Where's Mike?

Section Eight: Wandering West

Click here to see Section Seven: Heading East.

Friday September 23rd

Budapest, Hungary: Last night the boy, and girl, scouts arrived in force, as some British tour of Europe set up camp with about thirty look-alike tents, a large cook tent, about fifty young adults, and a large bus to haul it all.

They were all having a lot of fun when I got home around 01:30, and, since I had picked a secluded spot away from the other campers when I arrived, they were all fairly close to me. Probably in an attempt to minimize noise problems for the majority. I didn't mind at all...I have done my fair share of noise making on this trip as well.

Another very long walk, this time around Margit Island, then back to near the Steel bridge, east over to the large square in Pest for a long swim around the hot mineral baths, and a massage to top it off. I left feeling like a bowl of jelly, and wondering if I would have to break down and take a bus the mile + back to the metro.

Thinking I may be able to fly this late afternoon, or evening, I pop into an internet cafe, to research Budapest paragliding, and luckily run into a pilot who was flying yesterday. He said there were a lot of pilots out because of the recent rain, and the lucky ones got about 20 minutes in the air. It was too light for several hours as everyone waited, it then turned on quickly, and off just as fast. Today the wind direction will not work, and it will be too light for soaring anyway. A sled ride is possible from another site tomorrow, and I was planning on it until I went through my emails.

Had a couple emails from Matt the Aussie, who mentioned they were going to be heading into Croatia in the morning to meet up with Craig and Camille. Said I should join them for a repeat of Praha. I had grown moldy from the recent rain, so some warm time on the beach was sounding pretty darn good to me as well. I have decided to head in a more westerly direction in the morning, instead of hanging around for a sled ride.

Oh, some of the roofs in this town are incredibly beautiful.

Sunday September 25th

Balanton Lake, Hungary: Excited for the the prospect of a sunny beach, and meeting my friends from Praha, I packed up and headed away from Budapest early on Saturday (yesterday) morning. People had told me the drive from Budapest to the coast will be about ten hours, so I planned on doing it in two days, and catch a confirmation email as to where everyone will be. As I neared the 77 kilometer long Lake Balanton, I decided to take the smaller road on the NW shore, instead of the larger, faster, highway on the SE shore.

I was happy I did. As I was cruising along I saw a trike coming in for a landing. I stood on the brakes and whipped it into this grass airstrip on the side of the road. It sure looked like a tandem operation going on here, so I opened my trunk and started digging out my flying gear. Not the glider, just my shell, gloves, and helmet. I am going flying today regardless of the flat terrain.

Soon, Tamas, the instructor/pilot, came over and asked if I would like to take a flight. He then saw my gear and asked if I was a pilot. Never flown a trike, but I plan on it today. He suggested two flights consisting of about a ten minute tandem introduction, and then a 20 minute flight with me in the pilots seat. Wow! So fast? Figuring he did not have a suicide wish, I was game.

As they started tinkering with the motors, I almost bailed. Having to be a mechanic is one of the reasons I don't fly with motors more often. Having to deal with micro meteorology is mostly enough for me.

As they were tinkering, I was checking over the trike. Curiously I could not find a reserve parachute. When I asked about it, I was told that these are very good machines, never break, and if something does, there is a lot of redundancy built into the system. Also, it is not legally required in Hungary. Hmmm. I flew paragliders without reserves for a couple of years when I first started. Cant picture when I would do that again at this stage, but I was going up regardless.

We finally got airborne and the flight was great. Obviously much easier to climb out than with my paraglider, and fast to explore a wide region. Tamas did the "thrill ride" stuff of a couple tighter turns and a bit of surging on this first sight seeing trip, but my second one was where the true excitement began.

