Day 11 - Jajce
Monday 3rd July 2017
We are up at 5am determined to make an early start in the cool of the morning. No snake encounters to report. We paid up yesterday so have no delay waiting for the camp office to open.
We ride down to Senj again and turn east back up the pass road with all the serpentinas. Traffic is light this early so it is a fun ride up to the summit. From here we ride down into the interior plain and head towards the Bosnia border.
The clouds are gathering and it starts to spit with rain and grows quite cool. There are more mountains ahead. We stop at a handy Lidl to pick up some breakfast and debate whether to put on the rain wear. We decide not too, which is a mistake. As we head into the Plitvice Lakes National Park the rain starts to hammer down. We pull into a hotel but we are already quite wet.
We get a coffee and then struggle into the waterproofs. It's a difficult decision in warm climes because you can sweat unbearably inside the suit. however it is still quite cool for the latitude so we are glad of the extra protection from the rain.
We ride a little way into the park and find the road to the border. It is a very simple crossing, just a quick passport check at the two checkpoints that are side by side in the same complex. There are no vehicle checks and we are not asked for bike registration or insurance documents.
I had been concerned about this first foray out of the European Union. Carole Nash Insurance screwed up my green card purchase and I had to settle for an emailed document that I printed at home. My concern was that I would be asked for an original document at the border and that I may have to find an insurance office and buy local cover. So it was with some relief that we were able to proceed without even producing my printout. Now all we have to worry about is a breakdown since our cover does not extend outside the EU.
We have around 100 miles to ride to our planned overnight stop in the town of Jajce. The road is well surfaced and winds down a wide valley with mountains rearing up on both sides. Bosnia seems obsessed with speed limits, not just in every village but also on almost every curve, however easy.
There are still plenty of churches but it is noticeable that the number of mosques in the villages is on the increase, reflecting the long period of Ottoman domination in this region.
The speed limits are rarely in accord with the satnav and constantly change from 40 to 50, then 60, 70 or 80 with no apparent rhyme or reason. There are also lots of police cars around and numerous speed cameras. We get flashed at least once but it is forward facing. Travelling in Bosnia is pretty slow as a result.
Jajce is spectacular. It dates back to the 14th century and has a castle and gated walls surrounding the old town. Once upon a time it was the capital of the Kingdom of Bosnia before it was subsumed into the Ottoman Empire. There are many historic sites, but most are represented only by information plaques. The town changed hands several times during the Bosnian War in the early 1990s and first a Christian monastery was demolished and then a few ancient mosques were raised to the ground. Tito had his headquarters in a house here during WWII but it too has been erased from history.
However there is still plenty to look at. We find the Stari Grad hotel and check in. It lies just below the impressive castle fortifications in the heart of the old town. A new mosque is under construction across the road. The owner leads us up the street to a lock up garage where we can store the bikes.
We have a choice of rooms. There is a suite with large sitting room and bedroom with a big double bed. Or we can have room only, again with a double bed. They are next to each other and pretty cheap, so we take both. The big suite and extra bedroom costs €74, including breakfast. We could have had the double room for just €28 but you only live once!
In the cool of the evening we stroll up to the castle and pay 2 Convertible Marks (1 euro) to visit the underground church and catacombs that form part of the ruins. There is not much to see, just a few hollowed out rooms down a tiny stairway but it is obviously very old and extremely cold. THe rest of the complex is mostly ruined and Tito's house is just a small pile of old rocks.
Later we stroll down into the main tourist quarter and have a very Turkish meal of kofte and doner kebab with chips, washed down with an unimpressive local beer.
There is another famous feature in Jajce mentioned in the tourism literature, a 20 metre waterfall just below the town at the confluence of the Pliva and Vrbas rivers. The area was heavily bombed during the Bosnian War and the whole area flooded. As a result the 30 metre fall was reduced to 20 metres. I'm not too sure how that happens but apparently it did. Anyway it is still pretty impressive and surprisingly free of the usual trappings of tourism.
