Italy to Bosnia

Have left the coast at last - it makes for very easy cycling, a bit bumpy with the odd hill but never far from campsites and civilisation, but I have become a little tired of the seaside tourist scene.

Chris's hospitality in Gavarano was great, more than made up for lagging behind on the food. Its difficult to eat well and cycle, stopping for a big feed is the end of the day for me so tend to plough through fueled by cheap biscuits and odd bits of fruit. So to be welcomed by steak, eggs, sausages was something else and enabled me to catch up with the past few days eating.

The route through Italy was pretty straightforward, 3 days, Gavorano to Monte Amiate, then to Perugia and finally Ancona. Crossing Italy cant be done without a few climbs and I didnt make things easy for myself however, getting lost trying to avoid the busy roads and tunnels of the Italian interior.
(Chris and I (left))

Switchbacks can be so demoralising, an hours cycling and you havent moved other than in altitude... many of the smaller roads lead to tiny villages and not much else and without a detailed map I was fearing the worst - a couple of hours uphill only to hit a dead end, spin round and come back down the same road, but luck as has often been the case so far, was on my side.. a tiny village at the top with a few helpful souls pointing me in the direction of Jesi where I had planned to stay for the night.

Tuscany and Umbria are beautiful, but the roads, unless I fancy a few cols are not bike friendly. The bigger roads arent too bad, traffic is still considerate but with so few routes to cross Italy, are busy with many artics, some with double trailers and in tunnels that makes for a few wide eyed experiences. Yet I find tunnels strangely enjoyable - they get the adrenaline flowing, a distance rumble in the distance as a truck enters the 1 km long tunnel behind me, louder and louder, images of Speilberg's film Duel, still cant see the truck in my bike mirror, up out of the seat, pumping hard on the pedals trying to get out the tunnel before the trucks gets me... then being fired out of the other end, beating the truck into the sunshine at speed. Of course, the few times the truck has caught up, they ve slowed down and patiently waited, but cant help playing the tunnel game.

Having finally made it to Jesi, no campsites and no hotels so reluctantly trucked on after a massive Lebanese take-away at about 10pm looking for a camping spot. No joy, a developed area, not suited to cheeky camping so feeling reasonably energetic I headed for the coast and somehow found myself in Ancona. Once off the bike realised I was pretty well gone. A glance at the computer showed 116 miles, which after the Umbrian mountain escapade had left me shattered. Found some long dry grass about 1 km from the port and fell into blissful sleep. Arriving a day early meant I could get the ferry that day, leaving only 20 hours or so to kill in Ancona, which was no bad thing, a port city with not many attractions in truth, the Italian communist party had a live band in the square which entertained me whilst I frittered my remaining euros on pizza, beers, gelato and coffee.

The ferry was an overnighter, some how managed with a wink and a smile an upgrade from a couchette in a shared room to VIP cabin number 2 which made up for the previous night in the grass. After a wake up knock on the cabin door, opened the curtains to the following view of Croatia which felt special for many reasons...

I had been looking forward to leaving western europe for a while. The attraction of cycling is the experiencing the gradual change, both geographically and socially as I head further from home. But this also means a little while before things change significantly from the London. Arriving in Croatia, I felt like the adventure had really started.

Split is Croatia's second largest city, based on the coast, it was a choice holiday location for Roman emporers and Diocletian chose to build a palace there in 300 AD. The old town resides within and about this old palace, evolving over the period since with continual additions, now an ecletic mix of buildings and streets so narrow I would barely fit down them. Staying in a hostel nearby, I enjoyed a few relaxing days off the bike and was able to find somewhere to leave the bike whilst I headed into Bosnia. Decided agianst cycling into Bosnia, the weather has started to get a little more chilly and a route down the Dalmation coast through Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia (FYROM) and into Greece keeps me near the milder mediteranean climate - a detour into Sarajevo on the bike doesnt make sense with this route in mind.

Sarajevo is a remarkable city. I have spent 3 days here and could easily spend more. Beautiful, diverse, relaxed and very friendly. Staying in the Turkish quarter, during Ramadan amongst many mosques I can finally say Ive left Western Europe.

The food is great and like many things in Sarajevo, if you come armed with UK sterling, very cheap. Dining out on Cevapi, small sausages in warm bread and onions for 5 marks, (about 2.5 euros), Bosnian coffee, very similar to Turkish coffee, with a slice of turkish delight and a glass of water for 1 mark. Finally living like a prince at last.

Yesterday, I visited a house near Sarajevo airport which is the entrance point of a 800 metre tunnel built during the war, underneath the then UN controlled airport used by the Bosnian forces to move food, people and munitions in and out of Sarajevo during the seige of the city between 1992 and 1995. Meeting Bosnians of my own age, who have experienced, suffered and overcome the events of such traumatic times is a deeply moving experience.

Many physical scares still evident, many houses still show the marks of mortar attack, bullet holes everywhere and even 10 years on many ruins still exist including the parliamentry building. The 8000 UN troops still stationned here are a vivid reminder of both the traumatic past and fragile ongoing reconstruction process.



Tomorrow morning Im on the early bus back to Split to be reunited with bike and then continuing down the coast through Dubrovnik into Montenegro...


house at start of tunnel












Yellow holiday Inn building and the scared parliamentry building to its right