8/8/05
After packing up camp I got on the road heading south along the Dalmatian Coast towards the town of Split. The drive was quite nice but unfortunately allot of traffic due to the Italian holiday. At the town of Split I caught a ferry to the Island of Hvar. I decided to go the Island of Hvar on a recommendation of a bitter friend back in California who wanted to come out and visit but unfortunately The Man kept him down and made him work, so in honor of him I decided to go this party island. The ferry ride over was quite uneventful with the exception of the urge to hit the two american college girls sitting next to me. After 20 Oh My God and other wanna be California girl sayings, at one point she was talking to a Lebanese college kid and she couldnt believe he was Lebanese, she actually said So you are Arab? I cant escape you people. I think he was trying to hook up with the girl so he ignored or maybe didnt care but I had to leave before I gave the girl black eye. Oh well enough of my ranting.
So I made it to Hvar then it was a 20 minute bike ride to the town of Hvar. By this time it was almost 11:00pm so I really had no chance of finding a place to stay, so I decided to check out the town then just sleep under the stars tonight and worry about a hotel in the morning. The town was crazy busy with people wandering in and out of the many bars and restaurants. The place was like a model show with some of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen outside of Cheetahs in Vegas. So after an hour of staring at all the beautiful girls I drove the bike up the road and found a deserted section of dirt road which led to a little grassy opening which I put down the bed roll and called it a night.
Todays Specs
Weather: 75 F, sunny
Distance: 105 miles Coast of Croatia to Hvar
8/9/05
After waking up I headed back into town to the info center to try to find some accommodations for the next couple days. The girl at the info center said she had one place if I was going to stay three nights, so I checked my schedule or lack of a schedule and it appeared I didnt have anywhere pressing to be I said 3 nights would be fine. She yelled out the front door and this old Croatian lady came in, she turned out to the be the home owner of the room I rented. So quick interuption, the town of Hvar is an ancient town on the water, with very old buildings and narrow streets then around the town is a new development where the hotels are, but not mega american style hotels, more small house size hotels, nothing flashy. I assumed I was going to be staying in the new section, as it turned my new Croatian old lady friend I walked into the center of town up this narrow street to a great little house with two rooms converted into renting accommodations. I couldnt believe my luck, this place was great and all for the price of $25 per night. After parking the bike in front of the place I unpacked and after a quick chat with my Aussie neighbors I headed to the beach. The beach was quite nice, again lots of topless girls to stare at, I am such a creap. After spending the day at the beach and talking to two Croatian girls all day, whom I promised I would meet at 10:00 at a bar in town, I headed back to the hotel for a nap.
After waking up from my nap I decided to sit on the patio for a little while, as I sat there Icould hear the Croatian lady telling her neighbors that she had Americano staying in her house, she was very excited about it. Not allot of Americans here so she was getting her few minutes of fame with her neighbors.
As I sat there enjoying the dusk the lady noticed I was sitting up on the patio so she brought up some type of deep fried bread and ice water, she said Americano with a big smile and a hug and gave me the food then smiled and happily walked off, really could life get better.
As I enjoyed the bread my aussie neighbors came back, we sat and discussed our day and what we planned to do for the night. They had to leave the next day but said they would meet up for one drink, yeah aussies have one drink, but I decided not to point this out yet.
So at 10:00 I headed out to try to find the Croatian girls I had met earlier in the day. I found a bar which kinda had the same name as the one we planned to meet at, the thick Croatian accent it was hard to tell exact name of the bar. So after sitting there drinking a cocktail, and watching what seemed like a runway model show with all the beautiful people walking by, my aussie neighbors found me and sat down for a drink. After a few cocktails I decided I really liked these aussies, we recited a ton of Will Ferrel movie lines the Ladies Man movie lines and then on to Napolean Dynamite movie lines. About 11:00 I noticed the Croatian girls wandering by so I yelled out one of their names Hey Sonja the girls looked around looking confused so I yelled again Hey Sonja the girls looked at me and one came shyly over and said Yes??? without an ounce of recognition of who I was. I said Hello and asked them what they where going to do? She replied A
..We walk
We walk far! then she walked off. My new aussie friend almost fell out his chair laughing, I really felt like a creep, I am sure she didnt recognize me, well that is my story so I am sticking to it. After several more drinks, which my aussie friends swore was just one more cause they had to be up early in the morning, we made our way to one of the coolest nightclubs I have ever seen. It was at the top of the in an old castle looking building with no roof and had a swimming pool in the middle. After a crazy night I somehow found my way home.
Todays Specs
Weather: 90 F, sunny
Distance: 0 miles Hvar
8/10/05
Well unfortunately I got kicked out of my hotel this morning, a great story best told over a drink down the road, so I had to try to find a new place. After trying the info center with no luck I decided I would find a campground and camp for a couple days. The nearest campground was 20km out of town and was almost as expensive as the hotel, this added with the incredible flu like symptoms I seemed to have, ok it was a hangover, I was not in the best of moods, all of sudden getting kicked out of my hotel was not so fun. After sleeping till almost 5 I got on the bike and explored the island, it turned out to be a fun day driving around the island, I even found a great dirt road that went over the highest mountain on the island and I found a great little cliff where people were jumping off into the ocean. It turned out to be an early evening with me going to bed about midnight, damn I am getting old, one night of partying and going big and I am done for a couple days, getting old is hell.
