Gwilym's Adventure Blog

Camping at around 1000m last night was great as it was a cool night. I may even say it was almost cold but I was very happy with that. A full 2 hours of rain this morning as I made a quick exit from Switzerland via a small bit of Germany and into a warmer and drier France. A number if coffee and patisserie stops to break up the very flat and extensive French countryside but I refuse to pay money to get bored on a motorway. The most excitement was the 600m Col du Bonhomme which at least was hilly and had a few nice bends. Nice campsite i choose due to location but sadly a swimming ban in the river so can't have my dip as planned. Last night's campsite in Andermatt cost me more than the Macedonian, Bosnian, Serbian and Romanian ones put together but I guess that is about right for Switzerland Lucky to get a campsite on low season here in France though. They go to high season prices  on Friday.

Today has been a great day. I have either been over or under mountains. I started in Italy with the classic Stelvio Pass just after breakfast and then it was down the other side and at some point I entered Switzerland and went over another pass before my trat to myself of a "train under the mountain". To be honest, it was no treat, 20km of holding onto my bike on a flat bed carriage scared it would fall over everytime we went round a corner. It was a mesh floor about 1mm smaller than my side stand foot. After this, it was up to Malbun the highest point in Liechtenstein for more coffee and some well deserved cake. Back down the same serous of bends and back into Switzerland over another 2 passes to my campsite at the bottom of Gotthard Pass. I arrived 30mins before reception open so I decided to ride Gotthard Pass and come back later. I got back, checked in and tent up minutes before the rain. Looks like yet another storm tonight...

A 5.30am start got me through the Soca valley, over the pass at 1600m (road 206 - not for people who can't do corners) and into Italy before the heat started to crank up. After breakfast however it just became hotter and hotter. I went up and over another couple of passes and on dropping down into a town had to do some stop/start riding. With no airflow I actually began to feel sick and the bike was showing 41 degrees. I pulled over and sat in a cafe for over an hour trying to psyche myself up for the last 40 to 50 mins to the campsite. On arrival at the campsite I wasn't exactly made to feel welcome as she didn't want to sell me just one night. Well the storm was coming, the rain was starting and I had no intention of moving on so after a tense stand off she relented and I have a space. Pretty crap and over priced but at least off the bike before the storm. Tent pitched, showered and just got inside before the thunder started. Today's ...

Croatia has quite a long coastline I found out today. The rule of all coastline lengths are infinitesimal if you measure with a small enough ruler. Around headlands, onto a peninsula and over a ferry all were part of the plan. However, these curvy roads around the coast had absolutely no shade (even though I left at 6am it was already 28 degrees) and I really struggled today with the heat hitting 38 at one point. Once over the border into Slovenia it was much greener and trees lined the roads making it much easier to seek shade when needed. There was also a tunnel and I managed to make 100m last about 2 mins to take advantage. The last hour or so of the day was following the river Soca up the valley and my campsite gave me direct access. I think a personal best of getting in the river 9 mins after arriving and that included checking in and pitching the tent. I will now be playing "Thunderstorm Chess". There are storms blocking my way home...

Now safely out of Bosnia, here is what happened. I had heard stories of insurance being refused or charged at extortionate rates on the Bosnian border so I went on the Bosnia Government website to get the details of which border had insurance agents. On arrival at said border, it transpires there is no insurance but this was no problem for the canny border police. He claimed he could sort if for €50. I questioned what he meant, ie sort insurance or ignore the no isurance and all I got was €50 equals no problem. Having queued for 90 mins to get this far I thought sod it, I am not going back through to another border that may or may not have insurance. So I decided to bluff, I showed him the online webpage showing insurance was available and told him I had looked it up and it was only €20 for a motorbike. He had a change of heart and agreed €20 was fine. So, I think he knew that I knew that he was asking for a bribe but I still pushed it and said, so for...

A very interesting day involving some challenging riding through Montengro and having to bribe a Bosnian border official due to "irregularities" with my documents. The Durmitor National Park is amazing and I will update this with some links once I get some faster wifi. The roads and views were worth travelling for and I would consider visiting again in winter for some skiing. Now at a very windy campsite in Bosnia where the owner laughed at my tent pegs and gave me a hammer and long nails to use. I had a nice swim in the cold but clear river only metres from my tent. Great to meet 3 British cyclists who are riding home from Athens and to go and have a meal together and share our experience. They are off super early but I have a short day tomorrow to get to the Croatian coast so may have a lie in until 7am.