In order to travel into Serbia from Kosovo it was necessary to pass through Montenegro for one night as Serbia does not recognise Kosovo as a nation. This means the border between Kosovo and Serbia is still disputed and you need to travel from Kosovo to Serbia via another country.
I spent six weeks from the end of August to early October following the Trans Dinarica bike packing route through the eight Balkan countries.
I started by flying into Ljubljana, Slovenia and generally following the whole route and finished by doing a little bit extra in order to finish at the coast at Split, Croatia.
I need to say that I did deviate from the main route a few times during the ride but I estimate that I followed it about 80% of the time.
Excellent route and experience….very hilly as expected.
Oh, a bit of a change of road in Serbia. Just cross the border and uh changes quite a bit. Look. Well, now in Serbia. Just crossed the border crossing. Um, not quite so friendly actually this time. But yeah, nice little downhill to do now. Okay, got into Pazar. It’s pretty crazy. Right in the middle now. And uh, traffic everywhere and people everywhere. Okay, I’m leaving Novi Pazar this morning. Had a really nice comfortable apartment last night. Didn’t really want to leave. Could have stayed there for a rest day. Very comfortable. But uh yeah, about week to go. Weather is changing a bit. It’s getting very cloudy. forecast is cloudy the next few days, but uh not much rain forecast hopefully. Uh so hopefully that holds out. But yeah, not not too not too hard a day today in terms of distance. The usual climbing though. So yeah, just um crack on to the next town heading north uh in Serbia. Well, I’m quite a way up the the daily morning climb. Seems inevitable that I get a climb, especially in the morning. It’s been going on for days, but nice and cool this morning. So, not so bad. Not so hard. And Novi Pazar is way down there. Can’t really see it now. Well, it’s all opened up on this side of the mountain. I’ve got a choice to make now on which road I’m going to take. The uh the rough road, gravel road, or the tarmac, which is a bit further. very impressive mosque uh towers, minates. I’m not sure what they’re called, but I think they’re pretty pretty well known actually around here. Well, I was expecting a gravel road, but uh this is blooming lovely. It might turn into one soon, but uh it’s looking good so far. Oh, it’s pretty open and breezy up here. I’m at about 1,200 m of elevation, actually, but I have got a tailwind. Oh, that was a steep little hill. I think that’s the last one of the day. Okay, heading that way. Heading north and downhill for the rest of the day by the looks of it. And a tiny tailwind as well. So, looking good for the end of the day today. Okay. Well, uh, had a night in Jennisa. I don’t know how you pronounce it. It’s a really difficult one. Um, and I’m heading today for Zlatar, which is about 50 mi. It’s pretty lumpy. No like massive hills but lots of up and down up and down and probably bit steeper. Uh there is a place cooking broad about halfway just over halfway and the forecast is possible rain this afternoon. So all depends what happens as to how far I go really. If it starts pouring with rain, I’ll probably pull the plug on the day. Uh but yeah, I’m hoping to get that whole distance done today. Well, I’m on to the smaller rural roads now. Hopefully, they’ll stay reasonably good for riding on. Well, the answer to that was no. It turned into hard packed uh kind of grally roads. Well, at least the track is well used, so it’s totally ridable. And it’s going to be going uphill on some trick tracks in a second, but I think the gradient’s okay. Well, this is really excellent track. Really enjoying this. So, just cycled up through this farm and heading over there. [Applause] That’s what the cows think of me. A massive massive we and just about to pop out back onto the tarmac. That was an excellent little section that Woohoo! Got the uh the green light on the Garmin downhill. Next stop is riding over the dam down there. According to the sign, this is the UVAC. So, just entering the Uvac reserve. There’s so many huge birds of prey circling over. I’m not 100% sure what they are, whether they’re eagles or vultures. There’s a picture of him there. Well, picked up another runner. He’s uh going in front of me actually. Not like the other one. Wonder how long he’ll last. He’s too quick for me. So, another gravel section. Slightly different gravel this time. Bit more grally, but they’re all well used roads, so brilliant for riding on. And I’ve still got my little friend with me. Well, really in the forest now. I’m just trusting the navigation and it’ll pop out again on the road. So, we got a bit of light rain first of the day. She’s very light, kind of on and off. It was forecast to be quite light today. But yeah, pushing on through the forest. So, uh, little bit of rain back there in the forest. Managed to find my way out eventually. It’s very steep. Quite tricky downhill, so I didn’t film anything in there. But back on the road. Got a little side road now. find my way back to the uh bigger road and hopefully get to destination at some point today. Back on the main road. Just uh emphasizes how much fun it is when you’re off the main road on the trails and on the little roads. Okay, leaving Zlatibore at about 1,000 meters here. It’s a little ski resort. Dragged myself away from another cozy little apartment. Uh it’s quite chilly this morning, but forecast is supposed to stay dry. Um fingers crossed. Got about 50 miles to do and Heading for Bolina Basta which is on the border with Bosnia Cavina of course now got climb out of that lovely valley I free wheeled down at the start of the Okay. Well, I’m back up to about 1 th000 m altitude now. Just passing through all these little villages. Well, hamlets, houses, farms. It’s pretty cool. Well, on to today’s gravel section. Uh the big downhill to start with and uh got several miles of this. The road looks pretty good actually. It’s pretty well used, so it should be pretty good to ride on. Well, definitely warmed up now. Bit of hiking bike up that section there. Way too steep, way too loose. But uh at the top there, I think nearly. And see what it’s like on the other side. Wait a minute. The sun’s just popped out very, very briefly and the screen’s gone green downhill on the way. So everything’s looking a lot sweeter. Well, it does really feel like I’m in the wilderness here. I’m in the Tara National Park uh forest. It’s pretty awesome, actually. Tough going actually on the trails, but uh pretty awesome being in here. Oh, that was a sketchy descent. Pretty loose and steep. Hands are pretty knackered. Now drop down to this river. Well, stream. Going to follow this stream all the way out of the forest, I believe. Um down that way. Well, my usual joy at hitting the tarmac after some very gnarly off-roading. So, I’ve just dropped down through that valley there. That was pretty awesome, actually. So, just climbed up the uh from the valley down there on this lovely kind of bigger road. It’s pretty quiet though. So, it’s been a really nice gradient all the way up and uh I think near nearing the top now. So, on a big descent now into Pina Basta. It’s about 9 or 10 miles long this one. It’s absolutely stunning. It’s a bit wet at the top, but uh sun’s come out now. It’s absolutely amazing. So just um rolled into Gian Ambasta and nice little place. Dropped down about 800 m in altitude. It’s much warmer down here. So I’m just going to find a cafe, have a cup of coffee. and sort out some accommodation for tonight. So, uh just leaving Hina. Uh very very misty and cloudy today. Um but before I left, I wanted to come and see the the very well-known house on the rock in the middle of the river, which is just over there. I’m going to try and get a bit closer actually. So, there it is, the house on the rock in the middle of the Darina River. And it’s pretty good, actually. You can’t really get a good view on a GoPro cuz you can’t focus in. But, um, hopefully it’s good enough to see see all the mist and clouds today. It’s, um, yeah, it’s bit chilly start. Going to be climbing up into those mountains any time now. Going to cross the border into Bosnia, Herskavina first and then uh yeah, big day’s climbing, I think. Okay, I’ve just gone through the border control leaving Serbia. Got big uh border control here. I’m just going to head over the Trina River and uh pick up the Bosnia Esqavina Border Patrol just over there.
1 Comment
Yves suggests poor roads equals corruption.