A time for different colours

I just had to double check when I last posted an update on my trip - it was just as I was leaving Tirana a week and a half ago. Since then I have gone through Shkodra, across Montenegro to Kotor, up into Croatia to see Dubrovnik, then north-east through Bosnia and Herzegovina to get to where I am now, in Sarajevo. I’ll keep this brief, because it would take me wayyyy too long to describe everything! But more time on Sarajevo, because that’s all pretty fresh and exciting! Shkodra - Cool, smaller city. Some nice late-1800s architecture, a couple mosques, and a castle with a view. I spend a fair bit of time just lounging in the common patio area in front of the hostel. They had some craft beer on tap, and good company! What more could you ask for? Kotor - It was a short-ish day cycling from Shkodra to Kotor. Not too many mountains, which is alway a little appreciated! A lot of the day felt like being up on a two lane version of the Sea to Sky highway at home. Cliffs on one side, then a rock wall on the other. I did take the option to avoid a hill climb and take a tunnel for the final couple kilometers into Kotor - It was probably a bad decision because none of the 2.2km had ventilation and the exhaust was exacerbated by the dust kicked up by the moving vehicles. Kotor’s old town made me think a lot of Venice. Lots of winding alleyways that often open out onto a square with a church in it. On my “day off,” I ended up cycling to a lookout point 950m above the town! I’m not entirely sure when my idea of a fun day-off activity became cycling 20km and 900+ vertical meters. I guess I’m a cyclist now? Dubrovnik - I was warned before leaving Kotor that things were about to get much, much more expensive. They were right. The hostel I found was 2km outside of the old town, but still 50% more expensive than the hostel I had just left that was directly in the middle of Kotor’s old town. I spent the late afternoon and following morning walking around the old town. It was nice and all, but a little too busy with the multiple busloads of tourists brought from cruise ships, or who knows where else. I was told about a cool microbrewery by a Finnish guy I met in Kotor - it’s nice every once and a while to splurge and pay more than $1 for a better tasting beer. Sarajevo - The first day of riding to Sarajevo was probably the hottest day I’ve had on the bike yet. I had a really hard time keeping my fluids up, it like I was sweating out just as much as I was able to put in. There was essentially no shade cover for the whole day as I climbed from sea level up to 1200m over the course of the day. Right after a quick icecream break in Gacko (and an opportunity to refill on water), I was a little shocked to see a portrait of Ratko Mladic on the side of a supermarket facing the highway. Mladic, as you may be aware, was recently convicted of genocide and war crimes at the Hague for his role in the Bosnian conflict and the Srebrenica massacre. Some things I may never fully understand. (One thing I forgot to mention earlier was the owner of the Guesthouse in Rila, Bulgaria and his response to the US/Britain/France bombings in Syria. He was completely certain that the whole chemical weapons thing was a western fabrication and that the west was over-stepping Syria’s sovereignty). I did find a great little camping spot after nearly 130km of riding with a beautiful mountain vista to gaze at while I ate my instant noodles. I was pretty nervous about camping in Bosnia, there is still a lot of unexploded ordnance hidden in the bush from the 92-96 conflict. Apparently best practice is to stay close to obviously worn trails and obey warning signs - still nerve wracking. Day two to Sarajevo was much more pleasant! I was able to descent for a good portion of the day - and almost all of the day was spent alongside different rivers while going up or down through canyons with cliffs reaching up to 2200m on either side. I’ve kept pretty busy in Sarajevo over the past two days. Spent almost half the time with a woman from San Fran. Joined her for a morning walking tour, ended up getting lunch with her and a new friend from Norway. The three of us were joined by a Norwegian colleague for a drink in the afternoon, and we reconvened in the evening as well! I also found time that day to visit a museum/photo gallery for the Srebrenica genocide and hike up to the abandoned 1984 bobsleigh track above the city. The track was a bit of a highlight. I liked the physical challenge of trying to cover the 4km/550m (each way) in less than two hours so I could meet up for drinks in the evening. I also have really come to like the expression of art in the graffiti that lined the turns of the track. Today I cycled to the Tunnel of Hope museum. During the seige of Sarajevo a tunnel was built to ensure that food, supplies, and weapons could get through to the people in the city. Fun fact from the walking tour yesterday - the brewery was crucial for the survival of the city - it lies on a natural spring that provided water for the trapped population. The tunnel - there’s only a few meters open to the public, likely because the other nearly 800m runs underneath the international airport runway. Once out at the tunnel I decided that I was “close enough” (13km 700m) to the abandoned ski jumping venue from the 1984 Olympic Winter Games. It was impressive, but not quite as striking as the bobsleigh track! I dodged thunderstorms on the way down the mountain and back into Sarajevo where I have been taking it relatively easy for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Tomorrow the plan is to cycle 130km to Mostar for a couple nights before continuing west to get back to Croatia! Let’s hope my legs have it in them after the last four days of work I’ve put them through! Still trying to plan out my time to get to Kaliningrad in 43 days! Also still trying to work out how I’m going to get my FanID and my ticked (the things that let me get into the country/into the stadium). I always feel like I have a half dozen things on the go at once!