24 August 2025 (sunny and hot) 56km
Woke at 5am for a toilet interlude. Back to bed where we dozed until 6am when the church bells rang softly, gently encouraging the inhabitants of Ravno to perhaps start thinking about getting up.
Not like some of the "Awakenings" we've had with church bells, which were more like a Gestapo Roll call.
Anyway, we began with some cereal, unsweetened yoghurt and soft bananas. It filled a gap.
We only had the inner tent up last night, as we have the past few nights, but there was a bit of a dew (not to be confused with Ju).
Our tent was pitched on the grass on the foreground of the above photo.
About 7.30am, we wandered into the hotel, having packed the tent up and got everything ready to put on board the bikes.
Decided to have a second breakfast as there appears to be nothing between here and our next camping spot, 56kms away. And that first paltry meal was not going to cut the mustard.
As we walked in, we met a German bikepacker who we'd spoken to yesterday. His name was Daniel, from Frankfurt. He invited us to share a table for breakfast, which we did.
Spoke about his various trips, our trips, Bosnia and how the country is finding it hard to unite three cultures etc.
Ju here. Today we met three interesting men with carefully considered views that got us thinking.
The first was Daniel from Frankfurt. He had spent the past month cycling round Bosnia and educated himself on the history of Bosnia before he got here. I envied him this, but Bosnia is just one small part of a bigger trip and I spent most of my time researching routes to take the bikes.
He had visited Srebrenica where 8,000 people were massacred but from my research it was Bosnian Serbs murdering Bosnian Muslims. Why, I don't know. How do you unite a country when there are so many factions with different beliefs and cultures and who identify as Serbian or Croatian and not Bosnian. How did Bosnia even become a country?
It's a strange one.
The Croatians have always got their flags on display or the kids are wearing the football strip. Bosnians as a rule don't fly flags and I haven't got a clue what their football strip is like. Is this something to do with how they feel about their respective countries?
Daniel had definitely had a different experience to us and had enjoyed his interactions with the Bosnian people. So maybe our snap judgments on brief encounters with people probably on minimum wage and not wanting to be there, have been a little harsh. Anyway, you can tell he got us thinking, which is never a bad thing.
After an enjoyable breakfast of orange juice, omelette and fruit, bread and jam for Pete, accompanied by a delicious cappuccino, we bade farewell to our passing acquaintance and hit the Ciro trail for Mlini, the camp we'd picked out for tonight, just across the water from Dubrovnik.
Then we met Igor from Serbia. We had never knowingly met a Serbian and when we met Igor, I would have envisaged a gruff, foreboding bad guy from a James Bond movie. But despite his name, he was another well educated man and interesting to talk to.
We met him at a lookout, working for the Serbian government on a project to determine how beneficial a cycleway would be for the Serbian tourist industry.
We pointed out the economic benefits we had seen with rail trails built in NZ, to the country, and local community, with businesses set up to provide accommodation, food and drink etc.
It's one of those "Build it, and they will come" ventures.
The Otago Rail Trail is a classic case, of villages basically dying, then revived with an idea to promote tourism, health and recreation.
We chatted with him for about fifteen minutes and at the end he asked if he could have a photo of us. Hopefully our chat will help promote cycle tourism in Serbia. Back to Pete. You'll hear about the third guy later.
Today was a plod. It had to be. We were out in the middle of nowhere.
No fresh water, no food available, hot sun and virtually on our own, bar the odd car which passed. Long straights.
However, we were also riding through some of the best scenery we've seen in Bosnia. Hugh rock masses, towering above a massive fertile valley, with crops of various kinds, canals and a huge array of various trees, all with an early autumnal colour.
Put mountainside villages, (some decrepit and abandoned) in the picture and defunct railway buildings from the sixties, and it made for good shooting.
Once again we were passing abandoned villages and decaying buildings and unofficial rubbish dumps.
This rail trail is already there, but unlike other countries, who would rebuild and market the stunning scenery and character of the village and railway chapter in Bosnian history, nothing will ever happen.
While other cycle trails are springing up across Europe, I fear this foundation will not be built on.
Ju here. That's Pete's opinion. I can see why he feels this way as everything seems to move very slowly here. But there are some parts of this trail with new asphalt on, so it is slowly being improved. It is also partly funded by the EU, so there is hope. My hope is that the parts of the Ciro Trail we have cycled from 5km south of Mostar down to the border at Ivanica, will gain traction as for the most part is a reasonably good surface and local businesses are starting to see some benefit.
The Hotel Stanica at Ravno has made significant investment and hopefully they are seeing some success as they deserve to. This will hopefully inspire others and this will be good for the whole community.
Then they can expand the trail all the way through to Kotor, Montenegro, which is in the plans.
But boy, they need to clean up their rubbish!
I would definitely recommend the part we have done and Ravno is an ideal stopping place, even providing a garage and charging plugs for E bikes, as well as hotel rooms for those without a tent. Back to Pete.
Near the Croatian border, we saw a walker coming toward us. