Was recommended a book three days ago about an Irish woman who cycled from Waterford to India in 1963 called Dervla Murphy. It arrived just in time for the trip. I just found out she died today. It’s a sign, but I haven’t quite figured out what for yet.

Bears spotted here last week.

Taxi driver informed us that ‘Balkans’ means ‘mountains’. Good to know before we start the cycle!

Drove to Sofia to the bike shop. They stayed open for our arrival at 22:00 and didn’t finish up assembling the bikes until 01:00.

The owner had a race the next day (he came second and had to sleep on my bike box as his girlfriend locked him out). Sound lads - gave us beer and offered whiskey. Don’t know where else you’d get this service.

We didn’t get to the hostel until 03:00 after a late night hunt for chicken gyros.

Today turned out to be - ‘the Day of Bulgarian Enlightenment & Culture’.

We realised we packed way too much clothes. Tried and failed to post them home as everything was closed.

“There’s no way there’ll be rain on our first day” - Niall

Spectacular mountain view.

Arrived in Samokov - tough hills. Cobwebs shaken off.

After leaving the local hospital with unconfirmed shingles/dermatitis from the new spandex, comical translation issues and 135 prescribed tablets (among other lotions and potions) - we were on the road out of Samokov. I’m like a walking pharmacy.

We were forced to push the bikes near vertical uphills for 12km through boulders and sheets of ice.

The coffee was lashed on the stove a few kilometres in to boost morale. Niall has packed some panela from Colombia which sweetened it nicely.

The plan was to cycle through the mountain at a height of 2,550m. Rila National Park is vast and dense. We met no other humans for 8 hours. It is the main water source for Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey!

80% of all Bulgarian large mammals live in this mountain. We were constantly on the look out for bears and debating the best course of action to take if we came across one. Every sound we heard was a bear.

The only way we could move forward across the ice sheets was to dig our heels into the ice, push the bike forward and then press the breaks / repeat. This was a painfully slow process.

We finally summited after 6 hours only to be unable to cross the other side due to a perilous ice sheet on the edge of the mountain. One misstep would have been slán go fóill Pól.

After 15 minutes of deliberations trying to think of ways to get across, we reluctantly headed back down the mountain.

We had 1.5hr minutes of daylight left so flew down with lazy steps from exhaustion. The bodies and minds were in bits. Kept a pine cone from the top of the mountain as a memoir.

We made it to a small village at the base of the mountain. A villager introduced us to his friend who owns the guesthouse of all guesthouses.

José from Catalonia. Nearly broke our hands with his handshake. A chef and a singer. We had a four course meal followed by his family home distilled whiskey. The desert was Crema Catalana with apple seared with a hot poker. José began serenading us on the guitar with “Bella Ciao”.

We had planned a rest day after yesterday’s shenanigans but after the sleep and feed we were back on the bikes and sucking diesel.

Potholes go leor feat. ridiculous drivers. Bulgarian cars don’t seem to have brakes. They speed up and swerve around you regardless cars in the other lane so it ends up three abreast.

Samokov to Dupnitsa. From Dupnitsa we jumped on a 45minute train to Blagoevgrad.

Met a wicked Swiss couple bikepacking since January. Their bikes weighed 70kg. He had a big stick on the back of his bike for wild animals. We’ve agreed not to complain about our load again!

Spotted a turtle chilling on the side of the road no clue where he came from.

Met the border police en route to North Macedonia who (after various hand gestures) sorted us out with water.

A gruelling 16km, 1,400 meter climb to the border checkpoint in the sun.

Treated to an amazing descent down into North Macedonia. Clocked 62km/h cycling conservatively!

Final thoughts on Bulgaria:

Curious people but slow to say hello back. Majestic scenery, lunatic drivers. Can’t determine if the car beeps are ‘go on the lads’ or ‘f**k you’.

Green mountains covered in lush forests for days. Ireland doesn’t have a patch on it. Saw more butterflies than anywhere else in my life. Old death notices line every public space - like missing person posters but for dead people. I meant to ask a local about these.

As soon as we got through the border the heavens opened. We cracked open the coffee stove.

