"Pity the Country without Bosnia in it"

Apparently, that's the gist of a phrase that used to be fairly common around this region, offering some insight into Bosnian hospitality. Our short first round in Bosnia would lead us to agree with this catchphrase, and has made us excited to return in another week or so.

We left Mostar, and headed south back to Croatia towards Dubrovnik. On our way, we made a stop in the pilgrimage town of Medjugorje. i am sure many of you know the story of Medjugorje, but basically there are six girls there who reported having aparitions of Mary. The aparitions have not been officially recognized by the Church (nor have they been deemed non-existent), and only three (and maybe even only one) of the original six girls report still seeing Mary. Nonetheless, thousands upon thousands of people flood to this small town for a pilgrimage. While small, there is certainly lots to do, and i do see how one could spend at least a few days there and in the surrounding area.

Leaving Medjugorje, we continued south. After crossing back into Croatia, i began to have some problems with my front derailer. This required some major work, actually, and we ended up having to set up camp where we stopped. We worked on the bike for about two to three hours, and got it working well. As of today, in Dubrovnik, i am having problems again with it, which is not good. We will have to do some more work on it either today or tomorrow, before we leave.

Our camping spot was perfect, though. We ended up on a public bocci ball court, that was just off the road. Flat spot, only somewhat visible from the road, fit with picnic tables and such. We still wanted to get to Dubrovnik the next day, our early camping just meant that we would have to ride a little more to do so.

So, we awoke at about 6am, trying to get on the road by 7am. i think we hit the road a bit later, but not much. We started the ride, and the morning was nice and cool. We crossed into Bosnia again (Bosnia has a very small costal section that splits Croatia), then back into Croatia. We had a route planned out that kind of cut through the hills a bit, shortening our route some as opposed to going along the coast.

Well, we get on the road, and fitzy ends up getting a flat. Just past an area where we first found signs warning of land mines. By this time the sun is high, and it is hot. Very hot. We get moving, and end up going up one of the steepest, longest hills the guys said they have climbed yet. After a small downhill, we get another shorter but still very steep hill.

We finally got off the shortcut from hell and got onto the main road. Though much busier with traffic, the hills were much more gradual. We stopped for lunch between 20 and 30 km out of Dubrovnik, and finally arrived at our destination around 5pm, after 89km of brutal hills and hot, hot weather.

Our accomodation in Dubrovnik isn't too bad. We have a two room thing to ourselves, but it is up from the city quite a bit, and requires lots of climbing to get to. Unfortunately, it is also the first place we've stayed in without A/C...

After riding both, i would have to say that coastal Croatia is extremely beautiful, while inland Croatia is like a desert wasteland. The beaches here aren't too bad, but have yet to find one with any sand. It has all been rocky beaches, which the people here don't seem to mind at all, but is very different from my typical idea of "beaches."

Our next stop is the country of Montenegro, which is no longer associated with Serbia, and is supposed to be a very beautiful country with actual sandy beaches. We shall see how it goes.

JC