Eastern Europe on a GSA | Ep 4 | Riding to Croatia’s Death Road via beautiful Slovenian Mountains

Eastern Europe on a GSA | Ep 4 | Riding to Croatia’s Death Road via beautiful Slovenian Mountains

Greetings, YouTube, and welcome back to my channel. You find me in beautiful Slovenia. I’m just outside of Ljubljana in a little village called um Medno, I believe. Stayed at this hotel last night. Absolutely fantastic. Had a good night’s sleep. Just as well, cuz today I am starting a two-day ride of the road in Croatia known as Death Road. Let’s have it. [Music] It’s a bit of a race to get away this morning because there is a weather front moving in. There’s lots of heavy rain on its way and uh although yesterday was really really nice riding through the Austrian tier, the Alps and uh into Slovenia. Um I had sunshine yesterday, but today the morning promises to be wet. I’m trying to stay ahead of it. When I get to Croatia by the afternoon, it should brighten up and then I’m in for a treat. It’s going to be 18° or so the forecast says and sunshine as I ride down the Adriatic Highway. The road has quite a reputation. I’m hoping it delivers on the beauty and the spectacular riding technicalities, but not the death element. That’s not part of the plan. Okay, and we are off. That was a good night’s good night’s keep in there. Hotel Medno. I recommend that if you’re ever in Slovenia near Ljubljana on a tour. Now, what a country Slovenia is. Absolutely beautiful, relaxed, laid-back vibe. Everybody I’ve spoke to, who incidentally have all spoken perfect English, better than me, um they uh they’ve been so friendly and so um full of information and helpful tips. And the the person the the woman who served me some breakfast, she uh was telling me about these amazing roads I should go and check out, but unfortunately it is just a whistle stop visit to Slovenia on this occasion. I am going to be back. This is a place definitely worth visiting. Amazing breakfast as well. Scrambled eggs and roasted vegetables. Absolutely delicious. All organic. Very, very nice indeed. But anyway, this death road, as it was affectionately called back in the 80s and 90s, it is um the Adriatic Highway, part of um the E65 route and it was built in the 60s and it was the main north to south, south to north route through Croatia. extremely busy, narrow roads perched upon clifftops with no particular barriers, sheer drops, prone to a violent crosswinds apparently. And uh when it rains, it does rain there. Um and notoriously up to a couple of hundred deaths a year on it, year in year out. It’s a a mecca for bikers now in the summer months. incredibly busy. Best avoided according to Tinet. It says um shoulder shoulder season is best including October, which is good news cuz this is the tail end of October now. And as I mentioned a moment ago, looking at the forecast, uh this area here is going to be completely pants shortly. And at the moment, the uh Adriatic Highway, the north of it is completely pants, which is where I’m heading. I’m going to pick it up pretty much at the the beginning near I’m going to get this wrong, but I’ll put it up on the screen if I do. Reeka, something like that. And then it’s about 400 miles long. 400 miles of absolute motorbiking heaven. not the sort that hopefully you get to if you live up to the Death Road title. Um, and so I’m staying tonight at Zada where suddenly in Croatia the hotel prices are reasonable. I’ve got a a threestar hotel tonight for 25 quid with secure parking whereas everywhere else Austria, you know, it just incredibly expensive. Um, Slovenia not so bad. Croatia pretty good. It’ll be interesting to see what Montenegro and um Serbia and Bratislava are like and Hungary as this trip unfolds. But I’ve definitely found the rhythm of the road now. I’m I’m there. I’m in it. And that’s the hotel I was staying in. There it is from a different view. Doesn’t look much actually from the outside, but it’s very nice inside. Very very nice indeed. So, onwards to the death road. But first, I have a whole load of beautiful Slovenia to ride through. Don’t know if the GoPro is showing it up, but the sky is like a bruised purple color over there. I predict that’s where the rain is at the moment. I may well be stopping and putting my uh waterproofs on and removing the mic from the GoPro before too long, but hopefully not. Hopefully I can skirt around the edge of it or something. Doesn’t look good. So, this is the area I came last night for a meal. And very, very nice it was too. I parked the bike up uh just there