10km into North Macedonia the Garmin brought us down a dirt road. Bad idea. We ended up pushing the bikes through a dense forest for 2.5hr. PTSD from Rila Mountains two days previously. It was like being stuck in a never ending maze pushing the bike uphill. Morale was low.

When we eventually got to the crest and could cycle downhill, my gears had been broken to bits by a bolder. It was likely my fault for cycling on the terrain but when you’ve pushed the bike up that height you don’t feel like waking down.

We entered into a tiny road to freedom and were met by a dog shepherding goats. A taxi just so happened to be passing. Likely the only taxi that day.

“You should never want your travelling to be easy”- Dervla Murphy

The taxi driver - who moonlights as a cop - drove me and the bike to our target city Kochani. A gent in a bike shop fixed it in no time.

Niall cycled the additional 44km with ‘the Rocky Road to Dublin’ on blast. He flagged the scenery to be up there in his top 5 ever.

Of course there’s an Irish bar in a small regional town in North Macedonia. We met up there for two cold Ckoncko beers when Niall landed. No Limerick game on the tv but some locals give us a brief history lesson on Macedonia (they don’t like the ‘North’ included).

The heavens opened with hailstones the size of large Maltlesers.

Macedonian economics make no sense. Dinner tonight in the busiest restaurant in town with a savage band cost €13:87!

It included::

- toasted bread and olive oil;

- barbecued chicken breasts, home fries and salad x2;

- glass of red x2;

- local whiskey x2;

- large bottle of water x1;

- large local larger x2;

- chocolate crêpe desert x1.

We couldn’t not go to the local nightclub ‘Pulse’ to check it out. All the men have buzz haircuts, tight t-shirts over baby bolgs for the ‘mafioso’ look which are apparently powerful in this city.

They didn’t take card (nowhere in the Balkans seems to) and we were about to get a taxi back to the Main Street to get more cash when I found €10 in my wallet.

The bouncer exchanged this for the equivalent of 7.4 beers. Viva Macedonia 🇲🇰

Toured around Skopje in the rain.

Stopped in for a cupán tae in what seemed to be a mens social house.

The entire city is laden with statues and flags. More statues per square metre than in any other city I’ve been in. Possibly due to their history of being conquered by everyone around them - it’s almost like a show of identity.

This was the most badass. He’s raising his fist towards the mountains.

Turns out the place we booked in to stay is a moored boat. Wicked place to rest the head.

I called into another hospital to get my shoulder checked. After queuing for 30 minutes I was seen by a surgeon playing dance music from his hip.

He told me I was in the wrong hospital but would check it out anyway. I had a message typed out on my phone translated into Macedonian and he seemed insulted that I assumed he had no English. He said it was likely shingles and to continue the treatment. He warned me no maps work in Macedonia but we had already figured that out!

Has no one told them about the Protocol?

The hayfever has hit us like a train. Multiple antihistamines aren’t working for the lads and we have cycled into the belly of the beast here.

Saint Sofia Church.

Church of St. John the Theologan.

Candles lit for An Chlann.

The Macedonian ‘crannógs’.

Saw a crow attacking a snake on the road.

The most common sign on all the roads - rocks falling.

Macedonian bean lunch in a picturesque village 8km from the Albanian border.

Monastery of Naum feat. alpha-male peacocks.

Albanian border crossing.

Lots of unforgiving hills and 27 degree temperatures to boot. Great road and views of the lake for days.

Camp site for the night - first time busting out the tent and dehydrated food. Mostly older Europeans in vans.

Despite sly digs from our French neighbours on the left, the lads got the tent up sharpish.

Béile blasta for the lads tonight.

Dehydrated lentil and carrot dahl to start followed by dehydrated chicken curry and rice feat. nachos and bread.

We got frozen bread from the camp owner and the Germans beside us allowed us to use their toaster (and offered us much more).

🇩🇪 > 🇫🇷

Sleeping with the sounds of birds and the ocean.

Had nothing to give the Germans as a ‘thank you’ so could only leave them a note.

Every village we enter at the moment seems to have a festival. They celebrate their graduations/end of school big time over here. Something we could do more of back home.

