Closing this chapter..

This will be my last post in this blog, as I made it back home safe and sound and already planning the next three big events this year ;)

It was a really great trip and I was mostly blessed with good weather! I stilled my hunger for the road and quenched my thirst for adventure (at least for the moment ;)

first a few numbers:

I travelled over 7000km through 10 countries in 4 weeks (it's a small step to participate on an actually rally now ;)

Countries (in bracket are those that I was just trespassing and didn't spend a night)

Switzerland - Italy - Albania - (Greece) - Albania - Macedonia - Albania - Montenegro - Bosnia - Croatia - Slovenia - (Italy) - Austria - (Italy) - Switzerland

assuming that my bike uses 4.5lt/100km I needed 375lts of gasoline and spend about 450CHF to travel. Another 500CHF was tires and some maintaining the bike.

I spent approximately 2100CHF  in 30 days, so I that's a 70 Euro per day in average. That's totally fine, thinking of that I was scuba diving, horse back riding, ziplining, paragliding, visited lots of churches and fortresses, slept well, eat lots of yummi food, took a ferry ride and bought some souvenirs.

For I knew nothing about these countries before, I learned a big deal about them now and I feel I covered as much as possible in this very limited ammount of time! Now I'm really happy to be back and to pick up the many things I left here behind.

....

I drove to Ljubljana in one day from the bay of Split. This time I took the roads through the hills instead of following the cost (was really nice!) twice I almost got busted for speeding, but I didn't exceed the speed limit enough that they would have stopped me (fortunately, because I would not have had any money to pay the fine). But still.. didn't encounter cops on the road the whole time until then.
I stopped at the Plitvicer lakes and wanted to take some pictures. But you need to pay 15 Euro to get in and should reserve a whole day to check out the place (it's very touristy though and the 100 hotels they built in the area are probably quite pricy). So I sneaked in to get a glimps of it, but didn't dare to proceed as I had no ticket. Bummer.. I really wanted to see them, but I didn't know that you can't just circle them on a bike. Anyway.. got one or two shots and was an experience. I also wanted to get to Ljubljana to  take care of the transmission chain.
When I got there I just passed the Yamaha dealership and they helped me to find a hostel in town. It was a great idea to check in in that place! mets lot of great people and had really good times!! (went out for drinking at night and had a good laugh! ;). The next day (a bit hangovery), I took care of that chain. When I got to the garage, there was another guy on a newer Tenere and he knew a lot more than I did, so with his help, I managed to reduce the rattling sound without buying a new chain. Tightened some screws and got a lot of information about the bike and some good ideas how to improve my equipment (spares, tools.. etc).
the same day I drove to Skocjan cave, where you can walk through on a guided tour and it was really impressive! As the weather was not suitable for skydiving, this was the second best thing to do in Slovenia. Then on the way back, I caught some rain, but with no luggage and good equipment, it was not so bad. Again going out at night and having fun! ;D ..next day packing up and checking out some caves (there are 11 400 in Slovenia ;) with my new friend Sebastian from Germany (riding a very old bike, but also being traveling on his own). Together with Liz from the states, we had a great day! having lunch (some sandwiches) in pitch black inside a cave :) great experience!!
I made my way up then to Villach in Austria. Was still quite a long ride and I arrived there after 8PM (getting tired along the way, but suddenly waking up again). The night at the lake was boring as boring can be.. but as I was so tired, I didn't really care.
Then there were only 660km between me and my home and I made it all in one day.. started at 6AM and got here around 7PM.. at least being 11hours driving. I didn't get any more rain until 2 hours away from home. Then it pissed down and I had to take the highway.. that was aweful! but anyway.. managed to get here. After 100km there was a traffic jam on the highway and I had to take small roads to get back. It was a victory I had to fight for, but nevertheless I made it back and took a hot bath and fell tired in my (own) bed! Feels good to have successfully completed this trip!!
There are a lot of beautiful roads between here and Albania and I mostly enjoyed riding very much! (only having a few times some rain and me or my stuff never got wet). For the moment, it's okay though to be off the bike ;) haha ;)
All that I need to do now is sorting my stuff out and organizing my trip to Finland, the festival on the next weekend and Burning Man (and some more festivals and LARPs). I got so many plans and tasks on my list.. I will be busy the whole summer. but I LOVE it! :D

as a little sneak-peak onto coming roadtrips of mine, this is what I still got in mind:

- Chamonix - Ardeche - Pirenaes (climbing trip with my friend together)

- Bretagne - Wales, Scottland, Ireland (in June probably ;)

- Rumania and Ural (then somehow circling back)

- Trieste - shipping to Albania and drive around the Mediterran Sea and back over Gibraltar

