Croatia 2 – Split and the Central Mountains

From the Gacka Valley, I headed south along the mountains to Lake Peruca, in the mountains east of Split.

The mountain road south runs parallel with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Border, and through the Dinaric Alps

This region hosts the Dinaric Rally, a major cross country motorcycle endurance event.

Lake Peruca is a man made lake and a major source of hydro electricity. It also has a number of camping sites and villages.

I chose Camping Peruca by the lake. The campsite had water access for swimming. From the campsite, it was a short ride into the Danaric Ranges and the headwaters of the Certina River that feeds the dam.

The ride to Split is a little over an hour, mostly winding through the Certina Valley.

Spit is Croatia’s second largest city. Its a great place to get any equipment, like misplaced gloves or gloves or repairs such as a new tyre. Its also a ferry hub. As I came into Split in mid August and left late September. While it was still pleasantly warm in September, there were nowhere near the crowds, so getting around the old and new city was a lot easier.

The old city was interesting with its mix of Roman and Greek architecture.

Out of the old city and main harbour the new city is colourful and where the best swimming beaches are.

As an old city, Split didn’t have the history or beauty of Ortigia (which I found entrancing). But it is well placed for visiting other Balkan countries and for accessing the many islands on the Croatian coast.

Croatia 1 – northern mountains

The overnight ferry from Anconna arrived in Split on a hot Croatian morning.

With very hot weather forcast for the Croation Coast, I decided to head to mountains of Northern Croatia, in particular the Gacka Valley.

The cleat water of the Gacko river flows through the valley.

The Gacko Valley sits between two natural attractions in Croatia; Plitvice Lakes National Park and the Samograd Cave.

The Plitvice Lakes are a spectacular series of lakes and waterfall.

Entry into the National Park is strictly ticketed, and given it was the peak holiday season, there were large crowds. I, therefore, took a walk around a forest trail that overlooks the Lakes. As you can see, it gives good views of the lakes and puts you at the top of some on the waterfalls.

The Samograd Cave goes deep into the limestome mountains, and the 8c temperature inside the cave quite a contrast to the 35c+ temperatures on a hot mid August day.

Access to the cave is ticketed and is underaken in small groups with a guide.

The motorcycle riding through these mountains is beautiful.

On a hot summer, the mountains are about 4c less than on the coast. For me that meant low to mid 30s and opposed to high 30s.

But don’t worry, you can still find a place to swim if you get local advice. I was given directions to this lovely swimming hole between Gacka and the Plitvice Lakes.

Road to Rome and beyond…

There is a medieval poverb- All roads lead to Rome. And the first road, the Apian Way led from.what is now Puglia to Rome.

On the small roads from Manfredonia, there are plenty of Roman reminders.

The main road into Rome is no longer the old Apian Way, there is a motorway instead, but the ancient road is still there.

As is the old city wall

But what can I say about Rome that hasn’t already been said, what pictures can I show that havent been shown?

What stunned me was that only an E-bike ride from centre of Rome along the old Apian Way, it was countryside.

So let me leave Rome and head north east to get the bike serviced in Rimini before heading to Croatia.

A short ride north of Rome in Tuscany are the Saturnia hot springs.

It was 32c when I was there, so probably not the best day for a 30c hot spa, but it was still beautiful.

The stop for the night was Lago di Bolsena, Europe’s largest volcanic lake. The shores of the lake is dotted with camping grounds. Even in the peak of summer, there are spaces to pitch a tent.

The riding through southern Tuscany toward Rimini was beautiful – beautiful roads and beautiful villages.

In the peak of holidays there was no accommodation in Rimini but luckily the was up the mountain in San Marino. A short ride from Rimini

The team at Opificio Bike Store in Rimini are fantastic, and I can’t thank them enough. On their first day back from holidays, they serviced, the engine, brakes, and fitted new tyres. Not only that, invited me to the Moto Guzzi Clunhouse for dinner that night.

The club house is an old farm shed between Rimini and San Marino. From the clubhouse, one can see the lights of the city of San Marino perched up on the mountain.

San Marino is in Italy but not in Italy. It claims to be the oldest continuous repblic in the world and is a seperate country. One of the handful of strange micro states within Europe.

With the mighty breva serviced, it was time to head to Anconna to catch the night ferry to Split, Croatia.

Ok ok ok! I just skipped over Rome.

In many ways, August is a good time to visit Rome. Though it’s full of tourists, most of the city due to its population escaping for holidays. Hence, the streets and public transport were easy to get around on. It’s both a beautiful and contradictory place. I’ll let some photos do the talking.

Puglia – Alberobello

The ferry from Messina landed in Vill San Giovani, Calabria. An overnight stop before heading to Puglia on Italy’s east coast.

In the village, there was dancing in the streets.

From the toe of Italy, the route to the east winds along the coast and over the mountains of Calabria.with spectacular views.

Then past the southern beaches with castello on the headland

To Puglia on Italy’s heel.

Alberobello is in the region on Puglia and is famous for its unique trulli stone houses.

The special building have led to Alberobello being declared a UNESCO world heritage site.

Its is truly beautiful to walk the streets lined by Trulli!

The Balkans and scars of war

After arriving in Croatia I travelled north to the beautiful Gacka Valley with the aim of staying a few days in his beautiful part of the country.

I booked a room in the small village of Zalznica and looked forward to exploring the area.

Dinner that night was at Bistro JELEN, where I became a regular.

I asked the chef, Zeljko, about hiking in the area. He warned me to stay to the trails as may still be land mines in the forest. This was my first encounter with the scars of the Balkans civil war, that raged from 1991 to 1999 and in some places like the Serbia/Kosovo border still happening.

In Mostar, the scars are still visible on the streets where brutal fighting in close quarters took place.

The scars are also visible in the small cemetaries that are dotted through the countryside. I couldn’t bring myself to photograph any. As one photo could not represent the large number of these new cemetaries or the death contained there.

The Massacre at Srebrenica is a documented war crime from the Balkan wars.

At Blagaj, near Mostar, there is a Sufi Mosque that sits above one on the largest springs in Europe.

This cushion sits in the little reading room of the most. A memorial to the Massacre at Srebrenica.

Travelling through the Balkan Countries. Monuments to.war are a regular occurrence.

In 2019, I visited Ljubjana, where there is a monument to the Peasant Uprisings. A moving monument that remembers the slavic peoples revolts against the Austro/Hungarian Empire.

ANZAC COVE, holds a special place in Australian history and mythology. Being so close to Gallipoli, where the Cove is located, I decided to visit. What’s another 1000km or so anyway.

I have always wondered why the Gallipoli campaign is so important. Australian forces took part in an attempt to invade Turkey. Turkey had only recently joined WW1 on the side of Germany.

The attack was a total failure with enormous casualties on both sides.

There are monuments to the dead on both sides.

It was said that WW1 was the war to end all wars.

In Australia, on ANZAC Day and Armistice Day, we all say Lest We Forget. But we do forget as the war ploughs headlong into more wars, more suffering, more death.

A few weeks after travelling through Kosovo, there was a fire fight near the Serbian/Kosovo border, killing 8 people. I had been near there.

Dear friends and followers, I’ve struggled with the ever-present reminders of war I encountered in the Balkans. Hence, this blog.

Normal broadcasting of lighthearted travel and adventure stories can now resume.