Fella getting done for a make-shift shooting rang on the side of the road. Seems to be police everywhere in Albania. Bag of nuts and a pop of a glock.

We somehow ended up in the middle of what seemed to be an Olympic qualifying road race. That explains all the police.

Huge 60km spin to Librazehd.

The heat was oppressive with strong dry winds - 31 Degrees and 40% humidity 🥵.

When we landed in to the town, a shop keeper gave us a huge bag of cherries. We must have looked like we were on deaths door. They may have saved the day.

30km more in the baking heat. Everything in the bag melted. The Albanian jafa cakes are liquid.

Met the lads - Dutch - who won the bike race (‘Tour de Albania’).

Accomodation tonight turns out to be in a castle - €40 for what seems to be the best hotel in the city including breakfast.

Clothes washed in the shower hanging out the window to dry for the morning. Might not be the look the castle is going for!

Great buzz in the city. Again, seems to be a festival of some sort.

Well deserved hydration 🍺

Albanian food - 10/10. One man show running everything. Have to respect his hustle.

The spin so far.

Elbasan High Street. The people in Albania are much different to the Bulgarians and Macedonians. They say hello back and often say hello first and always smile.

The Albanians have very clear cut personalities. Everyone here stands out as an individual in contrast to the Bulgarians.

No lunch so had bananas, nuts and home brew coffee in a tiny village.

Came across an auld fella with a single white balloon tied to the back of his bike as you do.

Loads of honks and, unlike Bulgaria, can definitely confirm they mean ‘go on the lads’.

Albania’s most numerous petrol station. Still haven’t figured out the logo?

Much quieter on the roads on this stretch.

The Albanian flag. It adorns every second gate in the country. Don’t know why but it gives off a slightly agressive vibe.

Berat Village - picturesque village under the mountains.

By far the easiest spin re: hills. Had a 7% 2km incline only. The bodies are getting used to it. The best way to compare it is when you drink on holidays vs when you drink at home.

In other countries people try to sell you drugs on the street, in Albania, they’re all trying to sell us apartments.

Berat Castle feat. Holy Trinity Church

Auld fellas - the town is full of ‘em. 💙

Dinner in ‘Lili’s’ in the Mangalem (Old Town). An eccentric Albanian. He was full but we charmed him into letting us wait on the roof with a carafe of red wine until a table opened up.

We ordered our meals and he then reordered for us. An absolute character.

We pulled into a hotel/restaurant on the side of the motorway to see about getting a taxi off this road but the lads there couldn’t do anything for us.

I saw four sound looking lads finishing lunch with a pickup truck outside and asked if they would take us.They had to wait for the boss man/driver to come back from the toilet to confirm.

He wasn’t keen and tried saying no but we’d charmed the other lads enough that they fought our case. We threw the bikes in the back of the pickup and squeezed into the front.

The lads were builders/sparkys going to a job in Tirana. They spoke Italian to each other which seems to be common in Albania. They gave us a handful of cherries each.

They let us out at the junction to Durrës. Happy days. They didn’t ask for any cash but I gave them enough for plenty of beers. Viva Albania 🇦🇱

Rasher and pea soup ❤️

Durrës Town.

Roman amphitheatre. The sign said it was only discovered in the 60s. It’s in the centre of the town so curious what was hiding it before then?

One-on-one in the Roman baths.

‘Les nenettes’.

False alarm. Back to 35 degrees by 12pm.

Loads of white butterflies here. Thinking about that old Irish law that you couldn’t kill a white butterfly because it was believed they held the souls of dead children.

Random holes appear in the ground out of nowhere on the roads. It’s like something from the Looney Toons. If the articulated lorries don’t get you, the black holes will.

Skanderbeg - Albanian’s main man. General in the Ottoman Army who came back to fight the Ottoman Empire and united Albania. Used guerilla warfare and the mountains to his advantage.

The streets in the capital are empty from 10:00 - 18:00 and then everyone comes out. Possibly due to the heat.

T.V. reporter for the vote for the new Albanian president. He’s a former general, apparently the hot favourite due to Putin’s ‘Special Military Operation’ in Ukraine.

