Slovenia we meet again and do I have sad news for you yet once more. I’ll be passing through for just a few hours because I am once again in a hurry. I nowadays have a term for when I pass through a country in one day: Sloveniad. As in “I Sloveniad that country in a matter of hours mate”. I did the same in 2011 coming back from Istanbul. My loss really. Only heard good things about the Slovenian Alps and Ljubljana, so I vouched to do the country right one day. Instead I was on my way to Croatia and the sun went down soon after I arrived in the country.

I decided not to buy a vignette since I was only going to ride less than 10km on the highway. After only 5km the highway was blocked off and traffic was diverted though the petrol station where it was crawling with police. Shit. Should I stop by the shop real quick and wait this one out? Nah, too suspicious. Had luck on my side and the police women waved me through with a smile and I was back on the road within a minute. Fantastic. I stopped for a long smoke and watched the sun go down as I enjoyed the beautiful countryside in absolute silence. I knew I was missing out on something just breezing through like this. Next time.

The border crossing was easy. Apparently the procedure had changed since a year and I was very pleased with that. The country had become part of the European Union in 2013 and I had completely forgotten about it.

In case you have not noticed you are in Croatia.


The final stretch to Rijeka was a formality and once there I was welcomed by my friend Croatian man Jelle and his girlfriend.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/w3KHFb]

City looking all right in the sunshine.

To take this picture at the port…

…I passed by this sign. Not knowing it was the equivalent of crossing the border. Guard who came fast walking towards me did not look very happy.

View of the city taken from the west. We picked up a helmet for Jelle and had a couple of ice cold homemade Limoncello’s at his friends’ house.

I stayed at his place for almost a week. He showed me around the city and we went on a daytrip to Krk. A beautiful island peninsula with nice small fisherman villages. I walked through the narrowest street in the world though I highly doubt their audacious claims. There is probably some city or town in Asia which takes the cake. Jelle is the only person I know who like me takes straight pictures. An exceptional piece of common ground we both possess and a rare skill it would seem. About the only photography skill though.

Nice narrow streets in one of the sleepy towns of Krk.

Narrowest in the world you reckon?


From Krk we took a short ferry trip to the island of Cres. There is where things got really nice including the riding.


Beer O’clock. Not a Tomislav but still all right. See how straight that horizon is?


Picturesque little fishing village on Cres.

Take the ferry from the northern tip of the island back to the mainland. Late sunset coastal ride back to Rijeka.

The port of Rijeka never sleeps.


On a side note little did we know back then that Jelle was eight months short of becoming a father. And now he is. First man down in my circle of friends, all the best mate. Not me though. Not for a long time. Too many great things to do in this brilliant world. No wife, kids, or house for that matter. Makes for a malleable future and staying true to yourself is a lot easier like that. But I digress. In eight months you’ll be in for quite a surprise my friend. Good luck! At least the kid will have an interesting dad.

I decide to go see the Plitvitce waterfalls which is a 200km detour but no problem when you are on a motorcycle. It is what cyclists envy most about us riders. On the other hand I envy them for being able to take their bikes across the border just like that. No paperwork. On my way out of the city over the mountains I stumbled upon interesting scenery. The forests just looked devastated with many trees being snapped in half and even more were missing their tops. Probably due to the weight of snow and ice during winter but I’ve never seen anything like it before. Of course I did not take a picture.

Another interesting sight were the many abandoned houses alongside the road. History clearly left its mark in the region. Got some nice twisty road action when I arrived in the Plitvice area and I spent the night at a camping. There I spent the evening drinking and talking with a Dutch senior couple who occasionally take their campervan to places in Europe. Makes me feel good when I see people like that still roaming free and not withering away in a retirement home. Wish them the best.

Old bridge in the countryside.


Abandoned house…


…after abandoned house. After the war many people did not return to their houses and the younger generations leave the villages for the cities.


The next day I unpacked my bike and went to see the waterfalls. What I figured would be a casual stroll of maybe two hours turned into an activity of half a day. The area is huge with waterfall after waterfall, it never ends. I mentioned girlfriend earlier; Take her there. Chicks love waterfalls. Beautiful place and worth ones time. Watch out for your sunnies though and do not lose them in one of the waterfalls like I did.


Here is a waterfall. And look over there...


...another one!

One is tempted to go in but the water is ice cold.


Tagged along with a couple of young Germans who were flipping out in line behind me because their student cards were not accepted for a discount. Date had expired and they had not received their new cards yet. I got a discount with my dateless one and I graduated years ago. See how long I can keep that perk going in this life. Germans can get really heated when they deem a procedure incorrect or illogical. We all do but especially they are good at it. I once saw a German backpacker drive a Chinese tour guide girl mad. She called it quits and left us all behind. As the van drove off she hung from the window and shouted obscenities in Chinese to the tour group. But again I digress.

In the afternoon I made my way in direction of Zagreb. Around halfway I ride through the city of Karlovac where I encounter a site of old war machines. These were weapons used during the war between the Serbs and de Croats. Shortly after I got there a local man arrived on a bike and gave me a tour around the place and explained information boards to me. He spoke barely passable English but he was able to convey information and a certain sentiment regarding the history of the city. Heavy fighting had gone on there as it was part of the front line. This would not be the last reminder of the war on my path since I would also be passing through Vukovar at some point.

The first of many tank encounters on my way to Vladivostok.


Don’t worry, I’ve got this.


I arrive in Zagreb during dusk and find a hostel to sleep. There I spend a few days sightseeing and socializing. In the evenings I go to the subterranean supermarket at the station and every time I am amazed at the ridiculous quantities of alcohol being purchased. Drinking is no joke over there so I did my part. The weather was not that great during my time there but the city was nice and well kept. Pretty small for a capital city.

Too my surprise the city center was not that big.




On my third day I had a bit of what I latter dubbed as the Zagreb blues. No will to take pictures, feeling a bit aimless. It was all already going so fast and I had a nagging feeling that I might be doing it wrong. Why Vladivostok? It all of a sudden felt like such an arbitrary destination. Why not take on the European continent at large and roam around for a year staying wherever I please. Hell I could even visit parts of the Middle East before I loop back into Eastern Europe. These thoughts would linger for a bit longer but the short term remedy was simply to ride on. Some days are simply just one of those days. And besides that, I had bigger plans! Bigger fish to fry! Caught on the other side of the world.

__________________
VIDEO Series YT - '91 Transalp RTW: Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, East Asia, Australia > New Zealand