May 4, 2023
Trebinje to Ravno
We are finally getting into a rhythm with packing up and getting away in the mornings now. It did help that the apartment we stayed in had a big outdoor space and a kitten, so Tobias spent most of the time chasing after it saying "poesje mouw" and trying to pat it (a poesje is a cat, poesje mouw is a kids song but I don't think he knows that not all cats are poesje mouw).
The first 10km were on a road, but it was very quiet and had a nice tail wind so by the time we hit the start of the Ciro trail we were confident enough to stop for a long coffee/snack break. The Ciro trail is quite newly established and follows an old railway line. It is well signposted, mostly at a reasonable gradient, and a sealed, smooth, surface that only seems bumpy if you have a sleeping kid in a trailer. The wildflowers along the way were stunning and clover patches were humming with bees. There was the occasional car, but very few and they were all slow and gave us a friendly wave. Just after our coffee we came across two Canadian cycle tourists heading east so I could finally pass off the last of my Albanian Leke. They weren't intending to head into Bosnia and Herzegovina at all, but found the Croatian coastal roads too busy and this was their alternative. They had already been on the road more than a year and were heading to Istanbul to fly to Nairobi in July to eventually bike to Cape Town.
We stopped again at Hum to explore the ruins of the old railway station (or if you are Tobias, to follow the cows). We made it to Jasenica Lug for a picnic lunch outside the old station before getting Tobias off to bed and on the road. For the morning the view had been pretty much just trees, but in the afternoon we'd gained enough altitude (with barely any effort) that we had some stunning views across the valley in all directions. We normally ride with purpose and not many stops while he naps, but this time I was too distracted watching the view.
Tobias woke just before Zavala and since we were on such a quiet road (it seems like a cycle path that 3 cars use) we could get him onto his own bike to ride the last part to the cafe there. We stopped for a coffee and some frothy milk for him. He was very taken with the toy train in the garden and if it hadn't been threatening rain we would have stayed longer. The signs for the Ciro trail have a symbol with a bike inside a train, so he's been saying "kedeng kedeng bike" all day (kedeng kedeng is what we accidentally taught him that trains sound like, from the Guus Meeuwis song we studied in our Dutch class).
The trail stopped following the rail line from Zavala to Ravno so we had a steep climb and descent, followed by a more reasonable ascent and a long descent into the town. We spotted 2 very live, large, reptiles on the road. I thought they were snakes but James thought sheltopusik (legless lizards) which was confirmed by the waiter at dinner tonight.
We are staying at Stanica Ravno, the old railway station that has been converted into a boutique hotel. It costs a bit more than our budget so far, but it's very nice and we figured out that it's about our 10 year anniversary so reason enough to splurge. There seem to be about the same amount of staff as guests and we are being very well looked after. They say they are much busier in the summer.
Tobias had a great time riding his bike around on the ramp outside while James had a beer. As soon as I came down from my shower he crushed his fingers between his handle bars and the concrete wall, then tripped over his bike and scorpioned and got an egg on his head. He only seems to hurt himself when I'm around. We got him off to bed early and then enjoyed dinner and a bottle of wine from the region in the restaurant. It was nice to sit and converse for the entire time without having to walk around and chase cats.
James' phone is currently upstairs being the baby half of the monitor, so I will add more photos tomorrow when I have his as well. Breakfast is included in our stay, but we have enough snacks to feed Tobias when he inevitably wakes before anyone wants to be serving meals. We have another 50km ride through a relatively isolated area to Capljina ahead tomorrow.
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Today's ride: 51 km (32 miles)
Total: 630 km (391 miles)
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