Travelsonabike2 Albania Tuesday 8th-October 2013

Hills and houses

Bicycle-Touring Europe 8th-October 2013 Sveti Stefan, Montenegro to Bushat, Albania. 69 miles. Well, I left the hotel this morning and wished I’d hadn’t! It‘s been another wet day, and by 4 o’clock, I’d had enough and checked into a hotel.

Rainbow over building
A rainbow over the hotel this morning

At the hotel in Sveti last night, a rather large family had checked in. Not too sure if all the children were from the same family. But there was about six of them running around screaming! Which didn’t bother me too much. It made for some entertainment! However, I did get a bit annoyed when I found a couple of them playing near my bike! My bike was in a courtyard/storage area in the hotel, so there was no need to be in there. After seeing them playing in the room, I went over to see what they were up to. And have a bit of a go at them. I checked my bike over but couldn’t see anything wrong. Not until this morning anyway! The little !*!@%? Had taken my dust caps, hardly the crime of the century, but it still annoyed me!

I did um and ah for quite a while this morning whether to leave the hotel or not. The weather wasn’t great, and although it wasn’t raining constantly, there were plenty of showers around. But I couldn’t face another day sitting around the hotel, watching TV! Or those kids! So I took the plunge and left and almost instantly regretted it when the first shower started! And that’s how the weather has been all day, one shower after another! No sooner would I dry off from one storm than it would start raining again!

It’s a rough old hotel tonight, but the shower was nice and hot! The sign outside says they have a restaurant. They don’t! When I asked about the restaurant, I got directed to the petrol station across the road, and the little supermarket! But for €15 for the night, I don’t mind cooking my own dinner. After all, it’s not as though I can’t.

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Travelsonabike2 Montenegro Monday 7th-October 2013

Island fort

Bicycle-Touring Europe 7th-October 2013 a wet day in Sveti Stefan. Looking out my hotel window this morning, it was grey and overcast and didn’t look very pleasant at all. I had breakfast and went back to my room to get my bags and leave. But in the time it took to get from the restaurant to my room it started to rain.

Thinking that maybe it would pass over quickly, I thought I’d give it half an hour to see if it would stop. It didn’t. Instead, it got worse with the wind getting up and the rain getting heavier! That was it. I wasn’t going anywhere today. It was miserable riding conditions out there and no fun at all! As it turned out it was the right decision, the bad weather continued into the afternoon.

Car Ferry
The Lepetane to Kamenari ferry I took yesterday

I had a lazy morning in my hotel room with the rain coming down outside. Watching crap TV, although to be honest, there was quite a good selection of English/American channels. As far as I was concerned, the main one was the Discovery channel. I could watch “Mythbusters” and “How it’s Made”. Boring men’s TV but good!

Rugged coastline
Looking along the coast
The Rain’s Stopped

After the rain had stopped, I went down to Sveti Stefan. Not that there’s a lot to see! Sveti Stefan is or was an island. It’s not an island anymore! And it’s now some luxury hotel, with owns the private beaches on the mainland! The only thing down there was a closed restaurant with an ATM! While there, I thought I’d make use of the ATM, only to find out my card had split and was unusable! Luckily I have other cards, so it’s not a major problem!

I’m hoping for a better day tomorrow to get back on the road! It’s too boring here!

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Travelsonabike2 Montenegro Sunday 6th-October 2013

Hills town and sea

Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is cycle touring in Montenegro on Sunday, 6th-October-2013. Dubrovnik, Croatia to Sveti Stefan, Montenegro. 61 miles. It turned out that the hotel last night wasn’t such a bad choice after all. It was the only hotel along the road. The only other hotels were down in Dubrovnik, which involved another hill! I probably got a better view of the city this morning as I was riding out!

Houses by water
Looking back down on Dubrovnik

Talking to the barman last night, he told me that he could remember the Croatian war and the bombing of Dubrovnik in 1991! He was only ten at the time, but he says it is still a vivid memory! And that there is still a lot of distrust between Croatia and Serbia! In fact, he wouldn’t even mention Serbia. He would only refer to them as them! He also said that he didn’t understand any resentment from the younger generation as they weren’t born! But maybe it’s still not that long ago, and they are reminded about it by their parents! It’s hard to believe that anything like that could happen in this day and age! I also remember it well.

Sign
At the Montenegro border

I had another big climb up to the Montenegro border or rather the Croatian border. The Montenegrin border was halfway down the other side. Crossing the borders wasn’t any problem, although I was surprised to get a stamp from Montenegro. But hey, it’s always good to get another stamp in the passport!

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Travelsonabike2 Croatia Saturday 5th-October-2013

Houses by water

Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is cycle touring in Croatia on Saturday, 5th-October-2013. Makarska to Dubrovnik. 93 miles. Another hard ride with some pretty big climbs!

Welcome sign in different languages
Yay, a new country

I passed through Bosnia and Herzegovina today, although if I’d blinked, I’d have missed it! I wasn’t even there for an hour! It was only six miles from entering the country to leaving it! And to be honest, it didn’t look any different to any other part of this coast! But then I suppose it was all one country, Yugoslavia, back in the day.

Houses by water
Neum the only town I passed through in Bosnia and Herzegovina

I learned today that the strong winds I experienced further back up the coast happen every year! The winds start in October and last through winter. They tend to spread along the entire Adriatic coast. They’ve just not got down this far yet! Best I get peddling a bit faster before it catches me up!

EU country sign
And goodbye, that was brief!

I’m not too sure about tonight’s hotel. It’s rather posh! From the road, it only looks like a small place. But the hotel is built into the hillside. Reception is at the top of the building to get to the rooms. You go down in the lift! Mind you, it does look out over Dubrovnik, and in the daylight, it’s possibly a good view. I had wanted to go out and explore Dubrovnik a bit tonight, but my leg is just too painful! I ended up sitting in the restaurant looking out over the lights of Dubrovnik and drinking beer, of course!

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.

You can also follow my progress and see where I stop each night by visiting the Where’s Garry web page; there, you’ll find a map of the route I’ve taken so far.

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