- finally (and probaly not to realize because other plans in my life): Russia, Mongolia, Kyrgistan, Kasachstan etc. to India and China (if even possible on a bike). That would bring it up to a good ammount of Km on my bike ;)

but I already know: Yamaha Tenere is my favorite bike!! cheaper than KTM and BMW, but can be fixed everywhere and extremely reliable!! (in the end, it didn't fail me once.. and I had some moments where I would have been pretty fucked if my bike would have broken down ;)

okay.. sorting the last pictures and letting the experience settle in. Now I could use some holidays ;) haha ;)

Life is a beach ;)

ziplined - check - horseback riding - check - deep water solo climb - missed - skydiving - depends on weather the next days.
Yes.. I truly can't complain. So far, so good! :)
I passed that zipline place just when they started in the morning and had a (fun!) ride over the Tara canyon, before heading on to Zabljak and trying to find out where to mount a horse. I didn't find the tourist information (probably just closed), but ended up in a bar where I got invited a turkish coffee (happens a lot in Montenegro ;) and one of the clients organized the ride (didn't really figure out how he knew these people, but probably his brother ;). No one spoke English, but with some signs we agreed on time and price and I could pick a horse. The first one they gave me was a young (and wild tempered) stallion that just wanted to run. I really hold these reins tight.. so tight my arm was hurting after a few minutes, but I couldn't control that beast. So it started running with me across the meadow towards a steep slope (I saw myself already flying), but then I could turn it around and it ran all the way back to the barb wired corner of the fence (where again I thought this might end badly), but then it stopped and they gave me another horse (a pretty slow one ;). I probably would have had to tear more on that reins, but I was afraid it would rear up and throw me off. Next time I'll be mercyless if a horse tries to burn-out with me! :P
It was a lovely ride out and instead of going with one guide and two horses, it were 3 guides and 5 horses ;) I'll go back to this place the next time I get to Montenegro for sure! Then I'll also handle that wild stallion ;) Was again invited for some coffee and raki and listened to some local folk music (grandpa sang a song :)
It was already a couple of years ago that I was riding, but in the end I got pretty much into it again (always have to get a feeling for the trot). Compared with a bike, where every bike from the same model handles the same, there are no two same horses on this planet (they might be similar, but not exactly the same.. they all have their character). So you can't expect the horse will just be happy to have you on it's back and read all your thoughts ;) In the end I got even to ride a third horse that would also have been a good choice. Should really go riding more often! ..on the other hand, my body is still sore from these two hours (and it was only a single HP ;) I'm much better handling my 47 HP where I can sit in the saddle for 10 hours and walk away with a smile ;)
It was only three o'clock in the afternoon and I figured that I can make it to Sarajevo this very day. It turned out to be a pretty long ride.. first through the Durmitor National Park and then along the Pluzine canyon. When I crossed over to Bosnia, it was still a 100km to go and before I reached Sarajevo, I ran into heavy rain (I should have circeled around it, as there was blue sky behind me and left of me). I drove in it, turned around and drove a few hundred meters back and put my rain gear on. It took me longer than the actual rain, but without it, I would have been wet to the bones. It was a long day and I was really tired when I got to Sarajevo. After asking around, I found a nice and affordable place in the center, eat some local food and wanted only to pass out on my bed, what I successfully did. That horseback riding grinded my completely! :P
Sarajevo would probably hold more things, but it would be nicer to be there with friends. Then you can hang out in a hookah-lounge and go partying at night ;) The old town is also quite touristy, but I didn't really mind (after such a long day, it just felt good to have arrived somewhere).
The next morning I checked for deep water solo climing in Croatia and found a place called "the split" that looked very promising. So I started early (slept long enough) and made my way from Bosnia to Croatia. The boarder crossing took as usual not more than 5 minutes (it's so easy nowadays.. and no one would ever want to check my stuff). I also made close to 300km today and when I had to choice between 10km through a tunnel and 10km on the highway, I chose the highway.. unfortunately, I took the wrong turn off and rode 15km in the wrong direction, before I could turn around.. so it where 40km of highway after all :P Then finally I could make my way to the sea again. It was actually pretty lovely in the beginning, but then there were too many houses and towns along the road (can't imagine, why someone would want to build houses on the sea instead of having a gorgeous road to ride ;). So for tomorrow I will leave the sea and seek out some curvy mountain roads ;) the highlight will be the Plitvicer lakes (known from the Winnetou-movies) and tomorrow night, I will spend the night in Slovenia. If the weather changes for the better, I will even be able to skydive on this trip, but so far the conditions don't look too promising.
as for Split, it turned out to be a bigger (and very touristy) city and the place where I asked to stay on the beach was 100 Euro :( There would have been a hostel (probably fun people there), but the catch was that is was sited in the middle of the pedestrian zone. So I would have had to walk twice 800m with luggage (I start sweating after 10-12 steps when carrying my stuff :P so I left Split and abandonned my plans for bouldering. Drove on and on and finally found a place for 20 Euro. It's a lovely room, but I'm alone in this building.. at least I have time for pictures and blog. First I was at an abandonned camp site and then I asked for a cheap room and it would have been 50 Euros. So I just rephrased the question the next time and asked for a 20 Euro room ;)
was in no mood to check that town here nearby.. Trogir.. that's between the mainland and this pretty big island here. I feel that this trip is coming to an end and that I've seen and done a lot and ridden bike even more. So the only thing left is getting back home in one piece and eventually to get a new transmission chain along the way. If skydiving isn't happening, then I could even be back by Thursday (seems a day early to me, but why not.. probably figure out what to do with my time and if it's only lying in my own bed and chilling out! ;D haha.. oh yes, I'd like that! 