Upstairs for business, downstairs for dancing.

‘Free Ukraine Street’ on the road of the Russian Embassy.

Albanian Facts from the walking tour:

- Albania and Macedonia have a joined application to join the EU. Bulgaria is consistently blocking Macedonia (as it feels Macedonia is part of Bulgaria) thus Albania’s application is also blocked. Much like France blocking Britain and as a result Ireland when we had a joined application to join the EEC.

- They’ve only been driving in this country for 30 years since the fall of communism. They had no cars before then. Hence why they are car obsessed and terrible drivers. The grá for Mercedes is due to the fact it’s best suited to the shite Albanian roads/terrain.

- Albania is the international name for the country but they actually call themselves the ‘Land of the Eagle’.

- Albanian is one of the oldest languages in the world and most difficult to pronounce.

- The communists built 750,000 bunkers across the country ready for the American invasion that never came.

- Albania and Macedonia both fight over who owns Mother Theresa.

Night out on the razzmatazz with two French girls from the walking tour: Julie and Elodie. They’re touring the Balkans teaching kids in French speaking schools about climate change.

We struggled to find a bar open after 12am in the capital city which is wild. Must be a remenante of communism. Eventually found a club playing regattone. Crawled home at 4.

Got the Limerick match via a dodgy box in a pub. Luimneach abú.

Overall thoughts on Albania:

Before coming here I was asked whether I would be bringing a bat with me to Albania for safety. I found the complete opposite.

Honest, genuine people. The lazy stereotype of the ‘dodgy Albanian’ is, in my experience, completely false. No one locks bikes here and many doors remain permanently unlocked in contrast with Dublin which I remember reading has ~14 bikes stolen every day.

When you ask for water, the offer is generally ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ which makes me laugh every time given its 30+ degrees outside.

The economy seems to be run by farming and car garages/washes. I counted ~9 car washes in one small street we cycled down. Every second car is a Mercedes. Having German made products seems to be a status thing.

Huge affinity for Italy here with Italian flags everywhere and many people we came across able to speak Italian, and in some cases speaking Italian as their first choice of language. Every second property is for sale with a ‘Shiten’ / ‘for sale’ sign painted onto it.

Albania is a melting pot of religions with 60% Muslim. There has never been any religious violence here. I can’t help but think it’s because they were all united fighting against the communist regime.

No one has tried to sell us drugs which is a massive difference to every other country I have travelled in bar Cuba. I’m unsure if this is due to strict drug laws or a dearth of tourists to sell them to.

Nowhere takes card payment, not even in the countries biggest museum. This is likely due to being in a post communist state and the older people not able to use electronic payments or trusting it. The country is not ready yet for major tourism but will likely look very different in 5 years.

More Loony Toon’s black holes 🕳.

Kukës flats. Highly similar to housing in the West Bank with the water tanks on the top of the homes.

Epic views leaving Kukës.

Huge 55km climb to cross into Kosovo before 10:30. The many slogs up the Cratloe hills finally paying dividends for the lads. Weather cold so wearing a jacket for once.

The climb carved into the mountain.

There was no Albania border checkpoint, only a Kosovoan which is interesting.

“Te vrare hga dora barbare Serbe” / “killed at the hands of the Serbian barbarians”

Luncheon and coffee in a high end restaurant: €10 for both. The currency everywhere in Kosovo is Euro.

The sun came back out after lunch. 30 degrees. We’re fuelled on peach juices and cherries.

Komoot messed up our route and we ended up 40minutes down by a river with no crossing. The wrong time to tell Niall about the unexpolded mines in Kosovo!

Graves and monuments to Kosovars killed during the war with Serbia are everywhere.

Petrol station pit stop.

First impressions are that Kosovo is much wealthier than the other Balkan states we’ve visited. The houses are impressive with average cars unlike Albania which has incredible cars and poor housing.

The final 31km into Pristina were all on a motorway. Thank god for the hard shoulder. I must Google who invented it. It was more than cyclable but still had to constantly be on the look out for Looney Toon potholes.

Hard to describe the difficulty of the final 30kms after 2,000+mtr climb and 110kms, the reserve tanks were emptied.

