11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

The black art of moving from A to B on foreign soil
BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 48 - 19/06/10
End Location: Bled, Slovenia
Days Mileage: 89
Total Mileage: 6814

Another bad nights sleep and another uninspiring cloudy day. I set off towards Slovenia but the road over the pass was one long steady but steep incline through pine woods. At the top I saw a sign for the bunker museum so I stopped for a break. This pass had been a 'live' border until the break up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia and was littered with dug in tanks and gun emplacements. Quite an impressive reminder of recent history. I was crossing the Iron curtain! After a Dumb and Dumber moment using the facilities I was back on the bike and rolling down into another storm. . . . Welcome to Slovenia!
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Stopped in a very rustic cafe just after Kranska Gora and watched the clouds rolling over the Julian alps and down into my valley! Bugger. I bided my time until it eased off with a tasty strudel and the world's smallest cup of coffee but it was cheap I guess!
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Back on the bike the rain chipped in heavily again as I rolled into Bled, and I failed to find a place to stay courtesy of the useless tourist office. Back on the bike I became aware of a horrendous rattle from the engine as the engine idled in traffic. Feeling that familiar pit of the stomach feeling I realised that if mechanical investigations were needed then a campsite would be better than a hotel. Found one half way round the lake and was rapidly booked in.
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Did some chores and as they had a marquee set up for the purpose I even watched some of the world cup whilst having a few beers. Yet another horrendous downpour! I am sure this year must be setting some sort of record! Internet weather says it's here to stay for three days! Great.
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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 49 - 20/06/10
End Location: Bled, Slovenia
Days Mileage: 3
Total Mileage: 6817
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The foulest weather all night and all morning. Breakfast, showered then back in the tent reading until 3:15pm when it eased off enough to take a short ride to Villa Bled - Tito's holiday home. Checked out the internet to find a message from Chris from Inverness, and replies on the KLR forum suggesting that I check out the balancer chain and tension. Easily my laziest day yet on this trip. Need to do something before I die of boredom though!
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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 50 - 21/06/10
End Location: Bled, Slovenia
Days Mileage: 9
Total Mileage: 6826
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Woke to yet more shit weather and felt rough, waking regularly through the night, yet managed to miss the camp breakfast! Felling very down and no idea what to do. Just couldn't get out of my negative frame of mind. Dozed and read in my tent until about three when it brightened up enough to visit the Vintnar gorge. A nice boardwalk and a powerful flow of flood water but I wasn't in the right frame of mind, although it did lift my mood somewhat. Found and stopped an oil leak but no improvement on the rattle. Swatted up on what to do via the internet but as I need to remove the side case I need dry weather.
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Got chatting to a young Italian couple camped next door who had done the run down the Dalmatian coast but on pushbikes doing 140km per day! Decided to get stuck in and removed the near side engine case to check out the balancer chain and tensioner. Chain and spring were okay so I adjusted it and put it back together. A short ride down the road and the rattling was gone, and no oil leaks either. Postojna tomorrow then!!
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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 51 - 22/06/10 (Part 1)
End Location: Gemona del Fruili, Italy
Days Mileage: 166
Total Mileage: 6993

Sunshine! I was up, packed and ready to go in no time. Had a final conversation with Sergio and Bal (the Italian/ Coventry cycle camping couple) who said they were sorry I was leaving so soon which was lovely of them. Stopped for stores then after some satnav shenanigans I was headed out on tiny winding roads through wooded rolling hills with lovely vistas. Saw a lovely girl cyclist and turned to look back at her after I passed just in time to see her turn her head to look back at me. Luckily she couldn't see the crusty old letcher inside the crash helmet! Another fleeting ten second romance.
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Closed roads necessitated an early lunch and some amusement as two fully laden Honda Goldwing uber-tourers tried to navigate around the same obstacles but with much more difficulty. I did about 4miles of dirt rack and eventually ended up traversing a lovely gorge but still wasn't really in the mood.
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Then I was in Postojna and, my god, the scale of the place! It made every other cave attraction I have ever been to look like an amateur operation. Having said that when I queued up for a ticket it was €25. Holy mother of crap! You robbing bastards! despite that it was hugely busy with two whole train loads of people going down at a time! A 2km trip through tunnels only just high enough in open carriages - you'd never get away with it in 'health and sefety gone mad!' UK!
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We were grouped up by language and I got chatting again with the Japanese tour guide that I met yesterday in Bled. The 'English tour' leader was barely fluent or intelligible but the caves spoke for themselves. We did a 1km long walk through a series of impressive and huge caverns culminating in one with a shop in the middle and a huge sluice. Another slightly hair raising / parting ride back and we were back where the subterranean river emerged. Stunning, expensive but easily the most incredible caves that I have ever visited.
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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 51 - 22/06/10 (Part 2)
End Location: Gemona del Fruili, Italy
Days Mileage: 166
Total Mileage: 6993