Tales of mead and meat

another two days passed and a lot of things happened.. really amazing, how intense life can be! (lot better than being stuck in this everyday life where days fly by and you don't know what you accomplished). So I got up really early and figured a way to get to the prison island "Mamula". In the beginning, I wasn't sure if you can walk around on the island and where and how I should charter a boat, but then it all worked out. Found the port (after lots of asking and driving around), a suitable parking spot for the bike, had breakfast at the peer (these people don't have prober breakfasts.. horrible.. just coffee-bars, where they have coffee and a probably some Raki). Got supplies for the day and found a guy who has a boat and does the trip. It's smaller than I pictured it, but it has some great rooms that are just perfect for playing didgeridoo ;) It's not exactly like Alcatraz, but nevertheless I will camp out a night on it when I get back to Montenegro! :) After that we wen't to the "blue grotto" where some of us jumped off the boat to take a swim (me too). There was a boat packed with Polish girls (I'm sure the boat was not made for that many passengers) and they dropped a cellphone into the sea. I was about to dive it up as our captain steered his boat out of the grotto and left me behind :P ..told me that he's doing this job for 35 years, but after that I wondered how many customers he left there ;) maybe he should do a headcount (we were 9 ppl on that boat :P  anyway, the Polish girls would have saved me, but then he turned around (still didn't pay by then). ..maybe he should have left me with the Polish girls ;)
the rest was being on a rocky beach where I did some practice with sticks and balls to be ready for the performing act at the parties in Switzerland. Looking forward to that! :D (and feels graet to be a "famous" performer  in the scene ;). I made some Serbian-Montenegrino friends and we had fun drinking together ;) ..oh.. btw: I figured out that Montenegro is NOT part of the EU :P (they just use the Euro.. guess never stop learning ;)
Serviced my bike on the way back (oil change, chain tension, air pressure.. the usual stuff) and was excercising when I got back to the campsite. Had dinner with a guy from Portugal that is also traveling on a bike on his own. Quickly gave up speaking Portuguese, as I was too tired and lacked practice lately. But still understood each other pretty well :)
This morning I packed up very early and took the ferry to the other side of the bay (as I was already driving around it and didn't find it sooo spectacular, taking the ferry at the most narrow part was a good alternative. In Kotor and needed to ask around a bit until I could leave my bike and stuff with the fruit sellers on the market. I crossed the old town (pretty big for an old town, but stuffed with touristy shops) and climbed up to the fortress. There are a lot of steps, but for someone in good shape (like me ;) it didn't take that long. Was nice to see the light of the rising sun covering the bay and took some nice pictures on top. Then someone told me about a trail going back down to town that starts behind the fortress. I found it and descended this way, what entirely saved me the admission fee ;) (when I was going up, there was no one collecting money downstairs). I drove back up the serpentines and this time the view was better (less hazy). Continued to Cetine. Stopped along the way for coffee and a sandwich with home made cheese and ham (delicious!) and bought a bottle of mead and some dried meat. Drove on to the Podgorica (the capital.. felt as I never heard this name before), where I tried to get a new chain for my bike, as the one on it might be still the first one (then it would have 36 000 km.. :/ but I couldn't get one at the shop. So the actual chain will have to do it still a bit longer. Will also check in Sarajevo.. hope can find one along the way! From Podgorica the old road to Matesevo and Kolasin.. felt like a thousand curves to get there ;) got a bit tired along the way and stopped at a place where people were drinking beer and Raki. Got invited for a strong turkish coffee (that was so thick that I could chew on it ;) and felt energized again! Would have filled my water too, but where the water was dripping out of a stone, they had a leave that served as funnel and somehow little black larves got into my camel pac. Probably would just have been proteines and digestable, but I didn't feel like trying it out ;)
As it looked like a nice road through the natural park Biagradska Gora and was not too late, I decided to make a little detour. But the map (as usual) turned out to be wrong. So I ended up on a dirttrail to some abandoned Eco camps. Met a local guy in a shut down ski resort that told me it's possible to drive to that lake in the park. When I made it further uphill, the road was covered by a snow patch. The last time I encountered such an obstacle, I took the stupid decision to ride directly at it (was a deep river and drowned my bike then). This time it would have slided down and I could have kissed it good bye :P Instead of listening to the signs and to turn around, I continued a bit further up and found tracks from a car that went straight across along the slope above the snowy patch. So after checking the ground, I did the same and it just worked out fine (never underestimate a Yamaha Tenere! ;) the guy told me approx. 30km to the lake and it was another leap of faith, as I didn't really know how this will end and if other people do this track (at least not on a bike). But then universe helped me by sending some trackers along my way and they told me that the road will be OK. In the end it were only 20km and half a dozen people was walking on that trail (would just have sucked to get the bike out if something would have failed.. like the chain or a flat tire or driving off the slope). But yes.. nothing happened and it was a nice ride (even when mostly observing the road ahead of me and being aware that a break down would be shitty out here). Then I made it to the lake and decided not to camp there but drive on (having another boost of energy after I made it that far ;) and found now a room for 15 Euro, where I can catch up with blog and pics and feasted on mead and meat. Tomorrow it's just a stone throw to the place where you can zipline over tara-canyon (or at least so I heard) and then do some horseback riding. I'll figure it all out tomorrow.. right now nothing else to do than having a shower, watching TV and getting drunk ;)

