Up a Volcanoe Down a Canyon

[louisdut]

Hi all

Over the next few nights I’m going to post pictures & a little info of a trip Nicky and I did this September

I’m posting this ride report for two reasons one to show you all what a great trip Nicky & I had, two to maybe give ideas for trips so please post up if you want any more info

As with most of the trips lately it started with a drive in the van, this time we left the van in Padova Italy.

Our route took us to Italy, Sicily, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia & Slovenia

Up Mount Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano more info here

Paddled down the Tara River Canyon in Montenegro, the longest canyon in Europe and second longest in the world after Grand Canyon, at 78 kilometres in length and 1,300 meters at its deepest, more info here

We also rode down a small canyon between CrnaGora & Nedajino in Montenegro

The Godfather tour in Sicily more info here

We rode lots of great track.

The run up to Zabljak, Zabljak is in the centre of the Durmitor mountain region and with an altitude of 1,456 metres, it is the highest situated town in the Balkans

Dropped in on some bears in Croatia

 

[louisdut]

Our first day on the bikes was an uneventful but pleasant run form Padova to Genova port where we would catch the ferry to Palermo Sicily.

I love watching the ferries unload I have a big van but never had it loaded like that!

Good mix of bike on board.

We boarded just before dark, the next day was sunny so most of the time was spent on deck

We spotted Sicily

After what can only be described an excitimg ride though Padova we head for Corleone but stopped at the good old spar for supplies.

As the light was fading we stopped at Piana degli Albanesi, this was the view form our room

Then it was the run up to Corleone .

After Corleone we headed for Mount Etna across country on a mix of back/unsealed
roads

We spotted Mount Etna.

Plenty of lava about!

We stayed on Mount Etna at Hotel Coraso, it was great, info here. We went for a stroll before dinner.

We new the bikes were safe, the local police seemed to be regulars at the hotel!

Great views at night towards Catania.

The next morning we took the cable car part way up Etna as the bikes were not allowed.

It would have been great to ride these tracks

All was peaceful at the summit.

There were lots of little craters below

Couldn’t resist a ride on the lava

But the track didn’t go far

 

[Riz Sauvage]

Good of you to take the time to post, I know it can be a little underappreciated at times.
Some lovely pictures, and some good riding it seems.

 

[ghost]

nice report.

 

[finn]

Very nice pics keep it coming

 

[Ash]

enjoyed that and cracking pictures.
more more !

 

[(RIP) Bin Ridin]

Great report and photos thanks a lot!

 

[Monsieur]

Great report and photos

 

[NeilF]

I am really looking forward to the rest of the report - please don't make me beg . . !

Cheers,

Neil.

 

[louisdut]

Then we headed for Forza d’Agro and stopped for a drink in a lovely restaurant Il Padrino which was decorated with pictures from filming from the Godfather films.

This church featured in the films

Great views on the way back down

Then we headed for Savoca, where the Bar Vitelli remains virtually unchanged to this day

This plaque describes the wonderful lady who ran the bar at the time the films were made

This is the road we took from the coast to Savoca.

It was then time to leave Sicily. We took a short ferry from Messina to Villa San Giovanni with some guys from the Czech Republic

What a great bike!

As I said “Short crossing”

Then we went to explore the Dell’Aspromonte National Park

These were the tracks we were heading for.

Nicky was unsure that I was taking the right route, I have been known to take “short cuts” before! (Later in the report you’ll see more evidence of my short cuts!!

In my defence, the road definitely ran next to the river on the map, however it turned out to be in the river

This picture was taken by the white x on the map

We then rode some tarmac which wasn’t in much better condition!

At least the safety barriers were substantial!!

Our route took us to an unsealed road through the forest

 

[louisdut]

Then it was time to take the ferry from Bari in Italy to Bar in Montenegro

Time for Nicky to do a spot more sunbathing

If you look closely you can see the harbour pilot leaving the boat

We left Bari around mid-day, the crossing was 9 hours, on arrival there were some stunning yachts

Next morning we headed north (in Montenegro)

As always we tried to take the scenic route

This trail started to look less used, I went ahead and it soon came to an end

So it was time to find another route

This ended at this family’s house, who kindly invited us in for a drink

Unfortunately neither of us spoke the other’s language but we managed to get information about a great route onwards

Short video of what the roads were like on first part of our run up to Zabljak

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16363830?portrait=0" width="700" height="525" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/16363830">Montenegro Run to Zabljak Part 1</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1443772">Louis</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

 

[davidgibson999]

Great report - looking forward to the rest of it.
David

 

[louisdut]

We were now fairly high up, you could feel it getting cooler. We were heading for Zabljak, the highest town in the Balkans.

Video of the roads on the next part of the run up to Zabljak

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16364187?portrait=0" width="700" height="525" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/16364187">Montenegro Run to Zabljak Part 2</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1443772">Louis</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

Again we found a great place to stay just on the outskirts of Zabljak which is a ski resort, the food here was fantastic, with the nicest bread we’ve ever tasted.

The next day we were heading towards Scepan Polje as the next day we planned to go rafting. Our route took us mostly on unsurfaced roads with this spectacular gorge crossing

What a place to live!

Being a carpenter this is a million miles away from where I do my work.

Video of ride the Gorge

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16364412?portrait=0" width="700" height="525" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/16364412">Montenegro Riding the Gorge</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1443772">Louis</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

After reaching Scepan Polje, we headed up the main road to Pluzine for fuel

We then followed the road back to our camp for the night, at Scepan Polje which is on the Montenegro/Bosnian border.

 

[Aidan1150]

Great stuff, I'm looking forward to the rest of this report.

 

[Buttso]

great report.. and cracking pictures..

love the 3D map effects...

 

[louisdut]

The next day we met Carlo from Tara Adventures (more info here) to go rafting

We then travelled up stream to paddle back towards camp.

The best time of year to go for white water is in the spring, where it would take you approximately 45 minutes to cover what took us almost 3 hours. There were a fair few times when it got pretty exciting. This was a fantastic way to see the canyon.

See short video copied from Carlo’s site (not us)

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Kiuei-0UEPI?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Kiuei-0UEPI?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

This is Carlo, a smashing bloke with fantastic knowledge of the area.

There was a quick detour to an ice cold waterfall.

This bridge is the border between Montenegro & Bosnia.

The day after rafting under the bridge, we rode over it into Bosnia.

We then headed for Mostar

The view over Mostar

short video of the ride to Mostar

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16364828?portrait=0" width="700" height="525" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/16364828">Bosnia Road to Mostar</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1443772">Louis</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Great report Paul

Having ridden with Louisdut a few times, I can confirm he can sniff out a brilliant route which you may, or may not, be able to get to the end of

 

[Timolgra]

Another top notch report mate, I've 'stickied' it (not in that way mind)

 

[louisdut]

Cheers for the replys all & Tim for making me sticky

Having ridden with Louisdut a few times, I can confirm he can sniff out a brilliant route which you may, or may not, be able to get to the end of

Yep great times had in Wales on the GS's ( remember the ice hard core )

Louis

 

[louisdut]

We found a great hotel, this was the view from our room of the famous bridge

One of the reasons the bridge is famous is because of the diving club, if you look closely you can see one of the divers

We enjoyed a light supper!

Next morning we explored another riverbed

The trail followed the river for a while…

Then left the river and rose up through the valley

Then we found ourselves riding in he riverbed, this was the most difficult tack of the trip.

Nicky glad to be out of there!

Video of the the track

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16365706?portrait=0" width="700" height="525" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/16365706">Bosnia River Bed</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1443772">Louis</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>