On my last day in Mostar, I sleep a little longer than usual and use the afternoon for a baggage-free excursion to a very special place. Barely 10 km from Mostar, in Blagaj, the river Buna rises from an impressive rock face. A few kilometers further south, the ice-cold river joins the Neretva.
The place would be quite impressive just like that. A good 500-year-old Sufi Dervish house (mystical Islam) nestles against the rock face and also attracts many visitors. On both sides of the Buna, neat restaurants snuggle up to the banks. I look for a shady spot vis à vis this “tekke” and spend the afternoon chatting with Imed, who drives tourists in his rubber boat into the lower cave entrance, and my diary. It is quite entertaining to watch with what kind of guest combinations the small boat drives off. My favorite: Three rather firm, giggling nuns from Dubai together with a biker in leather pants and rocker T-shirt. Or was it the Saudi couple and the hotpant girl?
Towards evening I pack my trusty bike and ride a few more kilometers out of Mostar to Bambi, my first warmshower host on this trip. Bambi lives with his two dogs on a patch of land in a converted refrigerated container near Poticeli and has spent the last five years working on permaculture and various other exciting projects. He grew up in Sarajevo, but prefers the Mediterranean climate of Mostar. Currently he is programming small videogames, which besides being a lot of fun, also have an educational character and are intended to sensitize children to topics such as self-sufficiency and littering. A good-hearted, consistent and creative person this Bambi! I will keep his motto “Respect yourself!” in mind.
As soon as I have the first kilometer under my wheels the next morning, the long awaited climb over the mountains to Sarajevo begins. A long, straight road climbs steadily before the narrow switchbacks wind up a steep pass. At the top I’m amazed: change of scenery; I imagine myself in the Swiss mountains.
Unfortunately, the descent is not quite as sweeping as I had hoped. Shortly after the highest point, the tarred road becomes a gravel road and the rest of the day I struggle, interrupted by a few harmless falls, over dirt roads. For the overnight stay it goes over stick and stone steeply down to a small, apparently deserted lake. On the loneliest camping of the world I spend a quiet evening to fight me then on the next day again incredibly many altitude meters up. Now it’s really through the mountains. Little traffic, wonderful views and steep sections characterize this day. How wonderful, I reach the mountain hut of Thierry- another Warmshower host in the late afternoon.
Warmshower is a worldwide network of cycling friends who offer each other room and board and of course exchange experiences and adventures. A very fine thing!
Thierry is the man for great route recommendations: As I could already notice on the way to the hut, his taste for challenging, scenic routes is very exquisite. He knows the Balkans like no other, havin spent the last few years developing and making a big splash on the Via Dinarica long-distance hiking trail and, subsequently, the (almost) mountain biking route of the same name. Who is looking for an adventure: Via Dinarica/ Transdinarica I recommend you 100%!
After a relatively user-friendly stage, I arrive the next day at my next big destination: Sarajevo!
Thanks to a lucky acquaintance in Mostar, I drive relaxed up one of the numerous hills around the city and have an apartment key handed to me in the small bakery. Soon I find the corresponding door lock and my home for the next three days. As it soon turns out, I will not be alone in the small apartment at home, but soon two Spaniards and a Belgian couple arrive; all recruited by Mark, our Dutch patron, who himself enjoys two weeks of vacation.
We all settle into this temporary shared apartment and spend the relaxing weekend havin extended balcony breakfasts, chatting, washing clothes, visiting free walking tours in Sarajevo, cooking, drinking (Belgian!) beer, visiting coffee shops in the wonderful old town and resting.
The three weeks “alone” on the road were anything but lonely. I have met incredibly many incredibly great people, cycled through wonderful landscapes, am proud of my achievement, happy and grateful, I got to experience it all!