Done it all! :D

..So after I hopped on my bike in Macedonia, I was riding for 2 hours in cold and rainy conditions (was just too early and still clouded and few raindrops). But at least I made some kilometers and brought me close to the boarder of Albania. I found some small road on the map (and GPS) that would bring me back to Debar, so I was about to take it (it looked interesting and scenic ;). I asked some mining people along the way and they told me, it's gonna be rough. And it was! Another leap of faith to make it up the mountain on a road that looked as it hasn't been used at all! It wasn't so scenic after all, but led through a forest (on top of a mountain) and it got muddy and again I needed to put all my skills to use to keep the rubber side down. Well.. finally I made it over the top and the other side was smoother than expected (there were some houses and I felt "safe" again). From there it was just a stone throw to the boarder of Macedonia. I crossed and took the road towards North that looked the most interesting. I started really early that day, so I was feeling tired when I was getting to Kukes but I still continued. Then later on I spotted a parked Honda Transalp p in the corner of my eye and stopped and turned around. So I met Tom from Germany, who's also traveling on this own and down here for the second time. It was so refreshing to meet another foreigner (even a biker!) and he totally made my day(s). He started in Valbone this morning and told em about a ferry and the Teth-Loop (a place I thought, is a dead end). So pushed by all this good energy, I continued and made about 380 km this day (even got to Valbone and stayed in the place he stayed the night before). Got some good pictures of the bike out in nowhere and finally went to bed early.  The plan was getting up at 4 AM and going to Fierze to take a special ferry (a Bus mounted on a boat.. truly the most adventurous Ferry I ever took). So all worked out. I was there in time, the people pushed my bike on that boat (I stopped breathing for a moment!) and then driving peacefully 3 hours down on the dam lake to save some road.. but above all: to have an awesome ferry ride! I met a local guy.. talked about this and that and got off the boat before I knew it. From there it was another 80km to Shkoder, where I unloaded my bike at a campsite Tom recommended me. With a light bike, I headed for the Teth-loop. Really interesting, but extremely challenging and I was a bit late to start it, but wanted to do it all! It was a smart move to drive it counter-clockwise and go for the hardest part first (that took me 5 hours!!). I really was in need for a massage, but after 75km (5 hours of riding!) of extremely bumpy road, I got my massage a ten-fold :P So I had a really intense day of riding.. 280km and quite  a lot of them off-road (really off-road!). If you intend to do it, then let me give you the following recommendations:
1. be an experienced driver (I'd like to call myself as one)
2. don't take a BMW 1200 GS (or any other bike that weights 300kg)
3. DON'T attempt if it's raining or recently rained!
4. unload your bike (I made many dirt roads with luggage, but I was soooo happy to be empty on this one!)
5. don't bring your girlfriend or any other passenger along.
6. get enough fuel (and enough water for you)
7. make it your daytrip and start early (not like me at noon :P
8. be sure to have good tires and the bike is working fine (as mine ;)
9. don't check your odometer, as it will seem to not working properly (it takes soooo long to make a single kilometer on that road)
it just took FOREVER to get to Teth, but it's actually a bad-ass ride and some crazy tourists that got here with their tuned 4WD were also doing it. When I felt lost after 1 hour of not seeing any sign of civilization (only doing 15km.. that would take at least 3-4 hours to walk back), I came across a Minivan that told me that I can do it :) Now I'm completely and super done with Albania. Will head to Montenegro tomorrow (after fixing my number plate that fell off during that ride ;) and I'm trying to organize some skydiving, even if it has been 5 years since my last jump (these skydivers are so picky about their trade, even if it's so fucking easy to jump off a plane! :P ..they should try to paraglide.. that is by faaaar more complicated and needs much more experience than skydiving!
So yes.. camping on the lake next to Skodher and getting ready to continue to the next country.
just one day passed, but I feel like writing it all down right away (even if I'm soooo tired and it's only half past eight). Crossing the boarder this morning was very easy.. it's a combined boarder crossing and I didn't even realize that I entered Montenegro already :P Food here is good, but it's much more expensive than Albania (especially lodging). For a moment I got this feeling of being tired of traveling and that I'd like to be home to process all the impressions that I got in the last weeks. I also didn't have a plan for this country and if you don't have a purpose, things mostly don't get as epic as they can be. But then by following the roads that were marked as "especially scenic" on the map, I got my spirit back! :) ..at a certain point, the road was completely gone, except for maybe 20% where some cows were walking past. One more time I was so happy to ride a bike and not to sit in a car. I hold my breath and was driving through the narrow passage, without looking down. There are apparently only 600 000 people living in this country (how is this possible to maintain a working economy?) and a lot of this are just falling apart.. roads, houses.. lot of things lies just in ruins and gives this country a special touch (as I like ruins ;). People are though not so helpful as in Albania, but I feel a bit more home, as they are part of the EU (even if Switzerland is not ;). Just seems more civilized, but also much more touristy! (first I really was shocked.. like riding from Bolivia to Chile). In the meantime I figured out a few things to do and won't be bored here.. tomorrow (let's hope this works out), I want to go on a boatride to an abandoned prison on an island. I've fallen in love with it, since I saw the picture and now just figured out that it's here in Kotor bay. Yes, I made it through a national park to Kotor (where I'm camping out and still paying quite some money for it). On the way to here, I took small roads (really small.. like < 2m wide) and had to be careful driving (expecting a car behind every curve). Then I also passed this Mausoleum here.. didn't go in (golden ceiling and a monument but paying extra for it), but climbed just on top of that hill where it is and the views are breath-taking!! too bad the whole day today was somehow hazy and therefore I didn't get clear shots with my cam (contrast is really bad with this conditions). Right now I'm sitting in a restaurant on Kotor bay and I'm observing a bad ass thunderstorm on the other side of the bay (with huge lightnings :D I figured out where to do a little service for my bike (well.. mainly changing oil and checking tire pressure and chain tension). I'll do that myself, but I'll need some tools to do it.. so all prepared to do the task tomorrow. In Kotor itself is a fortress on a taaaaaall rock that I want to climb, before heading on to Tara canyon (rafting? or at least do the rope-thing across the canyon). Then further up to Durmitor national park and see if I can do little (horseback)riding, before going to Sarajevo. Won't have much time in Croatia and still the skydiving is on my list. Probably do some intense days of riding and in worst case, I sacrifice my buffer days in Switzerland.. it's good to have many plans and ideas. This is was is thriving me for great things.. FULL POWER! :D
Here are a lot of people with RVs (so older generation), but they're actually pretty nice (even if I would have hoped for younger generation). Still had some good conversations and it's nice to share good vibes (as finally, we're all one big family on this planet!)
That's probably it.. will just go to bed right away and then get up (as usually) at 6 AM or before that.

