Hanging out in Havetoft

Havetoft is a tiny town of maybe 200 people. It is beautiful, very friendly people, but was here for 2 weeks with no transportation out. My bike had to go to the shop. I had noticed something was a bit off shortly after I left Sarajevo. Since there was nothing they could do there, with there being no BMW in the country (for bikes), I continued on. I knew there was BMW in Budapest, so I went there and asked them to look. I thoughht my forks were bent. Yes they are, and so is the front axle, was the answer. I could hang around for over a week till they fix it, or carry on safely. As I knew I was gonna hang out with my family for a few weeks, I opted to continue on. Slowly. I got up here, took it to the shop, and €1002 and 2 weeks later, I have her back! It's good to be riding again. I can't complain however. The people here are so nice.

One of the neighbours, Alex was going into Flensburg, so she took me in too. I got the train back to a nearby station, and Maike picked me up on her way home from work.

 

  

Then a couple of days later, Alex was going for half the day into Schleswig. So I went with. I wondered about all the places I have been before, but they are always lovely.

 

Then one day last week, I went into Hamburg. Still love that city. Had my usual cake at the Alster House. I go there everytime I am in Hamburg for a piece of cake. It is so good!!

Every weekend so far there has been something going on. Anniversary parties, birthday parties, for a little town, there is always something going on. It's great I love it! Amelie's birthday to the left, Alex and Gunnar's Anniversary party to the right.

 

Maike and I went to a Handball game in Flensburg to watch the home team kick Lübecker's arse! Good game. Very fast paced.

Went for a walk on the Schlei one sunny sunday afternoon. Plenty of puddles to be jumping....

Now I have found my new found freedom, I went yesterday to the North Sea, which is different. I hadn't seen anything like that before. I know they have that sort of thing in England, but I haven't been there. Shortly I will go for a ride around my Mum's home town, and tomorrow, I'm going to the Ost See, before visiting my cousin Sina near Hamburg for the weekend.

Wroclaw to Berlin

 

Wroclaw is not pronounced how you would think. At least not how I thought. It's actually Vrot-suave. Weird. Just for those unsure, it did used to be a German city called Breslau. They have this little quirk of having these little gnomes all over the place. there are 15 I think. I found 8 or 9. Just by wondering about. Considering I had only 2 hours of daylight, that's not bad.... 

 

 The old town was quite pretty. Very colourful, with nice open squares, but old town's in particular regions all start to look the same after a while... Though I can recommend Wroclaw as one of the nice ones.

 

 Crossing the border into Germany the next day on my way to Berlin. The first thing I see. The Golden arches. It was nice to be in a land where I could make myself understood at least. 

I settled into a commercial hostel for a couple of nights. I did the walking tour, which took us to alot of the places we went to at Christmas. I did surprise me to see so much green. Last time it was totally covered in snow. Quite a beautiful city really. It was the first really cold day, and it was freezing! I was well under-equiped. The top photo is of the university where Einstein worked, before he left for the USA. The lower photo is of the opera house and a church.

 The next day I took off early at 0730, and made it to my family in Havetoft, Germany, at about 1500ish. It was all solid riding, and there was a horrible freezing cold wind. On my heavily laden bike, winds are not fun. My utmost concentration was required to keep me in a straight line. Definately no Autobahns for me.

And on to Krakow.

 This is Andy. We crossed through Czech Republic, had lunch there, and then went on to Krakow. A long days riding, but enjoyable. The roads got quite bad in Poland, not to mention the traffic. I was very happy when we got to the hostel. Though the first one we tried was full, the second was closer to the Old Town, but we had to park the bikes up the street, round the corner, and in a little private parking lot. I'm sure they wanted to charge us for it, but we got away with it....

This the old Market Hall in the Market Square of Krakow. Pretty impressive square.

The next day we went into the old Market Hall, and had a gander. Some cool stuff. Lots of Amber jewellery, but most importantly, there were woolen skin things, perfect for my bike seat! Fantastic!!

After a nice relaxing morning wondering around the Old Town, we had a much more sobering afternoon at Auschwitz. It was very interesting, and the museum was well done. The film with footage was quite good. It was as depressing as expected.

Then on day 2 we did two walking tours. The first was the of the old town, and this photo is of the original gate that still stands. It was never penetrated, cause there were something like 7 gates between it and the town.

The afternoon was spent walking around what was the Jewish Ghetto in WWII. It was also the place where Shindler's factory was. Turns out that the movie version of Schindlers List, was a little off base on facts, as was the book. But he did help alot of people. I need to read more about that...

It was time to leave, and I had my very comfortable throne installed. It was so lovely to sit on!! My bike is so overloaded it's not funny, at least I know a bit more next time about what I need, and don't.

