Downhill to the hospital

27-31. August 2016, day 14-17
216 km,

Sometimes it's hard to decide, whether the road goes up or down. It's just hard to pedal. It looks like downhill, but you still have to push, or your bike stops stubbornly whithin 2 meters. This time we knew, that we are going up, but it didn't look very steep, and we still suffered in the lightest gear.

As a routine now, at one point Linh stopped, she wanted to rest, and some minutes later she wanted to quit the climb.

"I'm exhausted! My legs are tired! I don't enjoy this at all! - said Linh.

"Okay, so let's rest a bit, eat some waffels, drink some water, then we can continue" - I answered.

"No! I don't want to eat! I hate this uphill!" - Linh...

After 20-30 minutes of this delightful conversation, having actually no other choice, we continued cycling, and after five minutes in the saddle we were on the top, eating Cevap in a restaurant.

In the very sunny afternoon, 15 km of downhill was waiting for us, which I enjoyed the fullest for the view, and for its ease. The town we entered was Konjic, where I found a wonderful bridge, similar to the one in Mostar. Above the shallow, crystal clear water of the river, a beautiful piece of art was connecting the two sides of the town. This Muslim art, to be precise, was built under the Ottoman rule, when trading routes were developed between the mountains which are rich in minerals, and the ports, like Dubrovnik. Konjic wasn't a touristy place, we could enjoy the historical atmosphere and the view at most.

The Ottoman bridge in Konjic

We planned to stay at Lake Jablanicko which is an artifical lake of river Neretva. It was quite a touristy place which was all surrounded by weekend houses, mostly empty though. We were out of luck, and learned a lesson again: touristy place = no free lodging! Therefore we spent the night in a campsite, only few meters from the lake, which could have provided a perfect atmosphere... but a moron built a bridge nearby, where the surface is made of metal panels, so anytime a car crossed the bridge, the entire lake echoed the noise like heavy cargo train was passing. Nightmare for those who like to meditate in the nature.

The next morning I woke up with headache - I thought it was the noisy bridge. But I felt weak and had neither hunger nor thirst. I tried to force some food and herb tea into my body, but it didn't help. After two kilometers I was done. In the middle of the village Ostrozac I couldn't continue, and my temperature started to rise. I felt down and desperate, unable to lead the family to the next town, so Linh had to take over this position. And this meant new responsibility and pressure, resulting in some controlled panic for her. But she handled the situation well. The first villagers were not helping, but after that she convinced them, that they want to. This is how I ended up sleeping some hours on the floor of a gym. A man with great beard woke me up. (OMG I'd died?) He was a friendly guy, Harun. We moved to his family's house, and they took care of me. As I didn't get better, he took me to the hospital. The doctor examined me, and gave me the result: I was seriously dehydrated. Medicine and infusion. At home I should rest, stay on a light diet and drink plenty of water or tea. My life was saved, thanks Harun!

Testing the hospital in Bosnia

Next morning we had a chance to see a live cooking show where Harun's mom prepared the home made pie, Burek. Burek is my favorite snack or meal in the Balkans. It's made of very thin layers of dough, between the layers there can be different fillings: cheese, yoghurt, potato, minced meat, spinach, tomato. It's avalilable at most bakeries, and I'm always ready to eat one!

View from the kitchen

In the afternoon we were chilling with Harun and his cousin, Melisa, on a boat on the beautiful lake, next to the goddamn bridge, which wasn't that bothering at that moment. They told us, that there are no jobs in Bosnia. Many young couples have to stay with parents, because they just can't find a job. Without income it's hard to start a life, get married, raise kids... "Oh, when Tito was still alive, everyone had a job! Now we have independence from Yugoslavia. We have right to speak freely. But believe me, many would shut his mouth forever, if he could just get a job finally! I've graduated from the university 7 years ago, and still I can't start my carrier!" - Melisa said.

Me and that bridge

As I swam a bit I could feel, that my strength is back, the next day we can continue our trip along the valley of Neretva river.

Bosnian coffee on the water

Arriving to Mostar was our first, very big disappointment on this trip: it was a huge tourist gettho (packed with people, overpriced shops and restaurant on the way). And the bridge looked so disappointing after Konjic! It used to have the same function as the "most" ( which means "bridge" in Bosnian) in Konjic, but this was destroyed by the Croats in the Yugoslavian war, so what we saw was not the original. Interesting fact: "Mostar" means "the guards of the bridge".

A model in the canyon on the way to Mostar

Another model, same canyon

"Stari Most" - Mostar Old Bridge

We hit the road again through Hercegovina towards Dubrovnik. Hercegovina is a region with undefined borders in the country, where mostly Christian Croats live. We were taking a shorter road with less traffic, and it wasn't the easy way. Incredible long and steep roads that we had to climb and both got exhausted. Even on the top, short downhills were followed buy short, but very steep uphills, which took all our energy. With our last effort we arrived to a village called Hutovo, we stopped at the first house to ask for lodging, and we ended up in a room of Mladin's home.

A little uphill to Hutovo

He and his wife have lived 40 years in Germany, but after they'd been retired, they moved back to Hercegovina. "Hercegovina is for Croats. We are near the border (of Croatia), we can go home at anytime. Hutovo used to flourish when I was a kid, now no one lives here. There is nothing to do here in the mountains. But if you really want to work, you can find a job. Maybe not a job you like, or something well paid, but at least you make some money for yourself, and a little money is better than no money. Those who say they can't find work for years, they don't try hard enough." This is quite a different mentality here.

In the mountains the houses are made of stones

This time we learned about hydration, but after arriving to Dubrovnik the road taught us another serious lesson about the hidden risk of the sun...

(To be continued)...

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