Up, up in the air :)

Still having a full iterinary here, what I really like! ..it was a tiresome day to drive to Skopje (maybe connected with that drunken phase I had the night before). Was driving along some dam lakes only stopping for food and for gas. Then I arrived in Skopje and it really tore me down. It's an ugly city with a depressing vibe that got hold of me from the beginning. I wonder why any tourist would ever go there, except because you flew into this place. Best thing was taking pictures of the statues in the center and imaginaging what characters these would represent in a first person shooter and what special abilities they would have. Oh yes.. and I got some furs for not too much money and sent them home (as I'm not sure if they are all really legal.. they should. it's at least no wolf amongst them). Could have bought all kind of pelts (from house cat to Macedonian wolf), but first of all, I don't support poaching and second of all, they still were kinda pricy. Might also be, I was getting ripped off in this town. The center is full with shops that sell juwellery, souvenirs and shit and as mentioned befor: I didn't like the vibes at all!! Skopje is expensive (I paid more for my room and got much less) and people are even more struggling for survival and you can feel that. After the peaceful ambience of Ohrid, this was really shocking.
So I changed my plans immediately of staying two nights and left the next morning as early as possible to Prilep, where I just made contact with a local paragliding instructor who told me, that he has some equipment to rent. With the prospect of flying, I speeded thing up and drove down the highway to meet him as soon as possible. We spent part of the day doing some ground handling on a hill that pops out in the flats that are surrounded by some mountains. The rest of the time I tagged along with him, met his family and had really tasty food! In the evening we were going out and it was a lot of fun!! :D There was even some electronic music and lots of drinking and very pretty Macedonian girls that of course all like to talk to you, once they figure out, that you're from Switzerland ;) (it's pretty easy to let them know by just saying "hello, how are you" in not-Macedonian ;) haha ;)
Today we spent the whole day back on that fly site and I did more groundhandling and practiced some take-offs and landings. Didn't really have long flights (couple of times a minute of soaring or so), but could re-activate all my paragliding skills and hunger for more now!! :D I actually think of post-poning my plans for Burning Man for a year. First of all the uncertainty if this will work out or not is killing me and second: I have another reason more to go back to Colombia, what I definitively should do in Fall! (that would be about reason #4). So if I'm back and I haven't heard of my camp, then I'll do the Colombia-thing (would be OK though, if I'm not hooking up until then, because Colombia is way more fun if you're single ;)
So all in all the last days were stuffed with interesting activities, good food, fun, meeting new people, learning some cultural stuff (e.g. here you don't drink grappa to digest, but you have it with the salad that makes the entry of each meal ;) and way too soon, I need to get ready to move on. I still have a couple of days left of this awesome trip, but also a few thousand kilometers to ride. So if I want or not, I need to continue tomorrow and see that I can bring me and the bike a bit further North (as I was driving South all the time when this trip started). I'll still make it back in time, but as there are still plenty of places I want to visit, I'll be more relaxed, if drive the next two days at least 400km each.
So after diving and paragliding it's only horse back riding and skydiving that's amiss. I should check for horses in the Tara-Canyon and let's see if Montenegro has a skydiving club ;)

