[gallery td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="23272,23269,23271,23270"] Saudi Gazette reader Haroon Rafiq & his wife Zainaba Farzana undertake a motorcycle journey through eastern Europe covering Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Italy. You can see more on their global motorcycle adventures on their website www.rideforpassion.com Prelude Although Europe as a continent is a huge conglomeration of many countries with as many diversities, the eastern part of the continent rarely is in the spotlight! The breathtaking natural beauty of the region is largely unexplored and untouched and hence I and wife decided to point our motorcycle in the Adriatic region with a minor sidestep to Venice. Arriving in Slovenia As our jetliner began its lumbering descent into the capital city of Ljubljana in Slovenia, looking out of the window through the cloud cover, the vast stretches of green carpeted hills, jagged mountains, streams and woods below was enough indication of what was in store for us over the coming 10 days. Landing in Ljubljana, we settle in, pick up our rental motorcycle and take a quick stroll around the town center, Old City, riverside walk and finish the day with a nice doner kebab. Day-1: Ljubljana (Slovenia) to Plitvice (Croatia). After a simple breakfast at our B&B, we load our bike, set the GPS and begin the ride on a cold morning. Although Europe is best travelled on B-Roads, with a long riding day ahead, we charged down the A2 Motorway eastwards and exited to Zuzemberk after which the ride was on nice winding country roads southwards passing Crmosnjice and Crnomelj stopping for lunch along the way. At Vinica, we make our first international border crossing into Croatia. We continued through the beautiful Croatian towns and villages of Bosiljevo, Zdenac, and Slunj and a few kms later arrived at the Plitvice National Park. Leaving the park exploration for the next morning, we settle for a nice dinner of the local dishes Peke and grilled Trout fish. Day-2: Plitvice (Croatia) to Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina). It was another chilly day with tiny bouts of rain. We headed to the UNESCO world heritage Plitvice National Park, which is situated on the eponymous Plitvice plateau between the mountains of Licka Pljesevica and holds 18 lakes and numerous beautiful waterfalls surrounded by a large forest complex. These lakes are renowned for their distinctive colors ranging from azure to green to gray or blue. It's indeed a sight to behold the pristine beauty of the place. After the park visit we hit the highway eastwards towards Bihac in Bosnia. The international border crossing into Bosnia was again simple and quick. As we make our way through nice rural border villages of Bosnia, the landscape was captivating, but amid it we could also see among some modernity old rundown buildings and lesser economic fortunes. After a quick lunch we ride following the contours of the land leaning through curve after curve with beautiful green foliage on either side traveling through Mrkronjic Grad, Jajce and later making our way to the destination for the day, Sarajevo, the capital and the largest city of Bosnia & Herzegovina. The city is spread out on mountains with steep climbs, descents and narrow streets crisscrossing at steep inclines. Day-3: Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina) to Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina). Waking up to a bright sunny day, after breakfast we ventured out on foot exploring the old town of Sarajevo with its cobbled streets, mosques and oriental style shops and avenues where historic monuments and modern structures seem to blend in seamlessly. There is great religious diversity as you can be walking by a church and a synagogue and hear the Islamic call to prayer at the same time. We visit the Bascarsija Square, Town hall, Husrev-beys mosque — a pearl of Ottoman architecture, the historic Latin bridge — which was the site of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1914 that sparked off World War-I and a few other attractions. After lunch of yummy Bosnian Cevapcici and Cutlet chops, we ride on very curvy roads and all around fabulous scenery heading to our next destination, the historic town of Mostar. Nothing compares to riding next to a wonderful and twisty blue stream and the other side flanked by jagged edge mountains. Arriving into Mostar, we round off the evening visiting the world famous UNESCO Heritage site Stari Most Bridge, which was originally built by the Turks in 1566. After taking in the views we settled at a nearby restaurant for a traditional Herzegovinian dinner. Day-4: Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina) to Kotor (Montenegro). After a nice and relaxed night another beautiful sunny day beckoned us. We leave Mostar in a southward direction on the E73 highway. A few kms ahead, we take a small detour towards the village town of Blagaj that is located on southeastern region of Mostar basin. Blagaj is home to 'Tekija' house located at the spring of the Buna River. The house built by the Ottomans in 1520 is well preserved with lot of wood work and is set in a very tranquil atmosphere. After spending some time here, we head off on the main journey in a south easterly direction passing thru Pocitelj, Radimlja and stopping for lunch at Stolac. From here we turn left and continue on some mountainous roads crossing from Bosnia into Montenegro. After some more kms at a distance we catch a glimpse of a large blue water body — the Kotor bay. We have an absolutely brilliant ride sailing down the mountain edge with the huge open expanse of the bay on the right and hugging the coast for several kms following the road pattern as it snakes its way and drops us into the beautiful and serene town of Kotor. We spend the evening visiting the old and historic part of Kotor, absorbing the old town experience. Day-5: Kotor (Montenegro) to Dubrovnik (Croatia). We go for an early morning stroll along the quaint waterfront of the bay on foot. The peace and tranquility was absolutely refreshing to our mind and soul. Leaving Kotor, at Lepetane we get on a ferry boat crossing that takes us, our bike, a few buses and cars across the bay to the other end at Kamenari. From there we ride westwards through small towns of Zelenika, Herceg Novi, Igalo getting on the main highway E65 and reaching the international border leaving Montenegro and entering back into Croatia. From the border it was another beautiful ride where lush green forest scenery takes over with a windy well paved 2-lane beauty of a road that sees an occasional oncoming car or bike and this route finally leads us onto another ribbon of tarmac that has a steep mountain on the right and the beautiful blue waters of the Adriatic Sea on our left and at a distance postcard scene of the old city of Dubrovnik, The Pearl of the Adriatic, with its terracotta tiled rooftops is coming into view and we soon make our way into the bustling city. After a quick lunch we walk to the stunningly intact walled city with its narrow lanes and stone buildings, which takes us back to its glorious past. We end the day with dinner at our terrace overlooking the calm and beautiful Adriatic Sea with a cool breeze kissing our faces. Day-6: Dubrovnik (Croatia) to Split (Croatia). With a bright and sunny day ahead, we kit up and hit the road for another long ride almost entirely sticking on the E65 highway along the beautiful coast line, with the turquoise blue water on our left and the rugged mountains on our right. We pass the towns of Zaton, Orasac, Slano and then reach the international border with Bosnia as strangely a small stretch of Bosnia cuts this highway and hence we have to make two border crossing stamping our passports into and out of Bosnia within a short distance. Thereafter, the route with its unending twisty roads for more than 250 kms was a bikers playground with spectacular scenery best captured in the mind in 3D vision! We continue our cruise on the E65 passing Gradac, Drvenik, Podgora, Makarska, Dugi Rat and slowly make our way into another concrete jungle in Croatia called Split, our final destination for the day. We headed on foot into downtown where we visit the UNESCO heritage site Diocletian Palace, Green market etc. and finished another brilliant riding day on the Adriatic. Day-7: Split (Croatia) to Opatija (Croatia). With more than 400kms to cover today, we shun the coastal road and gun for the less exciting A1 Motorway to cover the distance swiftly that takes us mostly inland on silky smooth tarmac with huge mountains on either side with the occasional tunnels in between. We get off the motorway at Otocac and merge onto a B-Road passing Melnice and touching Senj from where we are back on the scenic Adriatic coast and yet again continue on our beautiful roller coaster ride....We soon pass the major port city of Rijeka and finally arrive into Opatija. Located in the Gulf of Kvarner and known for its mild winters and bearable summers, Opatija is an absolutely charming tourist destination in Croatia. With a clean beach and assorted eateries, shopping complex located on the waterfront including the tourist attractions — The Maiden with the seagull and the marina, we have a relaxed and fulfilling evening here. Day-8: Opatija (Croatia) to Venice (Italy). Again being blessed with a bright sunny day, we started out of Opatija and headed west towards Italy making our way back into the Schengen. Since Venice was a small detour from our original plan, we took the Route E61 snaking our way out of Croatia and making our international border crossing thru Starod into Slovenia and continuing on the E61 passing through curvy and gently hilly country roads with landscape dominated by farms and lush greenery all around. With menacing clouds hanging above us, I rolled on the throttle till we finally passed Krvavi Potok and made our entry into Italy and a quick dash on the E70 motorway. We finally branched off the motorway and made our entry into Mestre (near Venice), in light rain. Since our bike will not be allowed into Venice, after a quick wash at our B&B we take a local bus that goes over the bridge and finally dumps us into one of the world's most romantic places — Venezia as the Italians say. With rain welcoming us, our plans are curtailed but we still manage to walk through the large network of walkways around the canals and also take the famed 40-minute Gondola ride, where it seems the boatman's watch is always running a lot faster than ours!! Venice was indeed a mystical experience. Day-9: Venice (Italy) to Ljubljana (Slovenia). With mixed feelings we depart from Venice as on the one hand the overwhelming experiences and beauty of Eastern Europe has etched permanent memories in our heart and mind, while on the other hand the fact that this 9-day trip ends today. Exiting Mestre, we head straight for the motorway and ride swiftly on the E70 motorway, which later becomes the E61 heading in a north easterly direction towards Lake Bled. We exit the motorway at Lesce and whisked along a 2-lane road through nice wooded areas and at a distance between the greenery, a large turquoise blue water body comes into our view. The place has absolutely jaw-dropping scenic views in all directions. We follow the contours of this magical lake on the well-paved tarmac that twists and turns its way until we reach the main tourist area where we rest and also feast on a nice lunch. Taking a brief stroll around this beautiful lake, we ride a little distance further up this road to the mountain, which is home to the famous Bled Castle. The view from atop this mountain is even more adulating. After the overdose of nature's raw beauty, we finally head back to our final destination-Ljubljana finishing our Adriatic sojourn with countless experiences to cherish.
