interestingly his brother was in Malaysia 2 weeks ago. After settling in to my own room, I  relax and did a bit of surfing while waiting for Alen who graciously offered to cook dinner. And it was a fantastic dinner of baked fresh caught river trout and potatoes. After dinner we had a couple rounds of beer and Rakiya before heading out to town. 

Alen and I went to a pub where his friend is launching a charity photo exhibition. There we met some of his friends. One of his friend called Ajlah who is a radio host at Radio Active Zenica 88.5. She asks if she could do a quick interview for her show next week. I said ok. So I could be heard on air next week in Zenica, Bosnia ! Stay tuned. 

After that we moved to another pub to try out the honey Rakiya which tasted quite ok. Anyway after that we headed back to Alen’s place to call it the night. 

Tomorrow I hope the weather is kind. 

Lions Project : RM 232.00

After coming this far I thought I should spend sometime to explore Sarajevo, the capital and biggest and most well known city in Bosnia. I understand that this city has a lot of history. Most infamously known as the place where WW1 was triggered and most recently the city that has experience the longest period of siege during the war of 1993-96. 

The city is a mishmash of Ottoman and European n sometimes you feel as though parts are like Turkey and then some parts in a typical city in Western Europe. 

As I roam briefly around the old city and new city, there are little evidence left of the violence from the recent war. I saw more of that in Mostar. 

Today I decided to take a tram and try to look for the Sarajevo main station. This was recommended to me by a fellow traveller at the hostel I am staying in. Unfortunately I took the wrong tram and did not find the stations all. However it was fun seeing the city from the tram and also getting a feel of how the locals commute on a daily basis. I did however manage to buy a bungee cord which I needed badly. So not. Wasted trip at all. 

After the tram ride I returned to the old town to visit  a gallery that is featuring the story of the war and the genocide of the Bosnian Muslims. The exhibition was a combination of very interesting and sometimes graphic photographs and videos that tells the story of the people who lived through that horrific time. I spent almost 2 hours there. 

After that I had a Donner for lunch and continued exploring the old city before going back to the hostel to rest. Tomorrow forecast is rain again. I am hopeful again that it will not be too severe to hamper my progress towards my next destination. 

Lions Project : Same as Day 48

Weather forecasted to be raining but I was determined to make it to Sarajevo. In any case the whole week is forecasted to be wet. So no point waiting it out. I am hoping that the rain would be light and sparse. Just as I was about to leave , the rain became heavy so I decided to wait it out a while. Once the rain stopped to a drizzle I quickly pushed off in hope that it stays that way.

Well it did for awhile and then the rain started again. The wind also became gusty. Fortunately for the first time i experienced tail wind and in a few instance the tail wind actually propelled me forward up a climb a few times.  That was fun. I had to stop a few times and seek shelter because the rain was too heavy.

Around 30km to Sarajevo I took a coffee before continuing. After that the sky cleared and the sun started to appear. I am also making great time as its was mostly downhill all the way to Sarajevo. I arrived in Sarajevo around 1230 noon just in time for lunch.

For the first time I saw a fast food chain in the Balkans. I was tempted to  grab a Big Mac but resisted and went for Cervapi instead. I was happy I did.

Sarajevo looks interesting. I hope to explore more tomorrow

Lions Project : RM 223.60

Forecast for today in Mostar is rain. I was however determined to ride as long as the rain is not too heavy and wind not too gusty. It was not. Actually the day started rather grey but no rain. So after the usual breakfast from the host, I pushed off. The outside temperature was a crisp 10c with a slight headwind. The skies were however quite grey. After about 20KM or so the rain started. Most of the the time just light drizzle. It was nothing I could not handle so I continued cycling. 

The route was actually quite pleasant and scenic. Even with the grey background the landscape was stunning. Around 30KM mark I met a couple of tourers from Germany cycling from opposite direction. They are heading to Mostar. We chatted awhile before going separate ways. The German couple have been on tour I believe for 4 months already. You can check them out on Facebook.com/Rausgefahren

After another 15KM or so I was waved down by some truckers by the side of the road. They wanted to offer me food. I thought why not. So I pulled over to say hello to them. It seems that there are truckers from Turkey hauling stuff from Germany to Iran. One of the truckers seemed very amused that I would cycle from Istanbul. They offered me some Turkish soup and bread and also gave me a grapefruit and giant orange to take away.  That was so fun. After I finished my soup they packed up and left. 

Stomach full and warm I continued my journey towards Konjic which would be my target town to spend the night before Sarajevo. 

The rest of the journey was not too uncomfortable as the rain was light and it was only slightly cold. I stopped for lunch and had a wood fired Burek with cheese and 2 cups of Bosnian Coffee. 

I reached Konjic before 3 pm and was going around looking for the hostels I planned to check out. However I could not find any of them as there were no signboards at all. Finally I found one near the train station. 

Had a simple dinner and a beer and then replace both my front and rear brakes before turning in for an early rest. 

Tomorrow I plan get to Sarajevo. Hoping for mild weather. 