actually. Very pretty at night. The old town of uh Ljubljana. And now I am just escaping the clutches of the city again. Beautiful, beautiful countryside. All a bit wet at the moment. Beautiful, beautiful colors. When I was a boy for Christmas one year, I got a a copy of Rald Doll’s Danny the Champion of the World hardback book, which I absolutely treasured at the time. And it had this autoutminal woodland scene, painted, drawn, whatever, on the dust jacket. And that just reminded me of it very much, those colors. I may be stopping to put the warproofs on soon. Right, it is time to get the waterproof on. Disconnect the microphone on the GoPro. The rain’s picking up. If this gets wet, it will get really heavy and cold. Um, so I’m going to wrap up and then hunker down for the rest of the trip until I get to the Croatian coast. This is This is leg. You can’t see it, but is ripped right up to the crotch now. Definitely needs some new waterproofs. What do you recommend? There’s no sponsorship or anything, so I’ll be buying them. Whatever they are, need to be budget friendly and last more than 5 minutes. It’s that old Harley-Davidson rubber romper suit I had was just starting to fall apart like 25 years in. Much easier to do the zips up than this. What do you think’s really good? Please let me know in the comments. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. [Music] Just beautiful. [Music] Well, I was completely confused. um blindsided by the amazing amazing colors, kind of not really paying attention. Um I passed through like a border and the signs at the border um didn’t read Croatia. I I had no idea where I was heading into, but um it would appear I am now in Croatia. So, welcome to Croatia. And uh I have 4 hours to get to my accommodation this evening, which will get me left for 3:00. So I’m going to be stopping somewhere along the coast. Uh I’m going to keep this on cuz I think the threat of rain is quite quite present. But uh what a fantastic place to be riding those roads. Amazing. Just amazing. Um rating the tarmac in Slovenia compared to say the UK in places absolutely amazing. Far better. and then in other places actually worse. So that’s saying something. So uh a complete mixture. Um most of the time, the majority though it was an absolute pleasure to ride on. Silky smooth sweeping curves through these beautiful, beautiful forested mountains. I love it. Just love it. And I can’t wait for the coast later. It’s going to be such a day. It has just been sublime riding for the last couple of hours. I thought a few days ago when I passed through the Black Forest and the colors looked like they were starting to turn, it was spectacular. But this just this is just something else, another level. I’ve never been to New England and Maine where it’s famous for the full colors, but I imagine very similar to this. And now I’m in Croatia, which is another new country for me to be riding in. Never done that. This is, I would say, as far east as I’ve ever ridden as well. I’m still heading a bit further east yet before I start looping back up north and then eventually west and heading home. Long way to go yet. Look at those colors. Long way to go yet. This is only the fourth day of the tour, I believe, and I’m on the way for 11. So, plenty more to come. This is far beyond anything I imagined I’d be riding through today. I’m so glad you lot are with me. As beautiful as all these leaves are, I am very wary of them across the road like this, especially on the corners. They’re a bit like an ice rink. If I get the chance shortly, I’m going to have to stop. Just look at that. Wow. If I get the chance shortly, I will have to stop and just uh turn the engine off, stand still, and soak it in for a little bit. So amazing. Gently does it. A moment to reflect where I am. Silence. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Absolutely gorgeous. And now it’s time to head to the coast. hoping to ride away from those dark clouds if at all possible. I think that’s my general direction. I was promised sunshine this afternoon and it’s going to have to deliver and I’m certainly promised sunshine and warm weather all day tomorrow. So, I’m looking forward to that. Has been a wet one so far this tour. Wow, that looks absolutely amazing. And I have 400 miles of this ahead of me over the next two days. Let the fun begin. To be fair, it’s been fun all day. Distinct lack of decent barriers as forewarned. on the internet. I just glanced down at uh the TFT and it’s suddenly 20°. That would explain why I’m feeling quite hot. I’m