Blagaj is only 136 miles from Sarajevo but it took over 3 hours and lots of focused energy. We packed up our stuff and left our Airbnb a little after 11am with partly cloudy skies and lower 60s temp, very nice. About an hour in to the drive it started raining and then when we were in the middle of the Dinaric Alps it started raining hard and became very windy. It was the worst kind of wind for riding a motorcycle; strong gusts with no consistent direction or velocity. It knocked us around pretty good. We found a little covered gas station with protection from the wind and rain and had a warm coffee to warm up and settle the nerves. We waited for the rain to break and then took off. The wind never stopped but the drive became much more comfortable with no rain.
The Dinaric Alps (/dɪˈnærɪk/), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo to Albania in the southeast.
To get to Blagaj, we came through Mostar. We visited Mostar in 2018 and liked it but we didn't need to stop again. Mostar is where the famous arched bridge is located that represents the destruction and healing of the war.
We walked to dinner after unloading in the Hotel Blagaj. It's a nice, fairly new, clean hotel for about $50.00 US per night, including breakfast. Sooz met, and connected with, Ines at the front desk while I parked the bike. Sooz and Ines kind of hit it off so I took their picture.
Tomorrow should be fun. There are several monasteries nearby built in the 1500s and local springs that feed the Buna River.
One of the many tunnels we passed through in the Dinaric Alps on highway E73.
Nice map of the Dinaric Alps. Blagaj is a little southeast of Mostar.
Sooz out for a stroll after dinner in Blagaj.
Looking out of our 4th floor room in Hotel Blagaj. If you squint you can see our covered motorcycle in the parking lot in the center of the picture.
looks like a quaint little town, for the weary travels, glad the wind did not cause a problem for you and Sue
ReplyDeleteYes, it is a very quaint little town, you would like it.
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