Which country is this again?

If I found before, I really arrived in the travelling mood, well it's now ;) ..I did some little off-raod to Bisthtit and crossed the boarder there. I really thought, I'm going to Macedonia, but actually it was still greece. I only figured out when I was paying a coffee and they charged me in Euro. My first thought was "what, you just changed your currency from Dinnar to Euro?!", then it came to me that I accidentally entered Greece and suddenly all made sense. The fact that they sent me the other way in Macedonia than I was actually going, the strange letters on the street signs after the boarder crossing, the European flags :P and the good roads and normal driving skills. haha ;) I didn't really think about, but I marked the boarder crossing before and I was just convinced to go direction Macedonia. Well.. was just a little detour and was nice riding anyway. Just became aware once again that I suck at geography ;)
My first impression of Macedonia was so good that I even forgot about the riots and shootings that happened here just a few weeks ago. Even if there's some tension in this country, it's not that everyone goes savage and start killing people. First they had enough of it and second they need the tourism here badly (and all these countries are fighting to get in the EU). So despite all that they went through and everything they are still facing, they sill are very nice and friendly people and it's a great experience to be here!
After I passed the burning dump site at the exit of Bitola, landscape became much nicer. In the meantime I got my own map of this country and figured out gorgeous riding through the mountains. Once I've seen the 3D-map in a travel agency here, there's nothing that can stop me now to explore all these places! I might even end up paragliding here, but that would be on Sunday and it's still a bit of a long shot, but I already talked to the people doing tandem-flights here and they would have an solo-equipment to rent me out (would be awesome to fly in Macedonia!!). On the way to Ohrid and raced up a mountain (sticking to my side of the road and honking a lot) and took it slowely down enjoying the breath-taking views on the other side over Ohrid lake. When I arrived at the lake a guy stopped me with some photos in his hand that were showing his apartments and I was convinced on the spot! He's really nice and his son a pretty sharp cookie and we drank coffee in the evening and talked out his country. I took a hot bath, played some didgeridoo and finally hosed down the bike, as it was more mud than bike after all that off-road trips I did ;)
Yesterday I went diving in the lake and it was a nice experience. Just so damn ugly cold! brrr.. I dived for the first time in a 7mm suit with hoodie and gloves and I still felt my feet going numb. There's not so much to see in this lake (somewhere would be small wrecks, but we didn't go there) and aparently there's some historical site under water (this I wanted to see, but was on the wrong dive). So I ended up seeing a billion of mussels (they cover the whole ground in certain parts) and the highlight was a tiny water snake catching a small fish. But it just lasted for 2 seconds as the snake felt disturbed by us and postponed it's lunch. So it let go of the fish and hid back under the rock it came from (I beg the fish was happy about that ;).
they're having quite a few snakes in this lake.. but didn' see any of the bigger fish (the ones I was eating the day before.. also a very yummi experience to have fresh fish from Ohrid lake). I met all kind of travelers here in town and found finally some time to practice my skills at the shore of the lake (at last I could put all my sticks and balls to use ;). But somehow got too drunk in the process and ended up going to bed early yesterday. At least I found some time this morning to do pictures and blog (woke up at 5.30) and will be ready to ride on early to enjoy this wonderful day! It was raining all night long, but now it's blue sky! ..not sure how long this will last though as the weather is changing quickly here. During the dive I was picturing how warm it will be once we emerge again, but it just started to rain heavily, then a double lighting was hitting the lake and hailstones were falling on us (7mm diving suit was pretty useful then ;). It all lasted only for a couple of minutes and when we drove back with the dinghy to the dive shop, there was sunshine and blue sky again. Quite and experience after all ;) ..okay.. I'm getting ready here and loading up. Plenty of things to do today, before I will reach Skopje to spend the weekend there (should be fun ;)

