The Balkans
Motorbike Trip among the Balkans
Finally sitting on the bike, we were driving along the small roads of Villach, Peter’s hometown. After saying goodbye to family and friends we felt a mixture of anticipation for leaving our home so long and curiosity for all the new countries, cultures and people we were going to visit and adventures ready to experience.
As it was already evening our first stop was shortly behind the Slovenian border near Bled, where we put up our tent. On the next day we woke up to a mountainous scenery and after having a good breakfast out of our Givi backpack with Austrian bread, cheese, vegetables and fruits we decided to visit lake Bled. When we went on curvy roads downhill we caught a glimpse of the turquois blue lake glittering in the sunlight. We can only recommend every motorcyclist to visit lake Bled in Slovenia once. We spent the rest of the day relaxing near the beautiful lake, trying to get used to our new way of life. For the night we found a secluded spot in the fields between some trees. After some travel experience we have preferences where to put up our tent to sleep in the wilderness. At first, we get off the main street and then try to find some field where we can pitch our tent unseen from other people.
After the second night in our tent we woke up to a vehicle paving over the trail next to us. Well, it doesn’t always work out the way we plan. After saying good morning to the driver, we went on and decided to take our breakfast on the next petrol station before riding on to the city of Zagreb. One thing we appreciate going by motorcycle is the parking situation. You can stop nearly everywhere without buying a ticket. The city welcomed us in the beautiful warm colors of a sunny afternoon. After undressing in normal clothes and securing the bike we strolled around the city center enjoying the atmosphere.
Early in the next morning we woke up to people talking and standing near our tent. Obviously, we slept next to a train station. Still a bit tired we got out of the tent seeing the sun rising above the rails and stopped shortly to admire the great atmosphere of the ruined building bathed in the beautiful light of the morning sun. Riding in the early morning is our favorite time of the day.
One of the best things about travelling is that you can get your own impression of a country. Riding on curvy roads we enjoyed the scenery and got into conversation with a lady welcoming us from her balcony. She talked in perfect German and told us about her life in Munich and the job situation in Bosnia which seems to be bad in some parts. Her cute dog Semina wanted to play with us and was really excited. After saying goodbye, we went on and entered first Croatia and then Serbia, so we left the European Union twice in one day. Besides from open borders we like to use the internet on our phones without paying extra money or buy a new sim card. In Belgrade we stayed in a nice hostel in the city center located in a small street with lots of cafés, bars and restaurants. We liked the cheerful atmosphere and enjoyed taking a walk through the main shopping street to visit the monumental Belgrade Fortress where we had an amazing view over the city and admired a stunning sunset.
On the next day we left the city in the afternoon after using the advantages of staying in a hostel like cooking in the kitchen or having a shower and found a nice place in the fields to put our tent, as we like it most.
The next day, we went on riding towards Bulgaria on curvy roads in perfect conditions and stopped in an idyllic village asking for Lisine waterfall in Serbia, because we saw a sign on the street by chance. The locals were helpful, and one guy showed us the way. He went with us into a restaurant and stepped out on the other side where there was a green garden and a river. We felt like in paradise as we went on and saw the waterfall glittering in the sunlight. Having changed the hot motorcycle gear to swimming stuff we jumped into the water. It was freezing cold and a group of other tourists looked at us as if we were crazy, but we really enjoyed the refreshment.
The next morning, we woke up to a spectacular scenery we didn’t see the day before because it had been already dark. After doing the usual morning preparations we went on to Bulgaria. The sun was burning in the sky as we entered Sofia on midday. We decided to get some food in a supermarket in the center as one guy with his cute daughter approached us asking us if he could help or if we wanted to stay at his place. As we wanted to go to Turkey the next day we politely declined but had a good time with this extraordinary guy. We didn’t want to stay in Sofia any longer because of the heat so we went on.
Afterwards we soon reached the Turkish border and said goodbye to the Balkans.
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