After 15km into the motorway, I heard a beep from a pickup truck up my arse. I was just about to decide whether it was a ‘f**k you’ or ‘go on the lads’ beep when a hand reached out the window and handed me two cold cans of coke. It nearly caused a crash with other cars on the road. I didn’t have the breath to properly thank the three lads as they sped off to avoid any other near crashes. They must have passed us on route and seen the struggle!.

I don’t like Coke but will be drinking it in appreciation tonight.

Few things in life are ever certain but an ‘Irish’ bar is one of them. Even in post-conflict Kosovo.

Checked into a hostel - fellas are bate. Heading to the best Indian in town.

The stats from the Garmin today are wild:

2,000+ metre climb - 30 degree heat - 25kg bike and bags - 12.5 hour journey - 8 hour saddle time.

Saw loads of green jerseys in the city. Turns out NI are playing Kosovo on Thursday. A few lads from Belfast were on the tour. They were frosty at first but they warmed to us by the end of it. A few comments made that they were British which we didn’t get into.

Funny to be learning about the Serbian / Kosovan conflict with the lads given the similar parallels with Ireland.

Things you don’t expect to see in Kosovo:

The tour guide, Ezra, dressed like a badass Indiana Jones. She joined us for lunch and answered our 101 questions on Kosovo. She began giving the tours during COVID when she was working from home and missed meeting people. Architect and town planner. Also speaks German. Most Kosovars seem to be highly educated.

So many interesting facts from the tour:

- Kosovars identify as Albanian but declared independence (2008) so have somewhat of an identity crisis;

- Coffee is huge here and there’s 1 coffee shop for every 122 inhabitants in the capital. (cc to Paris which has 1 for every ~1.5 thousand inhabitants). The best coffee we have bought in the Balkans so far (excluding our home brew);

- 5 European countries don’t recognise Kosovo including Spain (due to Catalyuna’s desire for independence);

- they’ve won 3 Olympic gold medals since 2008 - all by women - all in judo. This year is the year of the woman in Kosovo;

- an estimated 20,000 women were raped during the war. Only ~1,000 have come forward for compensation due to the stigma. This monument contains 20,000 medals for each woman:

- so many people are still ‘missing’ from the war. One woman lost her husband and sons and still includes them in the pot for dinner every night incase they walk back through the door that night. Parallels to the ‘disappeared’ in the North of Ireland;

- Milošević’s quote: “Kosovo will forever be apart of Serbia no matter how many Serbs live there”. The quote that kicked off the war;

- Balkans in Turkish means the “land of blood and honey”. The blood is evident given the ubiquitous graves of fallen soldiers at every corner in the country. They include an etched drawing of the dead person on the grave which is slightly strange. We have yet to see the honey;

- Church construction started by Serbia. Kosovo don’t know what to do with it - don’t want to finish Serbian work but also don’t want to tear it down. Often a flash point for protests.

We met the Turkish guy sharing our hostel room on a busy street during the tour. He was off his head last night and is now selling fake sunglasses on the side of the road.

There was a Ukrainian man in his 50s on the tour who is touring Europe on a holiday. Strange given the war and conscription rules in Ukraine. Most people on the tour were baffled by this. His reason was that the war has gone on longer than first expected so now he is holidaying?

Quick service of the bikes. On the spin back a man on a moped delivering pizzas stopped me in the middle of the motorway \240to ask how I like Kosovo. This is a common occurance here. Loads of people have guessed we’re Irish based on the accents which is impressive.

Found a savage restorative yoga class for the body after yesterdays Herculean feat. The right quad is wobbly.

Bill Clinton statue. Seems to be loved here for brokering \240peace. More parallels with the North of Ireland. One industrious woman has opened a shop next door selling female power suits and called it ‘Hillary’.

Met Evra for dinner in her recommended restaurant - Liburnia. The spicy pepper nearly knocked us out. 10/10 food and wine.

Went for drinks to a few bars. All quite pretentious with no one talking to each other. Couldn’t not go to the club afterwards to check it out. Forced to pay the ‘gringo tax’ which was extortionate but nothing we could do.