going to stop as soon as I get the chance. Take these waterproofs off. This is what I This is what I signed up for. I I’ve came all this come all this way so that uh I could get some warmth at the end of the year and I was hoping for sunshine. So tomorrow may well deliver How lovely is this? I think I’m going to be stopping. That’ll do nicely. The forecast warns of thunderstorms and there is some heavy duty thunder going on in the background. Heavy duty. Right, I may regret taking the waterproofs off and I may even regret stopping if that sky and the thunder catches up with me. Just look at the color of the sky out there. I think when it unleashes its fury, it is going to be absolutely brutal. So, I’m going to quickly just sit here, have a bite to eat, and be on my way cuz the direction I’m heading looks much nicer. There is the constant rumble of thunder. Occasionally, the loud boom and every now and again the horizon lights up with sheet lightning. Probably won’t catch any of it any of it on film, but perhaps as I’m riding along, we’ll get some drama. What a contrast. The sun on the water and that dark sky in the distance. That really is a dark sky. Time to get on back on the bike, I think. Hello. Hello. Ah, this looks like the ticket place. And that looks like a ferry. So, I have 83 km to get to Zadar and my digs for the night. And it says it’s going to take me 1 hour 23. Arriving at about 10 to 5. The clocks went back in the early hours of the morning. So, it’s sort of 10 to 6 really here, which means it’ll just be starting to get dark, I think, which is uh all pretty good actually. That was a nice tranquil boat ride. No need for travel sickness tablets on that one. And this now looks like I’ve arrived on the moon or something. Very interesting. Very rocky and barren landscape. Just saw a sign for a campsite. I reckon it would be pretty hard to get your temp pegs in. Just a guess. Well, the landscape has definitely changed on this island as opposed to the one the ferry ported at. There is an abundance of greenery. Few of those autumn colors are present. Not quite as much as on mainland Croatia and Slovenia back up in the hills where I uh rode through earlier. That was really quite special. Somewhere amongst all that lot is home for the night. I reckon I’ll be able to get myself a bite to eat enough. Right, I am sorted for the night. There’s all my gear. Trying to air out a little bit. It’s been very kind of hot and yucky in the the waterproofs. This is my sleeping area. This is the kitchen. It appears to be missing. Do have a fridge, kettle, and uh two sachets of coffee, but no cups. It’s all bizarre. But I did only pay 25 quid for this place, which uh compared to everywhere else seems to be a bargain at the minute. Um I’ve just been looking at uh places to stay for tomorrow night, and I’ve got an Airbnb just outside of Dravnik, about 20 minute walk from the old town. Um that’s costing me £43, something like that. Everything’s expensive, it appears. Even touring Eastern Europe is expensive. I know Europe is, but Eastern Europe, too. So, I am now about to start doing all the files, but I thought I’d just show you where I’ve been today. Hopefully, you can see this. All right. So, I started off just outside of Ljubljana. Worked my way down through that beautiful, beautiful colored forest to Raja. Then worked my way down the coast. This is the death road. I just changed what I did slightly there and I came across onto that island Pad Pag Pad Pag and worked my way down to Zadar where I now am. And then I will be taking the rest of the Death Road, which is actually the Adriatic Highway or the E65. Um, that doesn’t sound quite so exciting, does it? Uh, all the way to Dravnik tomorrow. It says something like six and a half hours. So, make that eight, eight and a half maybe. And that’ll be another spectacular day’s riding. And the the amazing thing is tomorrow 20° and sunshine. Yes. Right. Okay. I hope you enjoyed today’s episode. If you did, please give it a like, subscribe to the channel if you haven’t already, hit the notifications button, the um share button, and also um the hype button. And I will see you tomorrow morning for me the next episode for you. See you. [Music]

Greetings YouTube! Hit that subscribe button and join me as I leave Ljubljana and ride over the most breathtaking Slovenian mountains en route to the Croatian coast and the road affectionately known as the DEATH ROAD. Stunning autumn colours, rocky barren landscapes and four seasons in one day… what’s not to like? Let’s ‘ave it!