BULGARIA - SERBIA - CROATIA - SLOVENIA - ITALY - AUSTRIA - GERMANY

My track since the last blog... well over 30,000 KM in total now.

After five nights in the only city in the world that straddles two continents it was time to leave... Istanbul was rich with culture and had an atmosphere that is indescribable... From here I rode to the Gallipoli Peninsula and spent two days exploring the hills, beaches and various monuments built after the war. Obviously this place had a strong impact and I did a lot of reflecting here.

The kitty in the bar under our apartment, always relaxing!

Istanbul's location is pretty fantastic!

The plaque at ANZAC Cove...

Walking along the beach and more monuments pop up...

Another famous speech by Ataturk in 1934.

Camping on Lone Pine hill overlooking the cove...

The list of countries has almost doubled since then, just after I'd started writing them down.

In Greece the banks had closed and ATM’s were reportedly out of cash, so I rode straight into Bulgaria... the easiest border yet, like an airport for cars! I spent three nights in the capitol Sofia and even met another RTW rider Shane from NZ that rode the same route as me on the exact same bike! The cherry on top was when we realised that we both spent time in the EXACT same hospital on Flores, Indonesia. That was truly amazing!

Signs in Bulgaria leading to Greece or Russia!

One of the workers made the babies penis "GOLD" out of protest for not being paid... he was fired, but it remains that way today!

What a coincidence, Shane arrived as I was leaving!

It feels strange writing this... but entering Serbia was now again the easiest border by far... I didn’t even have to remove my helmet! I spent another three nights in Belgrade (the capitol) and even went to Wonderland (a music festival) which Paula amazingly gave me a ticket to! Serbia and the rest of the Balkans in general had a rich history of wars, mafias and a mysterious dark side... which was all very interesting!

Funny positioning... great views over 'new' Belgrade from up on the old Fort.

Nicola Tesla on their bills, finally someone I know on the currency!

Bad-ass architecture all around the city!

With cute and quirky pubs all around as well...

Wonderland... if you're into that kind of music!

Leaving Belgrade a motorcyclist at the traffic lights invited to have some vodka shots with him... at 9 AM! Unfortunately I didn’t take him up on it and headed for Croatia... Here I spent the night on a hill overlooking the Adriatic Sea... that night I was woken by a wolf around midnight as he was growling next to my tent. I grabbed a rock the size of my head and brought it into the tent with me, I was seriously shitting bricks! Luckily I survived the night without any further dramas.

Arrival in Croatia!

Getting a closer look at the tankers cruising past...

Some wicked cookies I found that day!

Old Roman structure in the sea side city Pula!

Camp set-up on an old military lookout! (And no the 10 second timer was not long enough to get up the tree!)

From here I rode from Croatia into Slovenia, the Que at the border was over 7 KM long with everyone heading back into Europe. Luckily with the bike I could skip the line and made it to the front, they didn’t even open the passport and just waved me through... now that was definitely the EASIEST border ever!

SLOVENIA! Far out that's beautiful...

And shortly after I was already in Italy... but soon I'd be back in Slovenia!

Strange sign... just act cool.

But I couldn't resist!

Slovenia, Italy, Slovenia, Italy, Austria in that order... here in the Alps everything looked perfect, with impeccable organisation... Utopia! Green fields with clear rivers and a mountainous backdrop with pleasant temperatures. But it was very difficult to find a wild campsite, everything was too organised with trails and fenced off forests.

Back in Slovenia again, the road winding along the border!

And here we have an Austrian Autobahn that I was trying to avoid all day!

B-roads through the Alps, brilliant!

Riding through Austria I had set the GPS to avoid TOLL roads as they had been very expensive through Croatia ($45 to cross the country)... but now I’d reached the Alps and the GPS kept taking me back to a train. This was supposed to take me through a tunnel to the other side without a toll, but obviously you need a ticket! Not to mention missing out on more amazing roads. So I back-tracked and found a campsite for the night thinking I’d find a road in the morning that lead over the top...

Illegal (but tolerated) free camping in the forest, it's a shame because the country has so much camping potential!

The following morning I made my way along the base of the Alps and then began the climb. I soon found out that almost every road over the top is a toll road, so be it. I bit the bullet (a 38 dollar bullet) and rode over the top. Sure it was beautiful and the road was well maintained... but GEEZ it was way too expensive! That night I found another nice spot to camp at... too bad it was next to the Autobahn where cars are driving past at INFINITY KM/H, a river which I couldn’t even hear over the cars... and directly under the flight path for the Munich airport... but I didn’t care, tomorrow I was going to arrive at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s!

Winding my way up Gross-glockener pass road in the Austrian Alps!

Enjoying the view, for the $$$ I better savour it!

Not sure if it's condoned... but I took some detours to explore the other peaks.

Back on the road, entering one of the many tunnels!

Snow all year round, entering Italy it had been 37 degrees C... a day later up in the snow!

Off-track again, a very beautiful area!

The summit at 2,500 m...

So many bikers were riding these roads... and every single one overtook me!

Down we go... EEEEH!

Another bit of off-road before getting down to warmer temps!

That nights "lovely" campsite... too bad about the noise!

Just outside Munich the following day the bikes engine gave out again, luckily I know my donkey quite well now and after only a few minutes of tinkering with the CARB she was running like a champ again! My bike was not built for the Autobahn but she made it... 

Now time to visit family and friends before the next leg of the journey! ... OH and it’s now been exactly ½ a year since I left home, perfect timing or what!

The bike literally stopped running 5 metres from this sign... time for a bit of a service and a clean in Germany!

From here the plan is to bring the bike back up to SPEC and travel around Europe a bit, in the mean time a ship is also being organised for the journey down to South America!