I was in the front seat on round two, but Tamas did the launch and most of the landing. However, the entire flight was done by me. He took me through basic turns initially and I kept trying to weight shift. He finally broke me of that habit, and I started to just relax and let the arms, and the wing, do all the work. He indicated the direction he wanted to go, and I just did it. Pretty easy, and we had talked about that on the ground. He then started to indicate for me to push out on the bar. Do a stall, essentially. I did a couple of mild ones, and then Tomas helped/forced me through a larger one. I didn't mind doing it, but my PG experience told me they aren't always text-book maneuvers. I was also thinking about the lack of reserve.

He took me through setting up the landing approach and I kept expecting him to take the controls over for the final. He never did. I guess I was doing well enough for him to just grab my arms and sort of help me through the turbulent cross wind of the final few meters. It was great!!! :-)

After landing, he invited me to the picnic lunch they were having in the field. Great salads, a Hungarian  chicken curry soup with dumplings, fried fish, breads & spreads, and some great looking sweets that I was too full to try.

The girls are Tamas' two daughters ages 20 and 25. They look MUCH younger, but Monika (dark hair) has already been living in Italy on her own for the past five years and owns her own house and car. Something she could not have done had she remained in Hungary. I guess being a bartender near a US military base brings in more dough than bartending for cheap tourists in Budapest. Much more lucrative than I could have imagined.

In addition, this was the first time in years where ALL of Tomas' children (six, if I remember correctly) were together.

Mik, one of the local pilots, sent me this photo of Tamas and I enjoying our lunch. He is offering me some sour milk...almost like a yogurt or sour cream, but not quite. It cuts the salt of the soup.

As the day drew on, he set me up with a Zimmer owned by the parents of a girlfriend of a pilot. It was just down the road, only about US$10/night, and the father greeted me with a glass of wine. The next morning, I decided to stay another night, in order to fly some more, and also rent a sail boat, so the mother did up two loads of laundry for me as I went in search of an internet connection. Wanted to confirm with Matt, and the gang, if we were still on, and if so, where they were going to be.

I did find a WiFi connection this Sunday morning, in the garden of a church of all places, and Matt and I wound up being on-line at the same time. As we were on line, Camille text messaged him as well. It is a go! Everyone is waiting my arrival in Krk, an island in the northern part of Croatia, so I need to get my butt out there. Had I not already committed to staying another night, and had my laundry currently being done (for free!), I would have been on the road that right then and there.

Today Tomas wanted to let me do a bunch of take offs and landings, but the wind was again too cross and turbulent. He was hoping I could come back in the evening, but if I left now, I could not guarantee I would make the return. I may wind up renting that sail boat, or I may wind up driving to the Croatian coast after all. It was now or never, so we prepped for a bit of a test run to see how conditions were.

After some theory on how to take off and land, I did the take off on my own, with Tomas only applying the accelerator. Good fun! We made a few turns to get comfortable, and refresh my memory, and then I set up a landing. The glide is miserable in comparison to a PG, but so is the glide of a PG compared to a hang glider. Anyway, I managed to put it down where I wanted, but did bounce it a bit on landing. Also, Tomas had to help out a bit with the directional control on account of the cross.

After that, Tomas mentioned that the wind was just too cross and strong for shooting landings. So, I could come back later (not an option in my mind), we could just go out over the lake and practice turns (yawn), or we could head over the hills to were those big cumulus were building, power down to where the trike trims out at a steady altitude, and I could try to soar. He was trying to caution that it may be pretty bumpy if we did that, but I was already grinning in anticipation.

I did the fuel this time on take off as well. No problem. I then headed for the hills, and powered down once I was at about 3000 feet and under the clouds. Tomas pretty much enjoyed the ride, as I tried to figure out how to soar a trike. It was great fun!! I messed around getting a feel for the sink rate in turns, and just how tight I could take it, and then started dialing it into several thermals. Initially I had to work an oval pattern between two cores, but once at about 3500, I managed to dial into one that allowed a smooth circle to cloudbase at 4200 feet. Again it was great, but over way too soon.

I did the landing, again with another bounce, and a bit of help, and taxied it to the cars. This was a fun day, finished by a bit of mellowing out as I watched the sail boats from the shore. I'll sail next time.

