Sarajevo is taking a long time to recover from the 1990’s Balkan war. I was here in 2002 and although life had returned to normal, large parts of the city still lay in ruins. Many buildings were damaged beyond repair and just left the way they were when the war ended. Today the city looks great with many new buildings. However, the scars are still visible.

Riding north, I travel through towns with names we have heard so much of in the news during the 90’. Towns like Zenica and Banja Luka. When I come to a place called Travni, I take the road to Banja Luka which appears as a thin white line on my Michelin Map. Although it seems you are in one country, I pass signs at regular intervals to tell me otherwise. There are many areas which are called the “Republic of Srpska.” These are the places where the Bosnian Serbs live. It seems complicated.

There is peace now, but I wonder for how long.  As I am now way off the beaten track, I pass villages where no one lives and where all the houses are extensively damaged. What happened to these people I wonder. It gives you a sad feeling.

At Gradiska, I pass another border and enter Croatia. Passport control is usually swift but waiting in line behind cars while in the hot sun is less of enjoyment. I check the map and see I am running behind schedule and take the motorway to make up some time as the narrow road had been curvy with many bad sections.

The speed limit is 130 km per hour, and for an hour I manage to just that. An hour later, I enter the city of Zagreb.

I had seen the black clouds hanging over the mountains in the distance. The mountains often act as natural borders in many countries. The same is the case near the city of Maribor, in the distance, I can see the mountains of Austria.

 I decide to stay on the south side and follow the road west toward Klagenfurt in Austria. I know this area reasonably well as I have been here many times before.   However, at some time, I need to turn north to put me in line with my next destination in the Czech Republic tomorrow.

 Just before I get to the Austrian town of Wolfsberg, the rain comes down very hard. A B&B will do for tonight.