And so to bed.
We are up at 5am determined to make an early start in the cool of the morning. No snake encounters to report. We paid up yesterday so have no delay waiting for the camp office to open.
 |
| Serpentina ahead |
We ride down to Senj again and turn east back up the pass road with all the serpentinas. Traffic is light this early so it is a fun ride up to the summit. From here we ride down into the interior plain and head towards the Bosnia border.
The clouds are gathering and it starts to spit with rain and grows quite cool. There are more mountains ahead. We stop at a handy Lidl to pick up some breakfast and debate whether to put on the rain wear. We decide not too, which is a mistake. As we head into the Plitvice Lakes National Park the rain starts to hammer down. We pull into a hotel but we are already quite wet.
 |
| Rain stop |
We ride a little way into the park and find the road to the border. It is a very simple crossing, just a quick passport check at the two checkpoints that are side by side in the same complex. There are no vehicle checks and we are not asked for bike registration or insurance documents.
 |
| Queues at the Croatia-Bosnia border |
I had been concerned about this first foray out of the European Union. Carole Nash Insurance screwed up my green card purchase and I had to settle for an emailed document that I printed at home. My concern was that I would be asked for an original document at the border and that I may have to find an insurance office and buy local cover. So it was with some relief that we were able to proceed without even producing my printout. Now all we have to worry about is a breakdown since our cover does not extend outside the EU.
 |
| Mosque country |
We have around 100 miles to ride to our planned overnight stop in the town of Jajce. The road is well surfaced and winds down a wide valley with mountains rearing up on both sides. Bosnia seems obsessed with speed limits, not just in every village but also on almost every curve, however easy.
There are still plenty of churches but it is noticeable that the number of mosques in the villages is on the increase, reflecting the long period of Ottoman domination in this region.
 |
| Jajce Town gate |
Jajce is spectacular. It dates back to the 14th century and has a castle and gated walls surrounding the old town. Once upon a time it was the capital of the Kingdom of Bosnia before it was subsumed into the Ottoman Empire. There are many historic sites, but most are represented only by information plaques. The town changed hands several times during the Bosnian War in the early 1990s and first a Christian monastery was demolished and then a few ancient mosques were raised to the ground. Tito had his headquarters in a house here during WWII but it too has been erased from history.
 |
| Hotel Stari Grad with new mosque next door |
However there is still plenty to look at. We find the Stari Grad hotel and check in. It lies just below the impressive castle fortifications in the heart of the old town. A new mosque is under construction across the road. The owner leads us up the street to a lock up garage where we can store the bikes.
We have a choice of rooms. There is a suite with large sitting room and bedroom with a big double bed. Or we can have room only, again with a double bed. They are next to each other and pretty cheap, so we take both. The big suite and extra bedroom costs €74, including breakfast. We could have had the double room for just €28 but you only live once!
 |
| Bell tower |
 |
| In the catacombs |
In the cool of the evening we stroll up to the castle and pay 2 Convertible Marks (1 euro) to visit the underground church and catacombs that form part of the ruins. There is not much to see, just a few hollowed out rooms down a tiny stairway but it is obviously very old and extremely cold. THe rest of the complex is mostly ruined and Tito's house is just a small pile of old rocks.
Later we stroll down into the main tourist quarter and have a very Turkish meal of kofte and doner kebab with chips, washed down with an unimpressive local beer.
 |
| Remains of Tito house |
There is another famous feature in Jajce mentioned in the tourism literature, a 20 metre waterfall just below the town at the confluence of the Pliva and Vrbas rivers. The area was heavily bombed during the Bosnian War and the whole area flooded. As a result the 30 metre fall was reduced to 20 metres. I'm not too sure how that happens but apparently it did. Anyway it is still pretty impressive and surprisingly free of the usual trappings of tourism.
 |
| Underground church |
And so to bed.
 |
| Another town gate |
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| Jajce waterfall |
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