SERBIA
 |
| After crossing the Hungarian/Serbian border. This was the quickest and hassle free border I have ever gone through. It took about 20 minutes. The longest part of this crossing was when I had to go to the office and buy the Serbian green card/insurance which was a painful 70€ for 1 month. |
 |
| Subotica about 30 kms from the border. |
 |
| The ride from Subotica to Belgrade started out good, it was a sunny -8 degrees but the weather worsened the closer I got to Belgrade. Then sun disappeared and it started to snow. Not fun arriving to an unknown city in peak hour traffic with fresh snow! |
 |
| View to the river from the Belgrade Fortress Park |
 |
| Belgrade Fortress in winter |
 |
| Destroyed building in Belgrade from when NATO bombed the city in 1999 during the Kosovo War. |
 |
| The Nišava River in Niš. |
 |
| The scenery changed a lot from north of Serbia to the south, the north was flat and the further south I rode the mountains started to appear. |
 |
| The Sićevo Gorge on the way to Bulgaria with the Nišava River on the side of the road. |
 |
| Still in the Gorge. |
 |
| On the other side of the gorge it was an interesting site with the airplane cabin on the side of the hill. |
BULGARIA
 |
| 2 minutes look at my passport from the border inspector and I was in Bulgaria. |
 |
| Alexander Nevski cathedral Sofia. |
 |
| Riding through Sofia City on my way to Plovdiv. |
 |
| Tunnel pass through the mountain. |
 |
| It was a nice sunny day and about 12 degrees when I arrived to Plovdiv. |
 |
| Interesting site as I rode into the city with the buildings on the mountain and one large building just left incomplete, what a waste as it is a great view from up there. I must have past this about 3 times as my stupid navigator didn't have a clue where it was. After about 3 third time round I gave up on the navigator and turned it off. |
 |
| The ride from Plovdiv to Thessaloniki. The day started good and it was interesting to see things like this on the ride up the mountain. I left about 10am and was planning to arrive in Greece by 4pm that afternoon, google maps and my navigator both said it was about 340kms and a 5 hours trip. |
 |
| Things changed quite quickly and to get through snow sections like this I had to attach the chains to the back wheel so I could get traction to keep climbing the mountain. |
 |
| I didn't know what to expect around each bend. Sometimes it was snow, mud, sheets of ice, it was turning out to be quite a challenge and as the day went on I was starting to realize I wouldn't be in Greece this day. |
 |
| The second time the bike was laid on its side and I just let it slide down the sheet of ice. This time the bike actually slid into an iced over river bed. What a day! It took me 8hrs to travel 80kms. I stayed in Devin a little village and the the next day continued to Greece. |
GREECE
 |
| 15 degrees and sun shining, I couldn't ask for any more in February. This is t-shirt weather! |
 |
| Thessaloniki |
 |
| Nice warm morning again about 15 degrees. |
 |
| Thessaloniki in the background. |
 |
| 'The bike wash' I found my GR sticker at the gas station, it was the last one on the shelf and the most expensive I have ever had to pay for a sticker, It was 5 euros. I put the sticker on, gave the bike a quick wash and then I was off to Macedonia. |
 |
| Didn't end up going to Macedonia cause they wanted 60 euros for bike insurance at the border. This was too expensive for just 2 days in Macedonia so I decided to turn around and go back to Greece. I stayed in Florina for the night and then went to Albania the next day where the insurance wasn't needed. |
 |
| Nearly at the border and not sure what to expect. From what I had read and what people told me I didn't know what to be prepared for. The last thing I was told is that Albania has no fuel and to fill up in Greece and then to ride straight through. We'll see soon! |
ALBANIA
 |
| "BUNKER'S" thats the first thing I noticed once I was in a Albania, they were everywhere scattered in the mountains and fields. There is supposed to be about 700,000 of these, 1 for every 4 Albanians. |
 |
| On the side of Lake Ohrid as I rode along there was these fish tanks set up with live fish for sale. |
 |
| The ride to Tirana, Albania's capital city through the mountains along these windy and narrow roads. Is was fun but sometimes dangerous with mini vans taxis occasionally cutting corners. |
 |
| On the Adriatic Sea. It was a nice warm day, about 14 degrees so I was able to get the shorts out and have a sun bake. |
MONTENEGRO
 |
| As I was riding up the mountains on my way to Kotor I was greeted by a stray donkey on his way down, maybe he was looking for his owner. |
 |
| Once on top of the mountains I was riding in the clouds, visibility was very bad so I had to ride slow and be careful. |
 |
| On my way into Kotor I had some rays of sunshine for short periods. |
 |
| The Bay of Kotor |
>>>>>