On my way out of Krakow, I stopped by Birkenau. I am quite glad I split it into 2 days. It would have been too much otherwise. This photo is of the train tracks and the entrance to the Camp. Quite a scary view.

After spending a few hours there, I left Krakow and headed for Wroclaw. Andy came with me to Birkenau, and then peeles off and did a marathon run back to London. Only stopping for fuel breaks. And on his bike, that wasn't very often...

Continuing on from Pecs.

Budapest

Spent the next 2 days in Budapest. Above is the Opera house, which I did a tour of, and it was beautiful! Rich fabrics and gold paint everwhere. The little fella to the right is one of Budapests many quirky art peices. One of the things that baffles me about Hungary is the language! It's nothing like anything I've heard before!! 

 I spent a few hours at the Terror House (left) which threw some light on Hungary's terrible recent past. A very enlightening few hours if very depressing. Made very good by the many personal accounts on video of the goings-on during that period. Then I lightened up the evening by going to a folk-music and dancing evening in one of the parks (above). I didn't participate in the dancing, but I sure enjoyed watching, and the music was quite good too.  

 The next day I did 2 walking tours of the city. One of Buda, and the other of Pest. Very interesting stuff. To the right is the main cathedral, which is one of the reasons I need to go back to Budapest, to go inside.

 

 After 2 days in Budapest, It was time to leave. I left Budapest via the Statue Park. A park with all the statues from around the city during the soviet era. They were all but 2 ripped up and were going to be trashed, but someone decided it was worth keepinng as a memory. So way out of town, this park was organised.

 

 Another long day of pretty riding, in which Andy (from HU) joined me. We followed the Danube up to the Slovakian border, and then made it to Bratislava. Just before it got dark. Good timing once again. We didn't see much of the city, just a good pub with great food. Back to the hostel for a good nights rest, then shoot for Krakow tomorrow.

To be Continued.......

A Photographic Catch-Up

It has admittedly been quite a long time since I wrote. Thank you Nikki for the prod. I left Sarajevo after 2 weeks. It is a place that I definately want to go back to, I was lucky to get out this time. It catches you and doesn't want to let you go!

To get used to the idea of riding again, Wojtek and I went up into the mountains. It happened to be the same route I did when I had the accident. No issues this time! This photo is at the Olympic ski jump site.

Finally the day came where I packed everything up and said goodbye to the city and it's wonderful people. Many good memories. Thanks guys!!

                  

I rode for quite a while through the beautiful countryside of Bosnia, then through a very rural part of Croatia, before finally crossing into Hungary. It seemed to be all rural that I saw, though it was beautiful.                           

I called it a day in this very pretty, old city of Pecs in Hungary. I made it before dark, which is always the goal...

To be continued

Back in Sarajevo at last.

I made it back here last week. I flew in late thursday evening, and as I was leaving the airport to find a taxi to finish my journey, Nedzla popped out! She and her dad had come to pick me up. It was a lovely suprise, and then when we got back to the hostel, she and her family welcomed me into their home for a chat. They then fed me, some fantastic capiscums stuffed with meat and rice. a local dish that I love, but it is also so much better when it is home made. Tastes delicious.

Since then, I have spent time catching up with people, wondering around town and just hanging out, like I would at home. I have looked at the bike. The guy had got it running, but I had to get it idling, and she does. But there is a rattle in the exhaust at revs any higher than 3000. Noisy. It had me scared for a bit there, but an expat biker here came and looked at it, and confirmed it was the exhaust, and after some time and questions on online forums, the advice is keep riding. So that is what I intend to do. BUT, I also had a problem with the front wheel being rotated (twisted forks), so we have pretty much fixed that, with the hope that the forks aren't bent. I will find out when I hit a pothole, at slow speed hopefully.... And again, but, when we were fixing the rotation, we found that the handlebars themselves were rotated. Looking closely, we realised we had to pull it apart. The bolt in the left handlebar clamp was bent. Considering it is high tensile steel, that is quite impressive! Aside from the crash, the reason it probably bent is because there is a cushioning pad that is missing. So now my mission is to get that replaced, possibly by a local guy who will make one, and then fashion a cushion myself. Getting parts here will be a nightmare, and I have been riding the bike for over a year like that, so it will do for a couple of months, then when I get back to London I will source it, and maybe a new handlebar too. The handlebar is still bent but not too badly.