Monday September 26th

Krk, Croatia: It was a great couple of days flying trikes, but getting that confirmation email from the Aussies really had me itching for some warmth on the Croatian coast.

Headed out early from the north side of the lake toward Keszthely, Zagreb, and Krk, on a drive predicted to take me seven hours. Wispy fog, damp corners, and a bit of traffic were all in store for me, but I was still managing to tear it up with V-50. It took me about an hour of driving on small winding roads before I hit the western edge of Lake Balanton and began my real drive to the coast, in clear dry conditions. 30 min or so after that I was on the express toll road and happy to pay it. Also happy to kick it up to about 200 clicks. Two and a half hours later, I was crossing the bridge to Krk, in half the time forecast by all the locals, and enjoying my first views of the Adriatic Sea. It is great to not see any speed enforcement officials and/or mechanisms like I saw in Scandinavia.

As I was driving into town I saw what appeared to be a wine shop and, knowing the crowd I was about to meet, figured I would stop and pick up a sip or two.

The Mrakovcic Winery sells four wines direct from the barrel. If you have your own container the cost comes out to about US$2.50 per liter (that's about a quart, guys). Mirjenka let me barrel taste the full range of what she had...even insisting I try the dessert wine, but telling me beforehand that I would not want to get any of it. I was showing a lot of interest in the dry Cabernet Sauvignon, so I guess it was easy to figure I would pass on the sweets.

Michie filled up a few bottles for me, and then suggested we have a slice of cheese while finishing the last taste of wine. The cheese was great too, so I asked where she got it, and found out her father makes both the wine and the cheese. Cute? Vivacious? Of course, but certainly not the hard sell girl, or maybe she is just very good? Regardless, I had her cut me half a block of that as well as she described where the best local hot-spots were for the night. She is definitely going to be out after ten, and said it really gets going around 11 or later.

It was then off to find Autocamp Jezevac Matt told me about in his email.

The Aussies were just getting home from a lazy day of shopping, and were planning on a mixed grill down at Camille's Van on the shore.

What could be better? All I have to do is pitch my tent, show up, and then relax to a variety of sausages, chicken, green salad, bread, vino, and some good times. Yea! :-)

It was a great meal, made even better by the fact that I did not have to do anything to prepare it. Heck, Craig even did all the dishes as the rest of us sat around enjoying the beach as it grew dark over the Adriatic.

Once again my camera became the communal form of record taking. Once again there was some nudity involved, as evidenced by Carina, Matt, and Craig, cracking a smile in the photo on the left.

Tuesday September 27th

Krk, Croatia: Enjoyed an early morning swim with the whole group at the campground "beach", a rocky area sloping into the sea. Very beautiful, and flat water. We then all walked into town for some email and lunch, and I then headed back to the wine shop to get another bottle, and to say hello to Michie.

I failed to show up last night, and she pointed that fact out. Was wondering where I had been? Having too damn much fun with the Aussies...that's where, but didn't say out loud. I took my time walking home, grabbed another swim at the FKK beach a click walk to the north, and then did up some pretty good marinated veggie kebobs, and sausages, on my grill for the crew.

A very mellow day, and enjoyable evening. It was quite cool with this cold front sitting on top of us, but as the jackets and sleeping bags came out, everyone found things quite comfortable...and memorable.

After last nights no-show, I did a solo trip (as the Aussies were still in recovery mode) into town ensuring I was not  neglecting any obligations.

Wednesday September 28th

Zaton, Croatia: After an early morning swim, before anyone was awake, I packed up and got ready to move on. Everyone else is leaving today as well, and heading for different locations. Goodbyes suck when you don't really have an idea of when you may see someone again. Anyway, such is the life a traveler.

We were all heading south toward Split, ultimately, so we could catch the ferry over to Hvar Island/town for a few days of Island hopping down the coast. The area is supposed to be quite beautiful with it's rocky beaches, like all the beaches in Croatia are, unless it is one of those unappetizing commercial ones that has some gravel or sand trucked in.