Lions Project : RM 217.70

It was such a beautiful day that I decided to stay one more day to enjoy Mostar. After a nice breakfast provided by the host, I went to the bus station looking for the bus to a village called Blagaj around 15KM from Mostar.  After checking with the bus counter  I was pointed to the right bus stop to wait. The next bus was 1130 and it was only 10 so I decided to walk to the old town to have a look. It was a nice walk and the old town was very pretty especially the famous bridges. 

I did not manage to finish seeing the sights because I had to go back to the bus station to catch the bus. I plan to return later in the day to continue with the tour of the old town Mostar. 

Bus fare was around 1 Euro one way. Blagaj is a famous placed where the Tekija Blagaj Devrish house is situation at the source of the river Buna build end 15th Century. It’s a very scenic and beautiful place. I took many pictures there. 

After waiting for a long time for the return bus to Mostar, I was finally back in Old town Mostar. I continued to soak in the sites of Mostar and had a nice local lunch. I took many pictures before returning back to the hostel to rest. 

Tomorrow I will head to Konjic which is halfway between Mostar and Sarajevo. Rain is forecasted for tomorrow. I hope it will be kind to me. 

Lions Project : Same as Day 45

What a brilliant campsite we had. I had a great sleep and it was not too cold. I think around 11C at night and morning. Since Mostar was only 40KM away we were not so much in a rush and so we took our time to have breakfast and decamped. We finally left the camp site at around 830am. The weather looked ok with scattered clouds here and there. So we were hopeful for fine weather. 

The day started off slightly cloudy and I was hopeful that it would be another good weather for riding. I was totally wrong. Just 20KM before Mostar, the weather turned and dark clouds began to loom and then slight drizzle. As I was approaching Mostar it began to get heavier with very gusty wind. I was determined to make it to the intended hostel where I was supposed to meet Fumi. So I pushed on. By now I was getting very cold but my rain jacket thankfully kept me dry. I was using MapsMe offline map to route me to the hostel. As I approached the building I remembered from reviews that this place was hard to find as there was no sign boards. Anyway I saw a lady with shopping bags and umbrella squatting at the stair case and she waved at me upon seeing me and I waved back and said Dada Hostel ? She said yes. Oh great Fumi must have got in first and told her to wait for me. Well it turned out that this was not the case. Fumi was nowhere to be seen. It was just pure luck and coincidence that she was resting from the rain after grocery shopping and saw me looking around so she figured I must be looking for her place. 

Anyway hostel is in a private home and it’s nice warm and homely. Also it cost 5 Euros per night including breakfast. A great bargain. After taking a quick shower I went to meet up with Fumi. It seems he couldn’t find Dada’s place so he checked into another hostel nearby. 

We met up to wish each other safe travels and goodbye as Fumi will be resting in Mostar for 5 days and also to fix his bike as his front hubs is giving way. He will be heading south back to Croatia and eventually to Portugal. 

I rewarded my self with a nice Bosnian Grilled veal liver and did a quick walk around and saw many buildings with scars form the war and genocide that happen here less than 20 years ago. The weather was still bad. It’s still windy and raining, so I decided to go back to the hostel to rest and catch up on the blog and also to plan my route. 

After awhile the host cooked dinner for me and it was veal liver again. I am now properly stuffed. I am staying indoors for the rest of the night as its cold and windy. I would love to spend more time to look around Mostar. Maybe I can do that tomorrow if weather permits. 

Lions Project : RM 210.30

A free day to explore the famous Dubrovnik. This place is very touristy and things are mighty expensive. So instead of taking an expensive cable car ride up to the peak to view Kings Landing aka Old Town walls of Dubrovnik, I hiked up instead. It’s free and good exercise too. I also left my bike in the hostel so I don’t have to worry about leaving if in public places. I took the local bus instead to the trail head.
The hike up to the top took me almost an hour with photo stops but it was pleasant. The trail is mostly steep at sections with at least 10 300 m or more long switchbacks before you reach the top. Half way, I bumped into Fumi yet again already done with the top and decending.  The view from the top is fantastic and well worth the hard hike. Decending took only 35 minutes or so.

After the hike I decided to visit the old town and take some pictures. Many many tourist but I did not see any Malaysians this time. You have to pay pay pay for everything include the walk on top of the city walls so I skipped everything and went back to the hostel to cook dinner.

Fumi and I cooked our dinner separately but we had dinner together. Chit chatted a while and also discussed about our route plans for tomorrow. We are both heading to Mostar in Bosnia. It seems that there is an easier route to Mostar and Fumi recommends that we should take that route. I couldn’t agree more. So it will be likely that we will both be riding together tomorrow towards Mostar. We will not reach Mostar as if is around 143KM away but our target is Metkovic which is around 90KM away. We decided to push off around 730am so that we have enough daylight to ride. It’s now getting dark at 530pm and sun starts to set at 430pm. So as I head towards the north not only the day is getting shorter the temperature is also dropping.

Lions Project : Same as Day 42