Welcome to Zagreb, capital of Croatia and starting point of our tour exploring the Balkans! A wonderful journey across 7 coutries (or 8, depending on how one considers the official status of Kosovo).

Despite a grey morning sky we have been blessed with some good weather for the start of our tour. After quickly leaving the urban landscape of Zagreb behind us we started to explore the mountains aross the Croatian - Slovenian border. A small, from time to time bumpy and wet single lane road brings us to a relaxing coffee stop in the middle of rural Croatia.

Lunch is served in a fairy idyllic place in the Rastoke, the hisotrical centre of Slunj. A series of small waterfalls and rapids surrounds the restaurant. Water seems the theme of the day, because our destination for today is Plitvice, famous for the National Park and the incredible waterfalls connecting the lakes. 

We are leaving Croatia today and entering Bosnia. After passing Bihac we ride along the valley of the Una river, arriving quite in Sarajevo for the night. This town has seen a long siege during the Balkan War from 1992 to 1996 but today it is thriving and mostly recovered.

We discovered another country today - time to enter Montenegro, "The Black Mountain" as the original name Crna Gora says. This country is indeed surrounded by fiery mountains, which offer great curvy roads.

...while the van and one tour member took another route through the spectacular DURMITOR PARK

Today we will have breakfast in Montenegro, lunch in Kosovo and dinner in Albania. A true Balkan multi-cultural experience!

A very challenging day! We left Bajram Curri at 9am and we reached Mavrovo after 8pm. 335km, two border crossings, and an incredible 100-km long curvy road along the dam lake in the morning! What a ride!

While a couple of off-road lovers headed north into the up-mountain back road country