So that is the bike. Due to this, and me not getting my act together, I will be staying here in Sarajevo till next week. I am not upset at all by this, I will thouroughly enjoy hanging out here, and I can see myself coming back many times. I will update when I know what I am doing. but over the next few days I have the opportunity to go to Zagreb with a friend for the weekend. I also may go pillion with an Aussie-Polish guy on an Africa Twin to the pyramids nearby. That will be fun. I still haven't been able to ride my bike! Argh. Soon, That should motivate me to get moving shouldn't it?   

View from the hostel terrace, no wonder I am stuck here!

So, it's been a while.....

Since I last wrote, I flew from Sarajevo back to London, because my knee just wasn't improving... I got back to London 5 weeks after the accident, and jumped straight into Physio. And I have been going to the Physio ever since. I had an MRI that stated I had Patella Tendinitis and fluid on the knee. So the Doc said that would be a couple of months of healing. And then the Physio suggested Acupuncture. I was quite doubtful of the benefits of acupuncture, not least because of the needles. But as it turns out, it works! I now have much more flexibility and the swelling has gone down. I can ride a bike, go swimming, and walk around without much of a limp. There is still a way to go, I still limp down steps, but I can go up them almost normally. I can't run. And there is no stamina. After 3 or 4 hours of walking about, it is time to elevate the leg. But it is improving! 

So to bide my time whilst in London (I can't work because I can't stand for 12 hours), I have been doing things that I have been wanting to do for some time. The BBC Proms is a classical music festival that goes for 2 months at the Royal Albert Hall, and I have managed to go to that several times. For only a fiver, it's hard to find excuses not to go.... I have also been to the Royal Opera House and watched a show with the Mariinsky Ballet company for St Petersburg, and also saw a show that showcased the different singing styles from around the world. All very fascinating stuff! There are still things that I want to do in London, which I somehow think I will find time to do... 

I also went to the Horizons Unlimited Meeting in Ripley. A great weekend where Bikers from all over the world get together and share travel stories and advice. On Thursday, I am going to Scotland to another meeting of Lady only travel bikers. It's promising to be a great weekend!

That is pretty much all that has been going on. I plan to fly back to Sarajevo in the first week of September. My bike is running, so I have been told, I am not sure about the handlebars and indicator though, though they should be fairly easy to sort out before I go back over. So I hope to continue on my trip going up through Serbia, to Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland to Maike's house hopefully in October and spend a couple of weeks there. Then I will head back to England via Netherlands and Belgium and maybe Luxembourg... That is the plan for now, but that can easily change, as I have already proven. Fingers crossed it will go like that though!!

Still in Sarajevo nearly 4 weeks later.

I have remained in Sarajevo since the accident. Two weeks after I got the stitches out, but my knee was still so nicely swollen and bruised. I thought I would wait a week, thinking that by then it would be stronger and I would be able to bend it. I was wrong. It is still quite swollen, I still cannot walk much on it. I can walk around the hostel without crutches, but any further, I definitely need them. The first couple of weeks were a bit torturous, the hostel was very quiet, therefore boring, and I couldn't really leave. But the last week it has gotten busier, and I have gone out stubbornly with people who are coming through. I am meeting some really great people. I even have the offer to go and stay in Budapest if I need longer respite time. Fantastic! The only thing is, that with my knee not getting any better, I want to go back to London to get it sorted, and to make sure that it is OK inside. I am now waiting for my travel insurance to get back to me on whether they will help me with that. But right now, I took the bus to Mostar to get away for a little while. I needed a change of scenery, and a couple of girls were headed down this way that I have spent a few days with, and I decided to go with them. The bus ride is only 2.5 hours, so if I need to get back to Sarajevo, I can. The bike is still broken. I have taken it slightly apart, but have not succeeded in diagnosing anything yet. I think my best option will be to take it back to Split, to the same BMW shop that fixed it last time, and then let them sort it out. There is no BMW here, and Haris' dad (the guy who runs the hostel in Sarajevo) has offered to take me and the bike there in his van. That family has been so helpful. Haris has sorted out all my insurance and police stuff, his sister Nedjula has cooked me dinner for the last 3 weeks, and their parents have been so lovely. This whole ordeal would have been a lot worse without them... Bureaucracy moves at a snail pace here, and I am still waiting for insurance to go through, though that could also be partly because Haris has been doing it on top of all his other stuff. He has no spare time, and he still does this for me.

So the current plan is to get the bike to Split, me to London, and get us both fixed. Then once I know where I stand with both of those things, I will reevaluate my plans. If I need more time to recuperate, Budapest. If I am healthy enough to backpack, but not ride, I'll go to the Greek Isles and Cyprus. If I don't want to ride at all, I will get the bike back to London somehow, Or I may just backpack around eastern Europe, and ride back though Western Europe. I have many options, but first and most importantly I need to get my knee sorted. As long as my travel bug doesn't dessert me entirely...