The new hotel locked us out so there was consternation and a hullabaloo when we got back at 3am.

Picturesque roads out of Pristina. Scenery similarly to Provence & South of France. Able to ride two abreast. Good for the hangover.

So many red poppies line the roads in Kosovo. Haven’t seen this anywhere else in the Balkans. It seems to be their national flower.

Thunderstorm hit at 14:30. Took shelter from the storms.

Dark dark final 35km / 1.5hours which couldn’t be documented.

All on a busy motorway in a thunderstorm. Hungover. No hard shoulder. So many articulated lorries. Visibility ridiculously poor.

Electricity box exploded 5 metres from me. The nerves are shot to pieces. Got a well earned cafe longo and beer.

There was consternation when we arrived and the seven parishes came out to see what was going on.

They brought out the Head of Border Patrol. Top man - can see why he’s the big cheese. He made us change our route to an official border crossing. Very glad they did as our current route was wild with 35% inclines!

The new route was shorter in distance but had a ridiculous climb. We climbed 1,306 metres to a height of 1,800 metres in only 21km! The gradient was 6.3% on average with no flat parts. First time ever experiencing a climb like this. Pretty much the same climb as Mont Ventoux in France! Minstrel rain all the way.

Only two five minute stops. Too cold to stay longer as we were up in the clouds.

Flies have avoided me until today. I was swarmed by them the entire way up as per video below which made the climb more interesting. Trying to channel what my yoga guru in Greece said about mindset: “isn’t it great the flies chose to be with me”. Not easy.

The lads said in SA that flies avoided me and swarmed them as I’ve a shit personality. Things must be improving!

Landed into a border town: Rožaje. 45 men to the one woman.

Jumped on a bus to the capital. The bus station makes Con Colbert’s look like the Ritz Carlton. Driver shafted us for the ‘gringo tax’. Montenegrins hugely different to Kosovars.

Final thoughts on Kosovo:

Highlight of the Balkans so far. Amazing people. Only place I will definitely return to. Missed out on seeing Prizren but is a good excuse to come back.

People dress exceptionally well. The lounge wear epidemic hasn’t spread here. Very common for young people to move abroad to work if they can and send money home & return themselves for the summer period in Kosovo.

People are conscious that you are enjoying your time in their country. Reminds me of Ireland. Especially the old lad today from the hostel giving us directions to the police station and then deciding to cycle us there himself just be to sure to be sure we got there.

Three major climbs today - two 3km and one 2km climb - all 6% gradients.

Amazing lunch menu. Fish soup was delicious.

The most enjoyable coffee stop so far. Local cherry juices and cake.

Turkish coffee.

Camped out tonight in the mountains. Local vineyard nearby. Bought a delicious bottle of red and local honey and fruit for the porridge in the morning.

Did a quick yoga seisiún when we landed for the aches in the body.

Dehydrated dinner and wine.

Loads of scouts in the camp site. Two young ‘leader’ answered our 101 questions on Montenegro.

There seems there is no difference between Montenegrins and Serbians nor any great nationalism. By all accounts it seems the former prime minister tricked them into independence. I need to Google this to find out more.

They showed us their traditional dance. All of their songs are Serbian. Highly articulate and educated girls. The told us about a Macedonian custom of fortune telling with the remenenets of your Turkish coffee. Like finding the ring in the bairín breac.

After seeing so many turtles crushed on the road, heartening to see this fella make it across alive.

Savage descent.

Café in a castle. Tunes blaring. No time to investigate as we’re behind schedule from chatting beans this morning with the Belgians.

One of the first monuments we’ve seen in Montenegro. Huge contrast to Kosovo where they were a fixture in the landscape. Makes me think they weren’t as heavily effected by the war.

Junior international athletics event in the town of Bar.

Germans on electric bikes leaving us for dead.

Final climb of the day was a slog. The winds picked up hugely. Blowing straight at us.

Delicious decent down.

Cot for the night. Fingers crossed the trees give us more shade from the sun tomorrow. We cooked like rashers this morning.

Súitú - the word for the sound made when waves pull pebbles from the shore and roll them back in. First sea swim since we started. Excited for yoga and a swim in the morning. The hard ground without a mattress is wreaking havoc on my neck.

