Finland to Cyprus and Irak some highlights of my last trip

[frameworkSpecialist]

Last fall I took a 9 month trip down from my home in Finland to Cyprus. The trip took me through a lot of countries with the highlights being the former Yugoslav countries, Turkey, Cyprus & Irak. I worked remotely on the weekdays and mainly rode on the weekends. Here are some of the highlight of what I saw:

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When In Bosnia & Herzegovina. Decided to ride up the mountain outside Sarajevo where the 84 winter Olympics were held. Parts of the road were pretty rough, loose stones and very steep. Found the old Olympic bobsled track, that was destroyed in the war. All in all an amazing day of riding.

[frameworkSpecialist]

The border crossing into Kosovo was very memorable. The scenery on the Montenegrin side was breathtaking, and the crossing itself was fairly challenging. The weather hadn't gotten too cold yet in the fall, but still there was snow and ice in the no man lands portion of the crossing.

On the Kosovan side the border guard questioned me and it turned out we both spoke Swedish! He chatted for a while and then he told me to go buy insurance at the booth close by. The insurance agent gave me the insurance for free! I don't know if it was because he was impressed with me riding over the snowy mountain or because I came from a friendly nation (who helped with Kosovo's independence), either way I wasn't complaining.







(I was too scared to take a picture at the peak of the crossing, but here you can see a bit what it was like)


(border crossing was a breeze)



In Pristina (capitol of Kosovo) Bill Clinton caught my eye.

[Rognv]

Hi,

Nice pictures.
Which border did you take from Bosnia and Herzegovina into Montenegro ?
My wife and I went there 4 years ago and where surprised about the country name meaning black mouintain. The mountains we saw where beautifull grey and white, definitly not black

[frameworkSpecialist]

Originally Posted by Rognv

Hi,
Which border did you take from Bosnia and Herzegovina into Montenegro ?
My wife and I went there 4 years ago and where surprised about the country name meaning black mouintain. The mountains we saw where beautifull grey and white, definitly not black.

I took the Hum Border Crossing (https://goo.gl/maps/kShjjNux82N38tnEA)

The road was pretty bad on the Bosnian side, but stunning on the Montenegrin side! One of the prettiest roads I have ever ridden... and yeah, the mountains are not black, but beautiful.

[Rognv]

Originally Posted by George86

The views are absolutely gorgeous! One of the nicest roads you could take based on the photos you've taken. I'm still waiting on my BMW GS to arrive and I'm guessing I'll take a similar route as shown here. Thank you for the inspiration!

4 years ago my wife and I took that same border crossing into Montengero. As frameworkSpecialist said the road on the bosnian side is ¨bad¨ but I liked that part too. Funny to see it even has a E-number (road E762) which means it´s a european road.
On the montenegrin side you arrive in the Piva canyon which is very beautifull as shown by frameworkSpecialist. From there you should really take road P14 into Durmitor to Trsa and Poscenski Kraj. Very beautifull.

[frameworkSpecialist]

Turkey was very memorable. I rode down the south coast, which turned out to be a great decision. The roads were twisty and the views were amazing.

In Istanbul, the most progressive city in Turkey, my airBNB host took me out for dinner. He took me to a very fancy restaurant in the center of Istanbul, right on the water, with live music and fresh fish. The food was great and I offered to pay for the food but he insisted on paying. On the way back the very friendly 50 year old man put on one of the most romantic playlist I have ever heard. I didn't think much about it, maybe this is just the world famous Turkish hospitality (it's not really famous). Closer to my place, the friendly owner asked me if I was going to watch some tv, or maybe Netflix?

In the kindest manner possible, I explained to him, that I haven't watched TV in years, and I am not really interested in doing it in the future. He took me back to my place and we went our separate ways. The next day as I was leaving the B&B, I looked over my shoulder and I am almost certain I saw a rainbow right over my hosts room.


Some travel pictures:




(These fake police cardboards are everywhere in Turkey (lots of real cops too))


(Plenty of fun roads)




(And beautiful views)