Back on Track..

as such minor setbacks could stop me ;) ..the hotel owner called his friend Eduardo, a jack of all trades that has a workshop with some tools. Finally all that was needed was a 12mm wrench and an iron tube ;) We bent the gear lever back in shape and the handle bar was even easier. I really thought of taking it apart, but having a closer look, it would have been really complicated and time consuming. I was already thinking of getting spare parts in Tirana, when the solution came to us. Instead of making a big deal of it, we just applied the same force that deformed the connecting bolt in the opposite direction. Nothing you can't fix with an iron tube ;) So it took only 10 minutes before everything was the way it used to be (except that side cover.. but as it's only cosmetical and no vital "organs" of my bike were hurt, I shouldn't be to concerned about it). I offered him 500 Leks (about 4 Euro), but he refused and said we should have a coffee together. So we went back to the hotel, drank some coffee and talked about various things (even if he just spoke greek and albanian ;). I wanted to start early because I feared that it might rain in the second half of the day again (don't trust blue sky around here ;) and it almost looked as it would, but still has not so far (I hope it still will over night, as my bike now urgently needs to be washed ;)
First stop were the hot springs just 7km off the road. Not as "it's-boiling-me-alive"-hot as the hotsprings in India on the way to Gangotri, but still much warmer than the river flowing next to them. I met a Swiss couple traveling with a old firefighter minibus and a BMW 80 strapped on the back of it (cool idea :) and continued direction Korce. Along the way coulds started forming, but it stayed dry and warm all day long until now. I'm still waiting for my Italien friends that tend to be always waaay behind me ;)
I made a little excursion after I unloaded my bike to see a monastery. Ordered some local speciality when I got to the village (Voskopoje) that was tasty but didn't look as described in the guide. When I stilled my hunger and got to the monastery that lies hidden up in the forest, the guy was just closing it. Anyway didn't look like the super cool monasteries in India.. more like some houses built around a church. In front of the gates I met another bike rider that brought his BMW 650 GS over from British Colombia and we had a good chat. I told him to do the Panamerican Highway and I'm pretty sure he will ;)
on the way down I spontaneously decided to do a little detour through the mountains here, but after 7km gnawing doubts made me turn around. First of all, I was low on gasoline.. the reserve that I would have hit on this little bail out should have been enough to bring me back, but it's just no relaxed riding if you're further away than you could walk back and not nowing when the enginge will die. Then I didn't have my GPS with me, didn't have anything to fix a puncture (small chance that it happens, but it still could after all), Would have taken longer than 7pm to get back and it might have gotten chillier and started to rain (we all know now what it does to Albanian dirt roads) and the only thing that actually was still left for this day is trying a dark Korca beer. So before I end up asking myself why I just did this stupidity, I decided to head back to town. If not alone or a bit better prepared with other circumstances, I would have done it, but if one of the named above cases would enter, I'd become tense on the bike and then stressed out and this is when bad stuff happens. The combination of two things above would probably not kill me, but leave me in a very sticky situation (like wrong turn off and puncture). So common sense took over and I don't regret, as I feel it in the bones that I've done something today. I also finally had time while waiting food was served to read the history of the last 60 years of this country. Unbelievable that these people are still so lovely after what they had to go through!
So tomorrow it will be Macedonia.. probably having fresh fish out of the Ohrid lake :)

still in one piece..