We all left the campground about the same time, and immediately met up again at the wine shop. Since everyone thinks I have the fastest car, I hung back to get my wine last, and chat with Michie once the others were gone.

As I was leaving, she thanked me for the flowers....Huh? I don't remember bringing her any. I guess the point of her comment was that I was supposed to. Will try to do something about that before I leave Croatia, but for now, I have some driving to do.

I had mentioned to the group that I planned on stopping for a swim along the way, and not more than an hour down the road, we all pulled into a great little beach within five minutes of each other. A great swim on flat water was enjoyed by everyone, and we got, what we assume will be, our last group photo, prior to again heading south. With only one coastal road, we wound up leap-frogging each other all day long as the van just kept plugging along, and the two cars stopped for various photographic opportunities.

Toward the end of the day, I felt I was pretty much way out in front of the pack, and easily on my own, when Matt and Carina drove by honking as I left a road-side vegetable stand with fresh fruit and veggies for tonight and the morning. I commenced the chase, but we wound up not being able to find the campground in Zadar. Headed north to a small backyard autocamp near Zaton instead...the first one we could find.

A while later a van full of new Aussies pulled in, and Red Shorts came up to ask us how the site is, and say hello. She and her boyfriend, along with BB and her boyfriend, and one spare girlfriend were all doing a similar circuit around Europe this summer.

Since I am just planning one night here, there is no threat of rain, and the bugs are not bad. I skip the tent for a snooze under the stars...a first since my last night in Cle Elum back in July.

Friday September 30th

Hvar, Croatia: Yesterday, Thursday, morning I once again said goodbye to Matt and Carina. We are both headed for Split to catch the ferry, but have no idea where we will be staying or which ferry we will be taking.

I make a quick stop in Zadar to check on actually taking a ferry from here, but it will be two days before it makes another run. I walk around, the fairly uninteresting town, for a while and then split for Split.

The coast remains just as rocky, but the shore is now much greener with pines covering the hillside. From the look of the shore, you would think the tide is 2-3 meters, since nothing grows in that area, but it is really just from the occasional storm blown waves washing what little dirt there is off the rocks.

I am REALLY hating the goodbyes, so am in the mood to jump a ferry right then, if possible, and relax on my own for a few days. If I don't bump into anyone, I don't have to say goodbye, right? Regardless of my logic, or lack thereof, I missed the last ferry of the day by about five minutes...literally! I pulled up to the ticket window, the girl started to sell me a ticket, and then pointed at the ferry closing it's doors and pulling away. Had I not taken that swim, had I not taken that photo, or had I not walked around Zadar, I would have been a free man! Fate.

I search out an old campground a few miles from the dock, see that it has been closed for a couple years, so just keep driving south until I come upon an autocamp sign. As the nice woman comes out to greet me, I look over and see the van of Aussies from last night...Red Shorts and BB, along with their boyfriends, and the blond single are all looking and smiling (ok, the guys weren't) as I pull in. It is sometimes just too funny in this small world

I am starting to laugh at this, when Matt and Carina wave to me from the other side of the backyard. Amazing how we all ended up in the same place. An hour or so later, Craig and Camille pull in with their old brown van. Prior to today, they are probably thinking to themselves that they will need to get a restraining order to get rid of me, but at this stage I think I am the one that needs to take one out! :-)

I should have caught that ferry! Again, fate, but I would not trade it for the world.

We all decide on a BBQ at the back of my car. CD's are in, the grill is hot, and the wine & beer start flowing. We keep needing more and more tables and chairs to hold us all, as two Kiwi's on a bike join us, then a couple of Germans, and ultimately the two Italian's right next to me. All nine of the Aussies (the four I have been bumping into for the last month, and the five I met last night) were already there, along with a small US delegation...me. The campground host & hostess did not seem to mind us being a bit loud and playful being as over 90% of the camp was participating.