Getting stuck in Sarajevo....

Well I got to Sarajevo OK. I spent the first day in museums. 3 to be exact. First the history museum, where there were a lot of photo's of the Siege of Sarajevo. There was also a small mock-up of a house and how they had to live during the war. It was quite unreal, especially when you realise that the people I meet have lived in this way in thier lifetime. Then after that I wnet to the tunnel museum, where you can see how the people built a tunnel under the airport to the part of Sarajevo that is free. It was quite fascinating. They built this 800m tunnel, that allowed, citizens to get out, and supplies to get in. Nedzla, who is the daughter of the household that runs this hostel, was born in 1994, in the heart of the war, and was taken as a baby to through the tunnel to the safer area. I foudn my way back to the city centre, and went to the national museum. It was quite a nice building, somehow not wrecked by the war, but still felt very young. they did have the sacred book for Jews, the Sarajevo Haggadah from 1350. They also had the botanical gardens within the courtyard of the museum. As you can imagine, that is rather small. But it was lovely. There was also a ballet lesson, in the centre of the gardens. I relaxed that night at the hostel, and the next day I wondered about the old town. I found the spot where Franz Ferdinand was assasinated, triggering WWI. I had the best Burek yet for lunch that day, and then I headed back to the hostel. I got geared up, because there is a traditional village in the mountains surrounding Sarajevo. It was a beautiful ride, gorgeous curvy roads. The thing that made it different to other sceneries, is that there were 'Danger Mines' signs along the road. I couldn't help but think that if you were unlucky enough to come off the bike, and survive the fall and miss the trees, what are the chances of when you get up and walk to the road, will you stand on a land-mine? Morbid I know, but it adds another element to the unknown. I saw remnants of the 1984 Winter Olympics, the long ski jump, which is massive! I rode around for a while, trying to find that village, but after a while, I had no luck, so I turned  back. I really should have left in the morning, but had wanted to do those other things in the morning. But I wasn't too dissapointed. the mountains were beautiful, and I learnt later that it was a 2 and a half hour drive to that village, and some of that was on bad dirt road. 

Then it all turned to pot. I was coming back in to Sarajevo, just a few kilometres out, when I was in a line of traffic. The lead car was a bit on the slow side, so I had a couple of people over take me. This was nothing new though. Then I had a car suddenly next to me, and she was pulling over into the gap that I was still occupying. I tried to apply the brakes, and also veer to the side, but it was no use. She bumped me with her back rear side and I bounced off and hit the ground. I slid on my back for a while, long enough for me to change the position of how I was sliding, and think about how the bike wasslidig behind me, and that it may catch up with me. I also thought about the other cars, hoping that they would be able to stop. By the amount that I had thought, I had thought I had slid about 20m, but I later found out it was 41m! I think that is quite impressive. I came to a stop, the motorbike did give me a little bump on the back of the head as it came to a stop, but only a little. When I stopped I was shaking, as would be expected I guess. I then realised my knee knee really hurt. I dragged myself off the road, and then there were people all around me. Some left when they saw I was alive and talking, but one specific guy was lovely. He called the ambulance and police. And the girl who caused it all was a wreck herself. I ended up consoling her! I thought that was amusing. She was only young, 21, and had only been driving a short while. My bike was lifted and taken to the side of the road by a couple of guys, and then the ambulance came. I was surprised that one of the people with the ambulance was  Australian! He was doing work experience. It was nice to speak to someone in English. He couldn't speak the local language, though some of the people could speak a little. The police arrived and started doing their thing. I left in the ambulance, leaving the police with my bike and drivers licence. I spent a while in the hospital, had an x-ray, minor surgery under local aneasthetic (when I peeked, she had her finger inside my knee), and then a tetanus injection. I was sent home with a drain and a bandage around my knee. Luckily it was only a flesh wound and nothing as broken. The police man took me back to the hostel, and breath-tested me. I passed! 0.00%, which is the legal limit. 

I have since spent the last week  going to the hospital every morning for a dressing change, hobbling around on crutches, and catching up with the police things. The police stuff took a good 4 days, and still isn't quite complete. The insurance people have yet to come and look at the bike, and hopefully that will be done soon. The stitches will be out this week sometime, and hopefully I can start walking again soon. I've been spending my days bumming around in the hostel. The crutches hurt my hands, and the hostel is on a mighty hill, so going far is not an option. Ah well. Hopefully next time I blog I will have some progress news. oh, and to top it off, I havebroken my laptop screen, so I need to replace that as well as everything else!!

Bosnia and Herzegovina...

The island with the monastry.

