BALKAN Part 3/4 - Montenegro & Croatia / KTM 1290 Super Adventure R

Good morning! So guys, I was stopped again. and I didn't see any motorcycles yesterday at all and then I met a couple yesterday. Very close to the tarot bridge and I had these guys here in background. Two guys from Greece on the BMWs that were staying at the same place last night. So we had a nice chat, a couple of beers. It was really cool. I woke up to a really cold motorcycle. There's a ton of frost on the bike. I mean it's supposed to warm up but right now I think the day started with minus one degree Celsius this morning and it's a clear blue sky. It's gonna be a sunny day. Where I'm going today is warm up to probably 20 degrees. So I'm gonna start very cold. We're at high elevation as well and there's one of the guys here. Good morning! We're packing our bikes and it looks great, doesn't it? It's a beautiful morning. We're gonna have breakfast. What's your name? Ilyas. How long have you been riding? This is the fourth day and we have totally like six days of traveling. And you're riding with? With Lefteris. Good to meet you. Nice to meet you too. And we'll be riding in Greece someday together, right? Yeah. That's very good. In Greece we can do off-roading. It's like the second home of Zeus after Olympus. Oh really? Is it the winter home or the summer home? I didn't know. It was when maybe... So you guys are home. I waited around long enough that the temperatures have gone up to three degrees now. I also added a few kilometers to my ride today because I got some good recommendations. But I should see while I'm on my route and take a little detour and see some of the nicest roads that are around here. So I'm gonna do that. That also means that my trip today will be extended to probably an 80 kilometers or something. So it's gonna be a long day. So I'm heading, you see, I'm out and I'm heading to the left side of it. And that should take me up to the highest, to some of the highest elevations that you can have in this area here. 2000 meters. I was up at 2000 meters yesterday. So I just wanted to wait. Look at all the steam coming off. Make sure that the roads are not too icy up there. I mean it's relatively dry but you can see there's a lot of frost. So there's some moisture here. So very curious to see that part. So it was also great to have some company yesterday. Some fellow riders, the handful that are still out here in this weather. And wow it feels cold still. It's very frosty. I will be going further south to the coastline again where the daily highs are 20 degrees. You know I'm high at 1400 meters so the elevation is already pretty high. It's also the reason why it's quite a bit colder I guess. Hey! Guten Morgen! I thought you were gone too because I said oh it's all icy. I'm like okay I'll wait a little bit. Because you know going up there I met two other riders yesterday. They were in the hotel from Greece. From Greece? Yeah and they also they came the same way that we went yesterday to where we went to the top. And they came from the other side on that past. Yeah it was just a nice night and talked a little bit. So I just took it really easy. I had the bike loaded at eight o'clock. So I was ready at eight. Then I had breakfast, took it easy and now it should be okay I think. Of course I didn't cover this heat yesterday. So I just put the bike into the sun and most of the time it worked. But there's a little bit of ice left. So in a small town I'm at Daniela Niveta again. We're actually at the gas station. I got gas yesterday and we're for a short bit of it. We're going the same way heading up the pass. Yeah I'm really psyched to see this now. That's hilarious. I wasn't quite sure where they're going if they're still planning to go to the same place. So the route we're taking is the R14 that will take us to the peak of this of this national park of this mountain area. I think there's several ways you can get up the mountain but I guess this is the I think that is the highest elevation that you can access on a paved road. Wow. Yeah that is very cool. And the nice thing is that it's all facing the sunny side which is quite nice because it is cold. It shows 10 degrees now. I think it's just the sun hitting the thermometer still. The wind feels the air feels cold. There's no wind. It's very uh there's no wind at all which is really really cool. And my friends are getting some more drone shots here. It's a very good drone pilot. Takes awesome images. And I'm gonna be um pushing on for the loop because it is pretty late now. Let's see what time is it. 20 past 10. So I got lots of kilometers ahead of me. Small detour through the canyon. 330 kilometers still. Plus the detour. Now look at this. Beautiful. I mean you wouldn't know it's the end of October if you just see this. It could be at any time of the year. And even the moon is up. Postcard image. Well it's very easy to get distracted by the view and not pay attention to the road. Campers out here too. I mean there's overall very little going on here anymore. And the guy at the hotel said they're gonna close in just a few days by the end of the month. End of October. It's officially the end of the tourist season here in this area. And of course they had hardly have any guests. And this is probably the exceptional good day for this time of year. Could easily be overcast, rainy and four degrees up here. But there's hardly any wind, sun, 12 degrees. It's actually warm on the bike. It's crazy. So we stayed at pretty high elevation just riding alongside the mountain and looks like we're descending now. Going down to the