Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Balkans September 18, 2018. Kotor, Montenegro

5:00 pm.  Today we rode into Lovcen National Park and had lunch at Lookout Restaurant. It was one of the most spectacular rides we have ever taken. 
Leaving Kotor the independent thinking Garmin GPS took us through some 6 foot wide paths, a small gulley and finally jumping a curb before entering into the longest set of 180 degree switchbacks we have seen since the Alps a couple of years ago. Sooz took some great pictures while riding, one showing the bike's cockpit with the switchbacks on my phone displaying Google Maps, and the infamous Garmin GPS. The roads were generally in good shape and fairly narrow making oncoming traffic life reaffirming.
The original game plan was to ride to a peak in the park with general access and then ride for lunch at Lookout Restaurant at another location in the park.  That was until we entered a several mile long active road construction project with heavy equipment, no guardrails or barriers and nobody paying us any attention, other than 2 men wearing what looked like Boy Scout uniforms collecting 2 Euro a piece park entrance fees.  It was very dusty, rocky, sometimes muddy and we wondered at one point if were ever going to see the end of the road work.
Miraculously, we soon left the road work and saw signs for Lookout Restaurant. I'm still not sure how we got there but we did, all in one piece. The views and food were excellent and we had a nice conversation with a couple from Majorca, Spain who were riding a BMW 1200 GS Adventure.  They spoke no English so I got to use my poor Spanish, we all left the restaurant smiling and laughing so I guess I didn't insult them.
With the help of our waiter we were able to find a route back to Kotor without going through the construction which attracted the attention of 2 couples from England happy to learn the new route. 

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