I left Dubrovnik hoping to get that ferry, but it turns out that is only a passenger ferry. So I had to ride 50km back up the coast to get the vehicle ferry. It was a nice ride at least. I found accommodation in Sobra on Mljet, where the ferry landed. There were no tourists that I could see. The campsites were all shut. I had a dalmatian steak for dinner, and that was so good! They soak it in wine overnight I believe. The next day I went to the National park at the other end. It is a national park mainly because of the 2 lakes, which are technically bays, because they are tidal with an outlet to the sea, but they are beautiful. The water is so clear! Far too cold to swim though. It was 24 degrees, but still too cold. I got the boat out to the monastery on the island. It was overgrown, and there were skinks running about in the sun everwhere. It added to the charm of it being old and out use. I had to get back to Sobra for the ferry, so I didn't stay as long as I might have liked. But I was heading for Bosnia and Herzegovina! I was very excited about that. There is a small section of Bosnia that gets to the ocean, so people driving split to Dubrovnik need to pass a checkpoint. I needed to go through there myself. But the Sat Nav took me around to a locals only border point. So they turned me around and made me go to the main one by the sea. I knew I shouldn't have listened to it! I got through the border without even showing my passport! He just looked at me and waved me on. It was almost too easy. I had to then ride half an hour into Croatia again, before I got to the Bosnian border proper.

The Bosnian border. Don't think I was supposed to take a photo. Whoops.

The Croatian lady looked at my passport and waved me on, and there was a slight line for the Bosnian side. While I was in line, a motorcyclist pulled up next to me. He started to chat. Told me Mostar was straight ahead, 40km. Nice. The Bosnian border guy didn't look at my passport either! I had wanted a stamp! It's like their not taking me seriously. Should I be annoyed that they don't seem to care enough to stamp me into their country? I don't know. I pulled over straight away, the weather was getting nasty so I needed my jacket lining. While I was there, some guys in a car honked at me as the pulled away from the border. I headed up the road, it was a major road, but only one lane, and quite a slow sped limit. I had only gone 500m round the corner when the guys in that car were beside the road. They gave me a thumbs up and a honk, and then pulled out behind me. I was watching them carefully in case they did anything stupid, but they behaved and followed for a while. They were gone soon enough. It was amusing. I got to Mostar and it turns out that the Sat Nav only has the 2 main roads, none others. So I had to call the hostel, and they came and picked me up. It's run by a lovely family, and I will be here 4 nights tonight. Every morning their mum cooks me breakfast, always something different and local. Always delicious. I say she cooks me something, because, 2 out of 3 mornings, I have been the only one there. I am in the outlier hostel as the main one is full. On the first day here I wondered about the old town looking at the bridge for which Mostar is famous, some old Ottoman period houses that somehow survived the war and just looked around. 

The old town is a captivating place.

On the second day I did a tour with the brother of the household. He gave a harrowing account of his own experience of the war, and explained the tensions that still continue today. It is not easy to be Bosnian. The Croats and Serbs have it a lot easier, and they still shun the Bosnians. It is evident even within the town itself. Structurally. The Croat side is mostly rebuilt, and many shopping centres are newly built. But the Bosnian side has still many ruins. There is no physical border, and people come and go wherever they want, but mentally within the people there is still a massive fence. We got out of the city and went to Medugorje which is a catholic pilgrimage site, then to the Kravice waterfalls, then to an Ottoman medieval town, and then to a Muslim site.

This is the statue of Jesus that split at the knee, and now weeps tears. Apparently...

The Kravice Waterfalls. A mini Niagara. Some people swam, but they were blue when they came out. I did not.

The Medieval Ottoman town. Destroyed in the war, so now only partly inhabited.

The Dervish house. That river comes out of a cave in the cliff base.

It was a very long, informative day. A 14 hour tour. An amazing day. Today I had meant to leave Mostar, but as we didn't get back till 11 last night, I decided to stay, relax and do some things I needed catching up on. I also went up a sniper tower, that is now an abandoned building. It's a 9 story concrete building, with only the concrete left. The glass is shattered, and anything else worth taking has been looted. I climbed the stairs to the top and went on the roof. Amazing views of the city, and you can see why they snipered from it. There are still a lot of shell casing in amongst the rubble, and also on the office floor, papers, receipts, and office furniture. It was all very surreal. It's not a tourist site, but there us nothing stopping you from going in, so I did.

This is the building that was the snipers nest.

If you look carefully in the rubbish you can see bullet casings.

The rubish left behind. Left to rot.

I am ready to go tomorrow to Jajce. Up in the mountains somewhere in the north west of Bosnia, then I’ll head to Sarajevo.