Zagreb, Mreznicki Brig, Selece, Lopar, Simuni, Zadar, Split, Dubrovnic, Monulat, Budva, Ulcinji, Shkoder
After resting up in Zagreb and more importantly having a plan I was ready to get back on the bike. I was to head out of Zagreb towards Duga Resa, Ogulin, Jasenak and onto Crikvenica and across the island of Krk. From there the plan was to bike down the islands of Croatia and onto Montenegro.
After a reasonably flay first day I know that from Ogulin to Crikvenica would involve some climbing.
Looking towards Ogulin
The road to Jasenak
There were 2 main climbs to get across to the coast. Though they were not that steep they were long and both got me near 1000m up. The first climb lasted an hour and the second nearly two hours.
I was biking in the clouds and the rain in the second climb
When I made it to the other side of the mountains it was sunny and this is what i had made it over.
This is what awaited me - a long downhill to the coast!
This is my first look at the Adriactic sea.
After the night camping I made my way to the island of Krk via the bridge.
There was not a lot of room for me and the bike to walk along side and it was a long way down.
I had been warned of the traffic on the coastal roads during peak tourist season and it was much worse than I had imagined. I counted 30 cars going past in 250m of biking.
There is no room for cyclists on the Croatian roads and it was a little bit dangerous and with so many cars and so little room. I made it across Krk and took the ferry to Lopar.
At Lopar I stayed in a very large campground. The island was beautiful but there were tourists everywhere and all kinds of attractions that to me didn't make a lot of sense.
I guess it what people want with their holidays on the beach but it wasn't what I had expected in Croatia. I had forgotten one of the golden rules of travelling - have no exportation's as you can only be disappointed if its not what you expect.
What was a beautiful place had been over run with tourist activities.
My neighbours in Lopar. They have put down artificial grass and lit it up with LED's. Classy.
I continued on the next day and arrived at Rab. From there it was a ferry ride to Lun.
The ride from Lun to Novalja was spectacular. It started with a steep climb out of Lun and then for around 20k it was biking heaven. It was sunny, no cars, olive groves, hills and amazing views. I seriously considered going back to bike it again.
All good things must end and it was back to reality after Noralja. I camped at Simuni. This was the biggest campsite I have ever seen. This is the camp map and the map I was using to get around Croatia.
The campsite was basically a car park. Not so nice. Then it was a climb the next morning and onto Pag.
The town of Pag
I have some work to do on getting the self timer working properly!
From Pag it was onto Zadar. Over the past few days I had been thinking about my planned route through Croatia and biking the Islands and I had decided that it wasn't really working. At any time I felt I could be knocked off the bike because the roads were so narrow and the traffic so great. I need to get to Africa and not a Croatian hospital so I decided to bike to Zadar and then catch a ferry to Dubrovnic where there was less traffic. It was a difficult decision but as beautiful as biking the coast was it was equally as dangerous.
After a 70k ride to Zadar in 35 degree heat I get to the ferry terminal and find there is no ferry to Dubrovnic. I need to take a bus. I would rather be taking this very large boat.
When travelling things often don't go as planned so it was a bus ride to Split then the night bus that departed at 2am and arrived at 6.30am in Dubrovnic.
Waiting for a bus.
After very little sleep on the bus I made my way out of Dubrovnic.
It was hilly, hot and I was dirty after a 70k ride the day before and I had a number of hills to get over to get to the campsite at Monulat.
I had no idea there were turtles in Croatia. This one was around 3km from the ocean.
After a day off I made my way towards Montenegro. The traffic had reduced significantly and there was some more spectacular scenery.
The Croatia/Montenegro border.
Ferry crossing in Montenegro
I biked along the Montenegro Coast for 3 days. It was very similar to Croatia except cheaper. I could have stayed longer in Montenegro but it was peak season and so busy that it wasn't that appealing. I also wanted to get to Albania.
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Some interesting buildings in the town of Bar
I biked along the coastal motorway for the length of Montenegro. The speed limit was 80k and most of it was single lane. There were hills. Many hills.
It was around 35 degrees for all my time in Montenegro. Here I have just come out of a tunnel after a long climb.
I arrived in Ulcinj and made may way to the campsite on the beach I found this chicken place on the way. Half a chicken and half a litre of beer - the perfect dinner after a long ride.
Campsite in Ulcinj.
There was a 2km line of cars to get over the border into Albania. Being on the bike
I rode up the wrong side of the road to the front and was in Albania within 20 minutes.
Albania! Just a man out walking his cows.
I am now in the town of Shkoder and have been updating the blog and working out a route for Albania. The route part has been easier than I thought as I am just going to follow an existing route that takes out the traffic and let me see the highlights of Albania.
Shkoder, Albania
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