Dear Jeff,
I have now been on the road for just over two weeks. The initial euphoria has worn off and life on the road is settling down. I actually think I'm beginning to hit my stride and find the true "rhythm of the road". My mileage has dropped dramatically and I find I'm only doing about 200 miles a day. But on tiny roads thru places I've never been, that is a lot. I am stopping to take a lot of photos too, which eats up a lot of time, but that is about all I do between 0830 and 1800 every day. Ride, see a photo op, stop, shoot, ride again. Repeat. So far I think I'm averaging about 50 photo stops a day. (Just be thankful you only have to see a couple in each new journal update.) But now the trip is changing.
Until Dubrovnik, the ride has mostly been a trip down memory lane. Safe and easy because I knew where I was going and had been there before. From now on there is the added stress of uncertainty, but that is all part of the journey. I hope I stumble onto new gems like Lake Bled and Dubrovnik. There is an entire world out there just waiting to be discovered by motorcycle. I know the new places won't be "discovered" BY me, ( yeah, like Columbus "discovered" north America, however he seemed to overlook the fact that several million indigenous people had been living there for thousands of years before he washed up on the shore) but these new places will be a great discovery FOR me. I just hope I am able to capture the joy of seeing new things for the first time. Sometimes these experiences are hard to capture in words, but photos do help out immensely.
To keep this short, so I can get some sleep tonight, I'm just going to do Slovenia and Croatia right now. Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia and Greece will have to wait for the next update.
On the road, in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Jeff Munn
Petersburg, Virginia |
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Descending from the Alps
Departing Slovenia was a long, slow descent from the mountains and foothill of the Alps. As I headed south towards the Adriatic, the topography slowly shifted, and the weather changed accordingly. I left the cool mountain climates, and as the elevation dropped, the temps went up, the humidity climbed, and the traffic increased. Soon I was back among the acrid brown haze of the populated areas, fighting traffic. Not willing to give into the population density just yet, I turned and rode westward back across the middle of Slovenia to get away from the main north-south autobahn corridor to Ljubljana. I managed to squeeze an extra couple of hours out of the back roads of Slovenia before succumbing to the 4-lane at the Croatian border. By sticking to tiny two lanes I was able to get all the way to the border with only about 5 miles of soul-less slab.
 Here is the perfect example of what I've been trying to do on this journey. The picture on the right is not a technically great one, but it absolutely captures the spirit of this tale. The lower road is the Slovenian Hwy 409 running south to Postojna, while the upper road is E70 (European Autobahn Road) running from Ljubljana, Slovenia to Trieste, Italy. I stopped there because of the way the smaller road snaked in and out amongst the pillars of the autobahn above, following the natural contours of the land while the concrete behemoth above removed all things natural from its path. I stood quietly and just listened to the roar of traffic flying by directly over my head. Down below it was peaceful, and your senses could actually detect the life that the road was among. You smelled the gardens, the fields and the barns, you heard cattle lowing and tractors working in the fields. While up above, people and commerce roared by in absolute efficiency, while isolated in cocoons of steel. Air conditioners filtered the smells away, DVDs eliminated the real world from outside the windows, the straight and fast highway removed all the bothersome natural terrain from the journey. A CD in the stereo and with cruise control on, you never have to even think about the world you are blowing by. All that matters is where you are going, and getting there as fast as you can. That is the antithesis of what traveling should be all about. By climbing on a motorcycle I choose to forego the insulation of the automobile for the total immersion in the experience of the trip. Yes, there were times in my life when the ride didn't matter because I didn't have any leave time and I had to get somewhere, and back, that weekend. To be honest, the US Interstate highway system is a wonder for folks with never enough time. And yes, I've done my Iron Butt qualification rides and have the certificate. But that part of my life is over, and this journey is different. I can feel it. That is why the secondary roads are my paths now. Many times they are not convenient, but they are always an awakening, and as complete an immersion into a country as you can ask for.
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Bizarre photo of the day.
I saw this sign on the side of a building in Kranj, Slovenia. All I could think of was that if it was on TV, someone would be saying,
"SPODNJI TRG? I think I'd like to buy a vowel please, Pat."