Hairy moll tried to get us again but we were wise to them this time.

Toughest hill so far climbed. 3km up. 16% gradient. Fellas were screaming into the mountains. Bike felt like it was stationary.

Cycled through a mile of grashoopers on the road out. It must be mating season in grasshopper land. Saw a huge hawk at the top of the hills.

Mars and Snickers ice-creams are fuelling us up the monstrous hills.

Landed into Kotor. Sensational views of the lake and mountains.

Stopped for a swim 4km before the town. Met a Serbian girl cycling who was proud of the fact that Irish people and Serbian people are so similar in nature. I didn’t really have the heart to explain why this isn’t the case.

When we unpacked, discovered a Hairy Moll had stowed away in my shoe and had been squashed. When I put my hand to take out the insole it stung me with its shell. Even in death it’s getting vengeance.

The town of Kotor is a double UNESCO Wold Heritage Site.

Schindler’s List score. Fantastic ice-cream shop next door - ‘Moritz’. Pineapple and rocket flavour.

Rave feat. knickers and bras drying.

Kotor Old Town main gates. Old WWII sign over the gate reads: “what belongs to others we don’t want, ours we don’t give”.

Dodgy road through a tunnel with terrible visibility. Waited for a break in traffic and then bolted through to the other side. Decided to avoid this on the way back so added on an extra 15km to today’s spin.

Came across a movie being filmed in the middle of nowhere. They gave us some of the crew’s water. They were filming a wedding day Serbian comedy which we’d have been perfect for!

Magic descent 💫.

Perast - 15km from Kotor.

The moon rose over the mountains on our walk for food.

Getting stuck into D. Murphy’s adventure. Her spin through Afghanistan makes the hills here seem like a walk in the park.

Couldn’t sit still so did a 5km when the sun was going down. Niall has a triathlon a few days after he gets back so good to get the miles in. Solid time given the last two weeks - 20 minutes flat in the heat.

Framed picture or window?

Wangled my way into the 5-star hotel to let me stretch on their pontoon. Savage views. Post run yoga & snámh for the aches.

Five star hotel - former palace.

An gealach - lánré.

30km spin relatively flat into Herceg-Novi for lunch. Brussels sprouts stew in Peter’s Pie Shop.

These notice boards seem to be the equivalent of RIP.ie for the Montenegrins.

Huge hills up to the border checkpoint. It’s just a given now that every day we have to climb at least 1,000 metres.

Someone had left a chair on the side of the road on one of the major climbs which seemed cruel.

Already have a great feeling about Bosnia. The border policeman was a gentleman. He knew Limerick because he gambles online on the Limerick Treaty United FC. Wished us well.

Compare and contrast this to the Montenegrin border police who made us leave the border shelter when we had just climbed 1,300km over 21km in the lashing rain. The same fella was smoking fags while inspecting an oil tanker.

Leaving Montenegro.

Entering Srpska.

The descent from the border was the best so far. I enjoyed it too much to take any photos / videos. Rolling mountains as far as the eye can see.

When we arrived into Trebinje we bought two Bosnian flags for the bikes. A waiter burst out laughing. Apparently we are in a semi-autonomous region of Serbian people within Bosnia. The area is called The Republic of Srpska. The waiter went away and bought us their own flag.

From Googling the situation, we think a good comparison I can think of is landing into Tiger’s Bay with a tricolour! Fellas are slightly embarrassed but have never heard of this republic before. Making a note to take it easier on yanks going forward.

Strolling around Trebinje. Such a friendlier buzz already off the people than in Montenegro.

An unlocked bike in a busy park. Love to see it.

Arslamagic Bridge. Moved 5km downstream due to a hydroelectric power station.

Everyone - young and old - are out walking along the river. Class.

Got talking to a fella in a park. He recognised the Irish accent instantly. Third or forth time it’s happened. The people of the Balkans have a good ear.

Komoot brought us up what seems to be an old border crossing. Giant spiders and webs every 5 meters on the path. We were covered in silk. Had to get a big stick to clear the path.

