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Published: September 18th 2009
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Dubrovnik
Great city to explore by foot, need to find a time with few tourists though A lot has happened since the last entry, will try to summerise , left the nice place in south Croatia, weather was very hot, was very relaxed and cruising along when i see a bobby waving me over, hmm speeding 100 something in a 50 zone, bit cheeky as well out of the village and catching loads luckily my wallet was almost empty bar loads of receipts, show him the article about the ambulance and he lets me off the 1000kuna fine , about £150. nice chap and i will remember to send him a Christmas card. Had a few stops and also spent quite a lot of time looking around Dubrovnik which is now in Bosnia, very impressive, Hit the road again and stop for lunch in Monte negro at a roadside shack, had what others were eating which was a stew being cooked over a wooden fire, lots of really nice chunks of meat amongst the bones, good value only a couple of quid. From Monte negro caught a ferry then onwards over a mountain range into Albania. Now everyone must and I stress must experience Albania once in there lifetime, it is the wild west... every now and
for sale or rent
think i will pass on buying a property here, again in the middle of nowhere there would be a twenty something bloke, tight black t shirt with shades on (even though the light was fading ) just standing there, what were they doing ?? drugs? who knows I didn't hang around to ask. Got to a largish town and it was now dark but you wasn't going to stop I assure you, no street lights , vehicles with no lights people everywhere and it was everyman for himself, there were piles of debris to avoid riding on the walkway was ok and people just sat around outside playing cards by what little light they could muster. Occasionally you would see a brother pimping his sister, most disturbing, and that is when i recognised the same prostitute twice, (nice dress !) the bloody garmin was lost a had sent me in a 40k circle. not the sort of town to be doing this in..found a cop van talking to some ladies of the night and asked there opinions on getting out of the fookin place, they obliged by switching on the blues and twos and giving me a high speed escort out of town, I wished them well and hoped
best shower in the world
after a massively hard day this was better than, well you can imagine... to never return the garmin at this point was still telling me to do a u turn!!!! I headed for the next town hoping to get a bed for the night, stopped at a place that didn't look too bad but only charged by the hour, sort of put me off a bit. By this time I had done 3 tanks of juice and close to 900km, I was tired and emotional before the next town was a great big mountain range, I didn't know until i hit it, shale pot holed roads, no armco just shear drops and to spice things up packs of dogs 20-30 at a time roaming the roads savaging the waste which was everywhere. Normally they didn't try anything but on one uphill hairpin, don't forget no streetlights, pot holed and shale roads and this great big hound of the baskerville dog launched itself at me from my left, I just hit the gas and preyed as it missed me by inches, that was the last straw I had to find somewhere, it was now close to 11.00. At the next town stopped and asked another couple of cops if there was any hotels etc
road to nowhere
fate and the Delta gave me a wonderful introduction to Greece once they realised what I was asking and they had stopped laughing about it they said try the brazillia in about 10k, 20k later no hotel was to be found then like an oasis bright lights on the horizon with my spirits high I approached Igor who said yeah i could stay, yep the moto was no problem and 17euro a bit of a bargain, walked inside it was a palace, all polished marble, power shower with a sound system in it, a bed you could loose yourself in, i was in heaven. Don't know what Igor did but it certainly paid well, had a drink with him and then crashed. Woke to find i hadn't been buggered in the night and he even made breakfast, what a nice guy, as long as he is on your side i guess. I already have had so much luck it couldn't keep happening could it ?
Next day came and went in quick order, Macedonia, very poor but cleaner than Albania nwith better air! . Then onto Greece, I have a mooch around Thessaloniki, very nice roman arch and forum thingy and I end up near to the Turkish border, I decide
Surrogate family
my saviors from malnutrition,thank you one and all. to have a look at the delta which is part sea water and part fresh water haven for all types of wildlife, traveled down a gravel track for 5k or more enjoying the birds flying alongside the bike as I disturbed them then when the road ran out just a dead end with a shack, so i stopped for a beer, thought it rude not too, whilst quenching my thirst i was trying to ask some local boat guys about the area but my Greek and there English it didn't amount to much, when i was helped by Greek angel, not only did she and her family buy my beer the offered me a place to sleep and even introduced me to proper Greek food, courtesy of auntie fanny. I spent a very happy time with these kind people and even caught a little sun in their presence. After a very very nice day having Alexandropoli shown to me from the back of my bike and then hitting the beach and doing a little swimming in the warm waters !! they escorted me into turkey, maybe just to make sure i had gone !!! but i really didn't want to
the end of a chapter
and a very nice one it was too. i wonder what the sunsets are like in turkey leave. PS happy 29th birthday Georgia.
I feel more than a little sad as I am writing this, hopefully our paths will cross again.
Once through the maze of red tape and having to buy a 15 euro visa i was into turkey proper, and boy was it hot. Headed south to kesan then a ferry across the Marmara straight then crashed for the night near to Edremit.
Tomorrow further south and to do a bit of exploring. (again)
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Georgia
non-member comment
what a nice guy!
hey stuart, i have read your blog and i'm touched. thank you for this kind words and for the congratulations. everyone who see this guy should give him a place to sleep and to eat (but just) a little (he takes care of his figuer) and he will be very gratefull. so gratefull, that my aunt fanny has fallen in love with him! stu i think our paths will crass again...don't forget our second deal. YOU ARE A VERY NICE GUY!!!