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Dubrovnik, Ancient Walled City
First, you'll just have to look at the picture to get an idea of what it is. Dubrovnik. It juts out into the Adriatic, strong and proud, and the far southern end of Croatia. So far south, in fact, that you actually have to drive thru Bosnia to get there. Bordered by steep mountains and the sea, it has learned to cooperate with both. The old town is the walled city, yet some 50,000 people live in or around the area. No powered vehicles are allowed inside the old city either, so once you've crossed thru the gates, you are in another world. Teresa and I came here in 2001, on our last vacation in Europe before shipping home. Some memories just make me laugh; like the sounds of the one-legged widow using her walker to get around the apartment late at night which I swear was a bad horror flick soundtrack come to life! (we rented a room in her home in the old town) Some memories were magical; like walking hand-in-hand in the warm July evening, eating gelatos, and sneaking outside the harbor walls to steal kisses in the dark with the waves lapping against the boats. Ahh. Dubrovnik. With its polished marble main street, and canyon-like walls, it has survived hundreds of years of governments, and wars, and until the recent past was undiscovered by almost anyone other than cruise ship travelers. Believe me, the 210 kms of coast road south from Split can take all day, and is not for the faint-hearted. But now they are building an autobahn to Dubrovnik, and as soon as that is done, it will just be another tour bus destination. I spent two days in Dubrovnik, missing Teresa and trying to drown my loneliness in photography. Even found my way up to the mountaintop that dominates the city, where the cable cars use to go. Destroyed in the 7 months of siege the Serbians laid on Dubrovnik the decimated cable car station overlooking the city stands as a testament to the 1991 war. Warned by my hosts to stay on the pavement because of mines still in the area, I wanted to see what the Serbian forces saw as the fired down into the city from the heights. It was a somber trip. I'll just quote from my journal that I wrote in while up there:
I am sitting here, looking out over one of the most uniquely beautiful small cities in the world, and I'm trying to understand what was going on inside the Serbian soldiers heads as the indiscriminately fired down into a defenseless city for seven months in 1991, damaging thousands of buildings in a world heritage site, and killing over 80 civilians. The sounds of war are gone now, although the evidence of war here is not. For some reason they have not repaired this place, or even tried to cover the evidence of battle. Metal spall from exploding shells still litters the ground. Rusting , twisted metal stairs and exposed concrete re-bar tell of explosions and death. It is quiet now, save for the sounds of the birds and the wind. Occasionally you hear the traffic from the city below, and unbelievably, sometimes you can hear the sounds of children playing brought up the mountain on the wind. I cannot imagine, even with my lifetime of military service, how a soldier could sit up here and fire down onto a city of civilians. It is just so sad. But the people and the city of Dubrovnik survived, and the Serbian military was unsuccessful. Here's to hoping it never happens again.
Later that evening I went into the city just to see what I could photograph. The dim lights and warm evening make it a wonderful place to explore. With so few people in town (well, all except for the 5000 person cruise ship in the harbor), it was a night photographer's dream. This newsletter format makes it a little difficult to do a nice photo layout, but I'll try.
Main street in old town Dubrovnik:
My main desire on this trip: The gelato store!
That is it for now. I am really feeling a bit tired. The weather has cooled a bit in the last few days and it has brought a bit of rain. My string of days with perfect weather has been broken. But two days in Dubrovnik has allowed me to rest, do laundry, catch up on the journals, and think way too much about my wife and the wonderful times we had here. It is time to move on. Tomorrow Montenegro, but for tonight, I'm heading back into the old city for one (or two) last gelato's before I go. Hmmm. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
(edit: I apologize for the discontinuity in the narrative, but I'm having to snatch pieces from my journal, written at different times. It is just proving too difficult to try to go back and make it seem like I've written everything in one sitting. I have found just don't have the time to make it perfect. Hope you understand.) |
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Next update: Volume 6: Montonegro, Albania, Macedonia and Greece
Currently I am in Thessaloniki, Greece, having safely traversed Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia. We are about 30 minutes away from heading to Istanbul to start the GlobeRiders tour. I want to get at least half of the last few days into an update before I become overwhelmed with my new duties. (You know how it is for the rookie, always going to be busy for a while.) The five other riders who have come overland to start the tour are all here; one from Ireland, two from the UK, on from Switzerland, and one from Greece. We are all going to ride to Istanbul together today.
Crossing Montenegro and Albania was the one part of the trip I was most apprehensive about, and it certainly lived up to its expectations. Incredible discoveries and unexpected finds, but a very, very hard day of riding. Not sure I'll be heading back through there by motorcycle again because one time was enough to last me for a while! Albania was every bit as wild as they say, and a very rough country. I think you'll be amazed by some of the pictures. This teaser is me standing on one of the 128,000+ concrete pill box bunkers that line the Albanian borders. At one time, Albania was literally one of the most isolated and heavily defended countries in the world. |
Most have already noticed, but almost all the pictures are linked thumbnails to a larger and more detailed version. Just click on most of the pictures and you'll get a full size version. Sometime the thumbnails just don't do the image justice.
For those of you who have had these journals forwarded to you by a friend, you can join the mailing list if you wish. All you have to do is email me at the link below, or use this address Jeff_munn@hotmail.com Just put "Please add me to the list" in the subject line and I'll be happy to do that so you can get future updates.
For those who are just joining the trip, you can find the previous Volumes on the web at the following links:
Cheers,
Jeff | |