Todays Specs
Weather: 90 F, sunny
Distance: 0 miles Hvar
8/11/05
This morning waking up feeling much better I decided I would head off to Dubrovnik and check that city out. After a short ferry ride and a longer motorcycle ride I made it toDubrovnik about 6:00. I found a campground just outside of the city. It was ridiculously expensive so I sat in front of the place debating if I would stay or not. As I was sitting there a BMW motorcycle came up with two people on it. It turned out to be a young couple from spain who were on vacation and cruising around Europe. We decided to share a campground to save money. They turned out to be some of the nicest people I have ever met, they seemed to understand life and enjoying it more than most people. With my new Spanish friends we went into Dubrovnik and wandered around the town for a couple hours before calling it a night.
Dubrovnik is a very ancient city with the original wall still surrounding the city. Kinda touristy but I still was very impressed by it. Definitely a place where I would only spend one day but I enjoyed non the less.
Todays Specs
Weather: 90 F, sunny
Distance: 100 miles Hvar to Dubrovnik
8/12/05
Today was the best lesson I have ever had about preconceived notions and being scared of things I know nothing about. What I learned today was the reason I set out on this journey, Ok Josh enough philosophizationism (I just made that word up) and get on with the story.
So after a trip into town with my new Spanish friends and promises to come and visit them when I am in spain next I got on the road heading into Bosnia. An American who came across my website and lives in Sarajevo recommended I come to Sarajevo, so off I set. The only thing I know about Bosnia is there was a war there a few years back and that parts of it (Kosovo) are still a little scary. As I came to the border a stern faced Bosnian greeted me, well actually far from a greeting. After asking for all my documents he asked You American in broken English and a stern face, I replied with a big smile and bobbing head Yes he said California again big smile and nodding Yes he said Los Angeles the a big smile came over his face L.A. Clippers which is a basketball team
shit ,I thought, I know nothing about basketball but quickly remembered that the Sacramento Kings were mostly white guys and some of them had to be from Eastern Europe, so I replied Dah, no clippers, I like the Sacramento Kings well next thing I know he patted me on the back and started listing off players in the NBA before stamping my passport and sending me on my way.
As I rode into Bosnia I had knots in my stomach, here I was for the first time on my trip in what felt completely foreign place. Every thing I had read said not to travel off the road for fear of landmines, this combined with many buildings along the road either destroyed or half under construction then abandoned all added to the feeling I was somewhere completely different. I decided to head to the town of Mostar, all the signs where in Bosnian, which meant I could not read them at all and my GPS seemed to keep losing reception and since I dont have a map I made my best guess and headed down the road. Luckily my intuition paid off. After a couple hours I made it to the town of Mostar where I decided I would call it a day. Being almost 5:00 I was quite hungry and quite wet since it had been raining off and on, so before finding a hotel I decided to get some food. As I sat and ate my pizza a Polish couple came up after seeing my bike and asked if I was really from San Francisco (my bike was parked right next to the patio). I said yes and invited them to share my table. The turned out to be a very nice couple and after an hour of chatting I decided to try to find a hotel. After talking to the Polish couple I started feeling a little more at ease.
I got back on my bike and looked around and rode about 100meters before stopping in front of an kinda apartment building that had a sign which maybe read rooms for rent As I looked at the sign a car pulled up and a guy got out and asked if I was looking for a place to stay. My guard instantly went up and I said I was. He said his dad had hotel/apartment and I could lock my bike up safely. He quickly produced a business card with a picture of the hotel. So I agreed to take a look since it was just half a block away and only 10euros a night. It turned out to be completely legit and quite nice. So he showed me where I could park the bike, through quite a narrow doorway to the back yard. The looked at my bike then at the doorway and assured me it would fit. Well 20 minutes and with 4 people pushing we finally fit my fat german girl through the doorway with only minor damage to the doorjam.
After unpacking and showering up I went into town.
I have been to Peru which was also a war torn country so this isnt the first time I have been to a country after a war but when I went there I was with a group of Americans and really only saw the damage through a car window so this was completely new. After walking around and looking at the building, there would a new modern building then right next to it would be a deserted building riddled with bullet holes. I sat there and stared at these building try to imagine what it had been like and what these people who were now partying and enjoying their life had gone through. All of sudden I had a new respect for these people but I was still a little nervous.
After walking around the town and the main shopping area, it had been completely redone and was quite amazing. I was sitting at one bar when a group of guys seeing that I was alone asked me to join them for a drink. After several drinks and learning all about Bosnia and what it was like here I felt completely at ease and amazed how these people just wanted to enjoy life. Well all the bars closed down at midnight but there was a discoteque about 2 miles away that was open late. So I set off walking towards the disco with only a general direction of where it was. As I was walking I thought it was a little crazy walking around a town in Bosnia after midnight, but that is how safe it feels here. I would stop and ask directions and people were so happy and friendly would point in the direction.
A funny side story, as I was walking it had finally stopped raining but there were mud puddles everywhere, so as I was walking on the sidewalk a bus drove by through a puddle that must have been 3 feet deep, next thing I know a wave of water came over my head and drenched me, it was like scene from a movie, seriously this wasnt a little splash it was a fucking tsunami, as I stood there with my clothes completely soaked all I could do was laugh at how funny that must have looked.
So when I finally made it to the disco I met another group of people and spent the next hour talking and harassing women, by the way the farther east I go the women get more beautiful and skinny, it is amazing. So at 2:00 the police came in and shut the bar down so it was time to go, the group I met said they knew of another disco that was open till 5 am. So off we went. As I was sitting in the car with this group of 4 Bosnian guys I couldnt help to think this was pretty amazing. By the next disco I had become a little drunk so with my new friends as interpreters we managed to hit on every girl in the club.
Well about 5:30 my new friends dropped me off at my hotel and said tomorrow night would be even more fun.
Todays Specs
Weather: 70 F, rainy
Distance: 100 miles Dubrovnik to Mostar Bosnia