(continued)
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The main eason for this researched stop was the vivarium of subterranean creatures. In particular this was the home of the proteus salamander or olm. I was fascinated in these creatures as a child thanks to one of my many wildlife books so it was the culmination of a long held ambition. But just me apparently as the vivarium was practically deserted. I was fascinated and eventually had to drag myself away before it got too late.
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Back at the bike I geared up and got ready to ride away. As I clicked it into gear the bike just died! Arse! I just wanted to kick the fucking thing to the ground and leave it but the car park was nearly empty and soon to close. I stripped it down and fiddled with all the wiring, battery, terminals, connector blocks etc. No sign of any fault! Praying to the gods of all things mechanical, I re-assembled it and it started.
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But that was it. The last straw. My will to continue had gone. Fed up with the breakdowns and delays and the rain. I set the satnav for Innsbruck and, sensing my mood the satnav headed straight for Trieste at rush hour. Really not what I wanted. I plodded on and eventually found a campsite in the shadow of the alps at Gemona de Friuli.

Set up my tent and texted my friends to say I was coming home. I immediately had a call from Dot trying to dissuade me but I explained that my timescale had slipped and that I would be better off coming home and using the remaining time productively, rather than fixing my bike in every campsite in Europe. A frustrating day but realistically my enthusiasm hasn't recovered yet. We'll have to see what the journey home brings.
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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 52 - 23/06/10
End Location: Schwangau, Germany
Days Mileage: 228
Total Mileage: 7221

Up early to an almost empty campsite! Went without a shave for only the second time on this trip! Scuzzer! Bizarrely the packing seems to have finally come together as it just flowed. A bit late!

Took a stunning and fairly quiet road through the dolomites, notable only for the ski resort of Sappada. Beautiful vistas but no idea about the skiing. It looked a bit drab as all these places do out of season so I opted for a cafe stop in Dobbiaco instead.
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The satnav was heading for the Brenner pass (I was a bit sniffy as it was just 1374 m) and I retraced my tracks between Dobbiaco and Bruneck before upsetting an Italian road-worker waving his red signalling wand which I incorrectly interpreted as a sign to pass. When he finally let me go I met cars coming up the other way. What a shambles. But despite its relatively low altitude the pass was dramatic and quite cold.

It is probably my frame of mind but there have been a lot of arseholes on the road today. Italy once again gets the award for the worst drivers in Europe. Four times I have had people do crazy overtakes to get in front of me when I am just moving along with the traffic. Of course I then just overtake the whole queue once the road is clear and leave them all behind. One guy overtook me three times and was clearly getting very pissy about it. Car only as fast as the car in front, bike as fast as the road conditions allow.
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Innsbruck was beautifully situated with snow capped mountains all around and lovely sunshine once off the pass. I tried again to find a replacement for the broken speedo cable but to no avail.
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Lots of photogenic castles and churches on the way out of town but I was still in a 'can't be fucked' mood. More stunning alpine scenery past the Zugspitze and then I was in Germany. Easily found Neuschwanstein but last entry was 2hours ago although it was still heavingly busy. Come back early tomorrow they said. The lovely Germanic girl at the tourist office found me a cheap B&B in the local village and I got settled before heading out for food and nighttime shots of the castle in the moonlight.
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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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BurningGiraffe
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Re: 11th anniversary of Europe and Morocco trip - Review

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Day 53 - 24/06/10
End Location: Saverne, France
Days Mileage: 236
Total Mileage: 7456

Ate like a ravenous wolf at breakfast! Gosh I was hungry. Discussed my journey with my lovely hostess and then set off after thanking her profusely.
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Got a ticket for the first English tour as long as I walked up to the castle so I was away. Hit the trail, helped some lost Germans, and then reached the top to find it overrun with Japanese tourists. Got chatting to an American lady who was fulfilling a lifetime ambition who luckily realised that I was about to miss my time slot so I was in. A good English speaking guide but my god did she speed us through! 25 minutes. But it was beautiful; like a huge, over the top version of Castle Coch in Wales. Each room was beautifully painted and themed to a Wagnerian opera. Not to mention the grotto! No wonder they called him the mad king! Who builds a cave indoors? Totally barking. I dawdled purposely to get my money's worth and felt it very worthwhile, even though it was so quick.

I walked up to the Mariensbruck and after having a tasty Japanese woman get very fruity over my leather trousers I was on my way back down. Threw all my change into a non functioning toilet turnstile and then simply stepped over it in a fit of pique leaving a queue of frustrated shorter people waiting outside.
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I set off for Baden Baden just because it was in the right direction and had lovely flowing roads before getting special treatment by a gorgeous blond girl in a cafe stop in an otherwise unmemorable town. We really hit it off and it was a shame to have to move on. I think she was a bit overcome by the romance of the mysterious stranger breezing into town on his bike.
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A run through the black forest and then I crossed the Rhine. The bike was feeling rough as a badgers arse but was pulling okay so I just pushed on back into France. I arrived at Saverne at about 7:30 and easily found a campsite with help from the world's fastest French speaker.

Impressed some of the snobbier caravanners when I returned to the campsite with burger and chips, and copious supplies of beer from the town. Get back in your mobile isolation chambers losers!

Had a good day today after all but it hasn't changed my mind.
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