My buttom bracket is damaged, but sadly the two mechanics I found were realizing after an hour fiddling around that they don’ t have the right part for it.




It’ s way too late for me to eat, but different country, different culture. The next morning no one seem to go to work and they are still in bed while I am on the road again.
To get to Macedonia I had to cross another pass. Officially I have to register within 24 hours at the nearest police station, which I did. I was a bit too much to ask for the officer that I couldn’ t tell him my departure date. But finally he managed to fill out the registration card.
Macedonia is different. People seem to work. In Macedonians western part there is a strong infuence from Albania. Many Albanians live here, the Albanian flag can be seen everywhere and signs are even in two languages. It looks pretty moslemic to me. It is Ramadan, people are fasting from 2 a.m. to 8 p.m. No food, no water. Hard to imagine how this is possible when it’ s above 40 C.
The next pass and I was in Kosovo. Of course no one asked for my registration card.
I visited a Unesco listed monastery which is protected by the NATO. I had to leave my passport at the soldier to be allowed to enter.
The Rugova Canyon sweetened my time in Kosovo for a bit, but I couldn’ t find anything special in this showing off captalists. I like the silence and the nature, so I was totally at the wrong spot.
Also between Kosovo and Montenegro the border is on a mountain crest. 1300m differences in altitude before I got a stamp from acrumpy officer. Too bad that I lost the height pretty quickly again, so I was back into the heat.


I left the main road and cycled or better pushed my bike up to 1900m into the Biogradza National Park. It was another really bad gravel road but the scenery was breathtaking and there was no one else. I enjoyed the silence, the views to the jacked mountains and the bright stars in the night.
I am on the tourist trail. What I missed beforehand because I had no one to talk to for weeks, is getting a bit too much here. All of a sudden there are tourists everywhere. In Durmitor National Park there is already a bad influence of tourism. I wasn’ t allowed to fill up my water bottle in the toilet of a restaurant, prices are twice as much and 1 hour internet is 2 Euro and no one seem to feel the need to friendly anymore.
I taped it as good as could and will see how it goes.
I went hiking for a day and didn’ t regret it. It was really beautiful, pretty much like the Alps.
After nearly 100km my back and my bum were pretty sore, well no wonder with this destroyed saddle.
I just had only one thought in mind, where I could get a new saddle. I chose the shortest way to get to Podgorica. But I didn’ t leave the Ostrog monastery on the side, which lies dramatically wedged in a rockface up on a steep hill.


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