Came to what had to have been the old border checkpoint. There seemed to be no way further. We had pushed the bikes 2km up this road so we’re loath to turn back.

After leaving the bikes and checking it out we were able to carry the bikes over.

Saw an old can of Red Bull so signs of life. Finally found a road.

Downhill for luncheon in Cavkat.

Bumped into an old friend from school with some of his friends on a small street. They’ve invited us to the afters of their wedding next week. Fellas will need to do a shop for some suitable clothes. Spandex won’t cut it.

“Those who play with football will die some day” - 1597 graffiti.

Nearly burst into smithereens by a gold Audi overtaking on the other lane. If my left leg was an inch more to the right it would have been hit by the car. Convinced that if a car gets us it will be someone overtaking on the other lane.

So much less plastic / rubbish on the side of the roads in Croatia compared with all the other Balkan countries.

Neum village. Seems to be where all the local Bosnians holiday. We’re most certainly a novelty here. Two comments made by locals about the Bosnian flags but on the bike but can understand what they are saying.

It’s the only town on the small stretch of Bosnian coastline (20km). Croatia has all the rest.

Neum is the fastest town in Bosnia apparently.

When we arrived, the Bean an Tí (Maria) made us fresh lime / lemonade.

Sunset yoga on a big rock in front of the sea.

Back down the hill we just came up.

20km added to today’s journey due to the border police ‘computer says no’.

“Cross at your own risk”.

Snake #465.

Didn’t have enough Croatian X in a shop for water. A lovely woman stepped in behind us and paid the difference. She wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Crossed the other border with no issues.

Cool down dip en route to Pocitelj.

Pocitelj.

Balgaj.

Mostar.

Passed an old man pub on the way to the restaurant and decided to go after for a beer. Sat outside with a few lads for a beer. The fella beside me showed me his ear he lost in the war. He then showed me his YouTube channel where he sings ballads.

He was steaming from the raki and zoned out at the beginning. I was chatting to Niall and mentioned ‘Bosnia’. He interjected quick as a flash to remind us ‘and Hertzigovina’.

- The name ‘Mostar’ comes from the word ‘bridge’

- Second poorest in Europe after Moldova. €280 per month average salary.

- Most corrupt country on Europe after Bulgaria

- Only Bosnians, Croatians or Serbs can become president even though 30% identify as ‘other’

- Only 2 doctors and 14 nurses for 57,000 people during the siege of Mostar

- Mostar used to be divided east and west like Berlin. In 2004, Mostar reunited

- Football hugely contentions. Local derbies are savage

- Loads of people die jumping off the bridge

- The political situation is wild. For decisions you need to get the respective Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian leaders to all agree so difficult to get decisions made

- Three different curriculums in the city - content is the same except for religion and history. The latter only exacerbating the issue

- Tour guide fought for the Bosnian army and had to keep watch over his Croatian uncle in a PoW camp

Bus to Sarajevo

Final coffee.

Vječna vatra - The Eternal Flame to the victims of WWII

Disassembled the bikes and got boxes from a shop. Had to carry them 1km in 30 degrees heat. Rivers of sweat. Stored them overnight in the bus station. A lot achieved before 15:00.

‘Saraejvo’ means ‘castle field’.

40% of the citizens are employed by the government.

‘Saraejvo Roses’ - Three grenades fell on the city every minute during the war. Locals filled it with red paint where someone died.

Srebrenica Museum.

8,372 people (mostly men and boys) killed in Srebrenica in July 1995. Only 640 portraits collected.

Boy with bow & arrow. Born into refugee camp. “A cry of life born into the surroundings of death”.

2004 photo from refugee camp - woman lost 5 sons in the genocide. She wears the photo collage as a necklace.

In the ground under the doll (whose throat was slit) they found 600 incomplete bodies. They think it was left as a marker by the Serbians.

Dutch ‘soldiers’ graffiti. They were meant to be protecting the Bosnacks. They failed abisimally. The got medals from the Dutch government?

One body was moved 5 times to 5 locations by the Serbians at a distance of 30km. Mines were put under bodies to kill those who found them.

Celebratory pints curtesy of mum.