One of the new Aussies strongly recommended a trip to the local beach bar at about midnight, so many of us wound up there after the Barbie

The forecast was threatening thunder showers for the night, but it looked fine now, there was a large tree by my car, and I was too wiped to set up a tent, so again spent the night under the stars. Once it started to rain hard, I spent the rest of the night under a tarp. The sound and light show was truly spectacular, and kept me, and at least one of the others in camp, surely more, awake through the central portion while it was parked right over our heads. The flash and crack arriving almost simultaneously.

This morning I had to be up by 06:30, to be at the ferry dock by 07:00. Camille and Craig were also planning on hitting it, but we never saw each other till we were about to dock in Stari Grad on Hvar...probably because I was quietly hiding out on the bow, where I typically enjoy boat rides, for most of the trip, savoring the strong, cold wind.

Quite a few sail boats out this early in the morning. One (maybe 35 feet? Not big, but definitely not small) in particular was sailing for fun, and not performance. They had the thing heeled way over, and were washing the decks pretty good, until they nosed it into a large wave. Saw the rudder come out of the water, the boat shake, and twist hard & fast to starboard, and the sails go slack. Bet they weren't planning on that! I missed that shot, but did get the before and after.

As we were pulling into dock, I saw Craig and Camille and they mentioned they were going to stick around Stari Grad tonight, free camp, and then head farther south in the morning. I was heading north to check out Hvar for the day, so once again it is a quick goodbye as we dash to our respective cars.

I got on the road toward Hvar, and, after passing several cars and trucks, I was surprised to find myself behind Camille's old brown van. It was great to see they changed their mind, and I just followed them in the rest of the way.

We met up in the town overflow parking and as we were walking through the main lot, I found this new Smart Car Design! Pretty cool looking car, and one I could see myself getting when I am back home and sell the V-50. Anyway, we went for a stroll along the boardwalk, had a bit of lunch, and then hiked up the many stairs to the old town fortress.

The fortress is fairly nice, complete with small museum, prison, your typical gift shop, and some great views of the harbor and surrounding area. Well worth the hike.

We all wanted to check email so I stopped by the TI and found a couple locations. In addition, I learned that the closest campground is about four kilometers away in Milna. At the Internet Cafe, Craig and Camille jumped on line while I walked back to get my computer for an upload. Bumped into Matt and Carina as they were driving into town and told them where we all were.

Matt and Carina are planning on a hotel for the night. Craig and Camille are planning on finding a spot to free camp, and I am heading to Auto Camp Milna.

Auto Camp Milna is pretty much a sty. There are no BBQ's allowed other than the one they have set up in a concrete bunker. They said they have all the wood I could need up there, and it is for my free use. I saw one scorched ten inch diameter, four foot long, log next to a pile of garbage and the bunker. No way it would work, and no way I was inspired to sit way up on the hill for the time it would take to cook some chicken. Some of Matt's leftover Chile from two nights ago, and a bit of pasta will be just fine.

My tent-less site (again) is nice, clean, and right on the water. Since I am afraid of what I may catch up in the washrooms, I simply stay down on the beach to enjoy the views of the setting sun. As I am doing that, Camille and Craig pull in...followed shortly by Matt and Carina.

Saturday October 1st

Dubrovnik, Croatia: The camp last night sort of sucked. The location was great, the rocky beach was beautiful, but the cost was more than the service and cleanliness deserved. Such is life, and I was heading out early anyway, so it did not make as large an impact on my life as most other things did, that day.

With no tent, I was awake with the sun, and totally packed before anyone else in the camp moved. Life was telling me to move on today, as it had been for the past few, and see if the grass is really greener.

When others started to stir, I said my goodbyes and drove into Hvar. I wanted to book a ferry for that day and get off this pile of rocks ASAP. My plan (new plan created this morning) was to take the ferry from here to Dubrovnik. I have heard it is one of the classic trips in Europe. Unfortunately, the next one doing that route did not leave until Tuesday. Hmmm, I would just as soon swim as to wait that long!

Instead, I found I could take the ferry back to Split almost any time, but there is NO WAY that back-track is going to happen.

Else, three ferries leave from Sucuraj, on the south end of the island, three times a day, and I still have time to catch the last two of them. They just go to the mainland, and not the next island down, as I was hoping, but that too, would work for me. I make the drive, along an elderly back road that is rutted and potholed beyond belief, to arrive about three hours prior to the next departure. I get in line (number two) and head into town for a bit of lunch.

I seemed to be the only one around town, but that was ok with me, as I am currently lazing around a small outdoor cafe run by a friendly family. Mixed salad, a glass of wine, and some bread hit the spot while watching the kids dart around the dock, unsupervised, kept me entertained.

Since the ferry I was on came in almost three hours before the mainland ferry to Korcula left, I decide to skip it and drive straight on through to Dubrovnik, via Bonsnia. I saw on my map that there was a little green tepee (campsite) very close to the ferry terminal. Camping Solitudo was easy to find with all the signs, and I was happy to meet up with four Swiss travelers/campers, and Nick the Brit on a bike, as well.

Sunday October 2nd

Dubrovnik, Croatia: What a great day to wake up to! It started to really warm up as soon as the sun broke the ridge line around 7am. By then I had already completed a few emails I really had to get out that day, showered, and was done with breakfast.

I did up some hand washing, popped it on the line, and grabbed a bus into town in search of a WiFi or LAN connection.

Wandered aimlessly around the marble paved squares of the old town and marveled at the beauty of the place. I guess Yugoslavia shelled the city back in '91 and really did a lot of damage. With a bunch of international aid, Croatia was able to re-pave the streets, re-tile the houses, and re-build/sculpt all the art and monuments. You can still see they are doing some work, but it is close to done.

I decided to do the walk around the walls in order to get some great views. It cost about US$5, and was worth every cent. After that, I jumped the ferry to Lokrum Island for a nice long swim. I was able to find a nice rocky/cliffy area (not difficult to do in Croatia) and dive into the warm, clear, waters of the Adriatic.

On such a hot, still, day the area was fairly crowded but I was able to find a pretty good spot with only a few people sunning themselves on the rocks. Mary and Chenille, from the UK, were two of them, and we wound up doing some cliff diving together and sharing a picnic/potluck lunch.

We took the last ferry back to the mainland, made a tentative plan to meet up the next day, and I then headed back to the camp for a potluck with Nick and a boat load of cats.

Monday October 3rd

Dubrovnik, Croatia: Hoping to keep my head start on the Aussies, I headed down to the ferry terminal to check on a Dubrovnik-Bari ticket for today. I was first in line, so the first to find out that Jadrolinija does not run a ferry every day like they do in the high season. Drat. The next one is for tomorrow night, so I book a spot, and head back for breakfast.

As Nick and I are burning up some mushrooms, eggs, and potatoes, I notice that something behind me has caught his eye. I turn to see Camille's smiling face as she and Craig, parked at my site, and waving, roll into camp. This woman continues to fascinate me, to an inexplicable degree, as we run into each other on beaches, in campsites, and everywhere in between. I love bumping into her, but, as perhaps mentioned before, the goodbyes are not to be looked forward to.

As they set up camp and relax, I head into town for a bit of a walk, and another ferry out to Lokrum Island to meet up with the Brit girls again. Also ran into Karlo, a 60 year old German that has been coming to Dubrovnik for the past 20 years. He loves it, obviously, and usually stays in a private room in the local convent. He says the nuns take great care of him, do his laundry, cook his meals, and only charge about ten Euro a day!

Anyway, his mannerisms, and appearance to a lesser degree, really remind me of an old friend, now passed away from a paragliding accident, Downwind Dave, so hanging with him for a beer before our ferry back was ok.

It was growing dark as I finally made my way back to camp, and Matt and Carina were pulling in just as I got there. They were famished, as was I, so we all hit the local restaurant for some terrible tortillas and even worse service.

As we were walking back, the two Kiwi's that joined me/us for the last big BBQ in Split, say hello. They just pulled into camp as well, and are on the same ferry out tomorrow night. With everyone doing a similar circuit, I guess I should not be surprised to continue running into familiar faces.

Tuesday October 4th

Adriatic Sea off the Montenegro Coast: Excitement for my trip, angst over departures, or that disgusting tortilla I ate for dinner, kept me from sleeping much last night, and, after a chat with my Swiss neighbors who had been to Montenegro yesterday, some thumbing through the Kiwi's Lonely Planet, and very little rational thought...I  drove back to the ferry terminal and dumped tonight's Dubrovnik-Bari ticket. I then said goodbye, for surely the last time, to the four Aussies, the Kiwi's, and Nick the Brit.

Regardless of the miniscule amount of contemplation I put into this decision, I had come up with a plan, lame as it may be, that could be interesting. I would head south into the former Yugoslavia (screw the possible lack of insurance on the Volvo), through Albania, and into Greece, where I would be able to catch another ferry over to Italy in a few days, a week, or whenever.

If for some reason I got stuck at the border for lack of a Visa (Serbia requires one, but I was just not sure about Montenegro?) I would turn and head into Bosnia where I could meet up with Nick in Mostar tonight and then head to Sarajevo in the morning. Not a great plan, but it was a quick design.

I was actually driving quite slowly south, perhaps not convinced this is the smartest move of my life, chillin' with my best CD's, and enjoying the breeze of all five windows being open wide. It was pretty relaxing until I got pulled over for speeding. I was doing 77K in a 60 zone. I really felt like I was just crawling along. Really! Cars were passing me left and right!

The cops make me get out of the car to come look at the radar gun. Yep, it says 77, but how am I to know they didn't just type that number in? 300 Kroner is the fine, payable on the spot. I dig out all my Kroner, that I was planning on spending on non-perishables, and am about 20 Kroner (~US$4) short. Will that do? No. Will you take the remainder in euro? No. They make me drive back to town, find a bank, exchange 20 euro (my smallest) and then come back and give them the rest. What a pain.

As I was paying my 300, they stopped a Brit and got him for 500.

Shortly after the ticket, I uneventfully crossed the border into Montenegro. The roads immediately became quite bad. The worst I have seen so far, with sharp edged potholes that would slow me to 20-30 clicks for long stretches. It was also clear that this is a very poor country from the houses, the vehicles, the kids clothing, and more. The Swiss told me it was very depressing for them yesterday, and I am beginning to understand why.

Every time I stop the car, several people, from young kids to young adults, approach me looking for money, or any kind of handout...so I keep moving slowly south.

In Budva, I decide to pick up a couple of hitchhikers. It may not be the recommended move, but they looked ok to me, and were. They are students heading home to Bar, which I had never heard of, but they mentioned it was a ferry port. They also mentioned that Albania is far worse than Montenegro regarding roads, facilities and general security.

Hmm? With this new info, and the slow going, I am starting to reconsider my plan. Maybe I could catch a ferry from Bar to Greece? So, after dropping them off, I head to the ferry terminal and find that the only ferry operating at this time of year goes once a week to Bari, Italy, and leaves tonight at ten pm. After having lunch, and thinking about it, I book a ticket. It is cheaper than the one out of Dubrovnik, and only an extra ~US$15 for my own cabin with shower and toilet. For a nine hour trip, I would pay the extra 15.

This overnight ferry arrives a couple hours prior to my the original one I had booked from Dubrovnik, so I figure I will be in the heal of Italy by the time that one even docks, or the traffic gets bad, later in the morning, AND I was able to chalk up another country...not that that was a goal of this trip.

All the vehicles back into the ferry, and one of the trucks ran into the door as he was loading. That slowed our departure by about an hour, as they checked over everything to ensure it would still safely operate. When we finally did get underway, I watched the lights of Bar fade away, and then did the same.

Click here to see Section Nine: Italy