valley level again. I'm just getting a peek of the massive mountains. Look at this. What a view. Very cool. The clouds just kind of getting stuck there. The only clouds that we can see are just down there. All right. Awesome. Really, really cool. So I'm at 1200 meters of elevation and somehow I don't get the weather here because it's actually colder. It's like two degrees down here than it was at higher elevation at 1700. We had like 10 to 12 degrees in the middle of sunshine but still there's sun here and it's two degrees. It's chilly. Also the air temperature in general it seems much colder than it was up there. serventine road. Lots of hairpins in there. I saw it from above. And then what I'm going to try out is Lefteris' recommendation to take a right turn before I cross the ridge. He said it was one of most beautiful drives he's ever done. That's a good thing when you meet a few people the night before that have been to this area before because I would have easily skipped this part because I already have you know 350 kilometers on the clock for today. But he said you can't miss it. You have to see it. I'm gonna check it out. I saw it from above and it looks really okay. much. So guys I was stopped again just a few meters after the last stop. And it was all good. I had to slow down a bit. I wasn't going that fast. They're just standing there pulling a bunch of people out. He was telling me I should be going 30. I'm like no dude. There was a 60 sign and I was not going faster than 60. You gotta watch it out a little bit with the cops. It's probably very much dependent on if they're good on the bad mood. They'll write you up for a ticket. So oh I have another checkpoint coming up and then I'll see where I go. Hi. So there's much going on. Let's see if I can leave the helmet on. I need to take it off. Okay. Okay, thank you. So, made it through border patrol. There's not much going on here. So far it's been no problem at all as it should be. I mean, or should there be a problem? And the next stop is Dubrovnik. I'm gonna have very little time to just get a glimpse of that place but yeah, looking forward to it. Cow's crossing. Take it real slow on the scale. Very, very cool. Well guys, I can see the ocean again. So we're back at the coastline. Dubrovnik is probably 20-25 kilometers away, maybe 15. So it's down at the coast. So I'm not sure what the holdup is here. Last time I was the slow guy. So now I've got all my documents here in the tank bag so I should have them. They always ask for the ID and of course the papers for the motorcycle. Maybe next time this is gonna go a bit quicker. I think this might be customs checking the cars. Now the motorcycle rider has a rare sight. Hi. Papers and ID card. Thank you. So customs. Yeah, that's what it is. Two big smiles in the car in front of me. See what happens. Hello. Hello. Something to declare? No, nothing. Okay, thank you. So nothing to declare. Ready to roll. So finally my data plan works again because I'm back in the EU and it works in Croatia, which is nice. I didn't have any data coverage in Bosnia and Montenegro. So guys, I'm back at the coast and what you see in the background is Dubrovnik. I'm gonna take a quick peek and then I'll be heading the other way down south the coast to Kotor. That's where I'm gonna stay tonight. So another good look on the city of Dubrovnik. I didn't actually go and saw the old town. I'm gonna do this next time. It is really, really warm and I'm super late. So I better get going because I still go to Kotor today and that's a bit of a drive, which is also a beautiful scenic area. But the view coming down is amazing. I mean, you can probably spend the whole day in this old town and walk the walls. It's something I'm supposed to do. So this trip, I'm just kind of getting the lay of the land and then when I come back, I have to do all the things I didn't have time for this time. Damn, Alter. Off to Kotor it is. I don't know what's happening here. Everyone's running around. Nothing's getting done. Danke. So that's a lot of border crossings in a single day. So my friends, I'm back in Montenegro. Quick update of where we are and where we're going. This here is the bay of Kotor and we're gonna make all the way go around there. It's on the side of the coast, but it's the road that goes around the bay. And then that's where the final destination is. So circling the entire bay is gonna take me just over an hour to do. Well, close to an hour. So from the looks of it, I'll be at my accommodation just after sunset. Sun sets around 5 30, I think, at the moment. ETA is close to six o'clock. Definitely completely different vibe than what I'd seen before today, considering I was starting on the day on top of a mountain at minus one degree celsius. Gallopy of Kotor. Okay, so going all the way, all the way around it. Kotor is over there as far as I... Yeah, it is actually. That's on the right hand side. That must be Kotor. So just have to go all the way around the bay. There's actually palm trees here. Check it out. So you get to see palm trees at the end of October. I'm about to enter Kotor and firstly... Oh, you can actually see that. These walls, the steps going up there. I'm about a kilometer away from my hotel, which is on the other side of Kotor. Kotor is to my right and I didn't want to be in that old town. It's too busy. It's definitely the right choice. It's a lot less busy on the other side and I get to see the other side of the bay, which is nice. And I might just offload my stuff and then have a look at the old town. That's it to the left. It's their own parking in there.