..unfortunately, it doesn't apply for the bike, but it's not as bad as it could be.. just got some scratches and a bit of plastic missing.
This day started so fantastic with one of the best breakfasts I've ever had. Definitively the best since I started this trip and for sure the best you can get in whole Albania. They didn't stop to bring things.. next to coffee and juice, there was rice cooked in milk with cinnamon, home made butter, jam and honey. Fried egg, cheese, olives, tomatoe and cucumber and a plate with fresh fruits. I was happy that I left out dinner yesterday ;)
So after filling my belly with yummi things, I ventured out towards south. Perfectly blue sky and at laest 30 degrees (I was cooking by only standing next to the bike, but once driving, it felt just perfect). It was planned to ride all the way up on top of a mountain. While being on the paved (boring) road through the valley, I decided spontaneously to drive up a dirt road as it was marked on my GPS and I felt like giving my bike what it deserves! So I rode up many kilometers and drove down on the other side, circeling the mountain and passing through villages that are definitively not used to see tourists on Enduros (always nice when children are waving ;). When I got back on top, I ran in a summer storm with tunder and lightning and while first gambling on just riding through it (first there were only few, but heavy raindrops), I finally gave way to urge of staying dry.. well.. I was already soked and I pictured my things in the back doing no better than I did). So I covered myself all up and continued the way down direction main road. Of course it just changed then to very little rain and it was pretty much in vane to put on all my gear. It was over 50km dirtroad through the mountains, before I got pavement under my wheels again. Had some beef stew at the village belown and checked out a pretty nice (and deep) canyon that runs parallel to the street. As I needed to dry up, I already got rid of all the water proof clothing, but put them back on as I saw some heavy rains ahead. As expected I ran into them, but it was nothing that could have me stopped. The idea was to take some small dirt road from Corovode to Permet, because otherwise I would have to had going back a looong way (that I partly already rode and partly absolutely wanted to avoid). So the dirtroad through a national park in the mountains sounded a lot like fun. Unfortunately turned the rain it into a big slippery mud hole. I don't even know how it happened.. it was so fast (despite I was going barely 20km/h). Probably tires filled with mud, a slight slope and my front wheel bolting (what affected slightly the throttle control). Before I had any chance to react, I dropped the bike and it was so level on the ground that I couldn't lift it up without getting everything off. As it was pouring down, I made haste and threw my bags next the trail, stemmed my back against the bike and lifted it off the ground. First thing was putting in in neutral and check if it would start again. It luckily did! then I had a glance at the bike itself and yes.. there was some minor damage done. Gear lever bent out, deep scratches on the side and two fragments of the side cover broken out. Buhuuu.. it was so so damn shiny nice and looked like new! :'( well.. not anymore :P I myself just got a very small scratch on my knee.. to small to even take a picture of and put it online (in Asia I got some bigger scratches, but even those were just fleshwounds). Yesterday we talked about if you ride a horse and it bucks you off, then you should immediately get back into the saddle and ride it again. If the horse is a 200kg motorbike and your only mean to get yourself and your equipment back to civilization, then replace the "should" with "must" and if you're not able to pick up your bike on your own, then you're screwed anyway :P
So I hopped back on and continued in first gear.. luckily I could still move the gear lever, but I tell you, I didn't take the eyes of the road for a single second and I felt pretty unsecure back again in the saddle. I was sweating big times to drive up these trails that turned into mud rivers. Soon thereafter I laid it down again, but this time it was standing still and I could pick it up without unloading it. Also no further damage was done. My handlebars are slightly tilted to the left, So this is another thing that needs to be fixed. Won't be expensive, but to find another side cover for that bike is almost impossible (or then too expensive to purchase.. I mean, the whole bike was 2000CHF, so I don't intend to put a piece of plastic for 1/10 of the price on it). Well.. shit happens! There are like a hundred things that could have gone wrong and would be rather major than a piece of broken plastic. Still.. hurts my pride and just started to have such a close relationship with my bike. Unfortunately threw away those fragments when I continued after the fall.. couldn't really think straight then, but yes.. true beauty is on the inside they say ;)
so after an hour I relaxed a bit more as the road got better.. drier and covered with gravel. Thanks god, because I wouldn't have know how to get down from that mountain. Riding up is one thing, but riding down a 300kg sled without controls is no fun thing at all! At a certain point I dared again to switch to 3rd gear and was happy that I made it out in one piece (there were plenty of slopes that would have ended this trip and probably all trips ever.
So then I finally hit the mainroad again and happy that just a few more kilometer part my from my final destination. I didn't wear my glasses, as they were covered with mud (normally I have the visor up and just wear glasses). I NEVER close my visor on paved roads.. only if raindrops are hitting my face like little needles or a truck on a dirtroad is wrapping my in a cloud of dust. But this time I felt, it might be a good idea to not catch a 80km/h fast bee with your eye, so I closed my visor. Didn't even take a minute and then a bird flies into my face!!! I made more than 80 000km on the road traveling, but I never ever got hit by a bird! I don't know what happened to it.. I assume something between a headache and a skull fracture, but I'm sure that I would have not only visited a mechanic, but checked in a hospital. Don't want to picture how this would have looked, but it banged so loudly that I'd compare it with a fist battering into your face. Phew.. close call!
Now I'm finally where I wanted to be.. sampling local wine and grappa and having a neat and clean room (still neat but not so clean anymore after I cleaned myself and my gear) in a 3-star hotel for 20 Euros (it helps when you tell them that you don't need a bill ;).
Today it's french that makes my life easier.. yesterday it was English and the day before my broken Italian. Somehow all my languages come in handy in Albania ;) After my italien friends were struggling on the last ride (that was not sooo tought after all), I wonder if they will arrive today at all. If not, I don't blame them. Would have been smarter to go the long way around, but with hindsight you're always smarter. Nothing else to do than getting drunk and watch some TV here. Enough adventures for one day!