Up a Volcanoe Down a Canyon

[dusi]

Wow you boys have been some great places, checked out some of your other video's top marks and thanks for taking the time to share, quite inspiring, keep em coming, all the best Dusan

[Louisdut]

Cheers for the replys

We found a great hotel, this was the view from our room of the famous bridge



One of the reasons the bridge is famous is because of the diving club, if you look closely you can see one of the divers

















We enjoyed a light supper!







Next morning we explored another riverbed





The trail followed the river for a while…



Then left the river and rose up through the valley



Then we found ourselves riding in he riverbed, this was the most difficult tack of the trip.





Nicky glad to be out of there!



Video of the the track

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[dusi]

This post just keeps getting better, really want to go back to 'Yugoslavia' and see some of the fantastic countryside, awesome lakes and amazing rivers, need/like to find my Dad's family, lost track of them in all the troubles; I stood on the original bridge at Mostar in 1980's, fantastic work of art, made with no mortar, the stones were worn and polished by thousands of feet over the years, a stunning place, thank you so much for the post and video's, kindest regards Dusan

[Louisdut]

Hi Dusan

Hope you get back down that way as you know the people are great

Ok more

Rather than go round on the main road through Jablanica, I decided to take a shortcut (planned route marked in light blue on map)



All started will with nice bridge to cross



Lovely views



Great tracks





Then the track stopped!





We tried another route (see map), but this stopped in the middle of a village where the residents seemed surprised to see us, they advised that there was no way through



[video][/video]

So we took the main road to Prozor, we stayed at a hotel and spotted a KTM Exe in the garage



A lovely lady in the supermarket told us that we should visit the House of Peace at a nearby island, as this was on our planned route we stopped off to see it













A truly beautiful place although the lake was manmade



Then it was back on the road

[dusi]

Thanks, I will get back there by hook or by crook! Please keep the posts coming, really enjoying them, great pic's, how did you get on with map's, any good one's you could recommend (gps any good?), also, were there many places you could not go because of mines? Many thanks all d best Dus

[Louisdut]

Unfortunately there where lots of mine signs around and a lots of them being cleared

It seems as a rule of thumb only ride on tracks that have been used recently and stick to the track











I used map a freytag & berndt Bosnia-Hercegovina 1:250 000 and asked every one we met about routes

[Louisdut]

From here we planned to visit a chateau on top of a mountain, surrounded by forests



Plenty of logging trucks had used these tracks





Unfortunately our way through was blocked





It’s not easy navigating in a forest but spent a few hours looking for an alternative route to the chateau but as time was getting on and we were a good distance from the nearest town we had to give up



[video][/video]

We road down to Glamoc, where we found a hotel, the bikes were looking well travelled



As always people were keen to help when the map came out. They kindly offered to take us to the start of the gravel roads the next morning. If you’re ever out this way would recommend staying at the Hotel Split in Glamoc, they couldn’t do enough to help us.



Next morning we woke to a thunderstorm and clean bikes!



We waited ½ hour and it eased off so we were on our way



They weren’t wrong in the bar the night before it was a great route





Unfortunately shortly after taking this picture the rains returned, so we headed to Bihac, where we new of a good hotel, having stayed there last year.



The next day was glorious sunshine, which gave us a chance to dry out! We planned to cross into Croatia and take the road that follows the border











Now in Croatia, the logging trucks were a hazard to be reckoned with, as they weren’t expecting to come across bikes








Two old relics!

[Louisdut]

We then stopped off at a Bear sanctuary in Kuterevo, a small village. The sanctuary was set up by a villager to home cubs orphaned by traffic accidents or hunting. There were only 6 bears here, the sanctuary is manned by student volunteers from all over the world during the tourist season, they are currently building a large enclosure.















Thankfully the less stringent Health & Safety allowed us to get this close.













The students have built up these signs over the years



On several occasions we came across mine clearance workers in the forest.



Then we crossed into Slovenia and found a great hotel in the forest not far from the Croatia/Slovenia border



Then we had a quick stop in Venice but had to leave the bikes in the carpark!











Which is more scary?









We had a great trip, with a good mix of tourist destinations and remote locations, we met a lot of great people along the way

[James691]

Thanks for the report! Loved the pictures and the videos. I will be taking on that part of the world next year. Part of the Iron Butt run and I am looking at going down past Zagreb to Athens and then back up via Romania and Moldova.

I have done Croatia a few times but your report has been of great help for the lower sections. Thank you very much!

[Louisdut]

Thanks for your reply

I have done Croatia a few times but your report has been of great help for the lower sections. Thank you very much!

Not sure but you might be interested in last years ride report did a lot more in Croatia have a look here
Rough Guide to a bit of Slovenia, Croatia & Bosnia

Louis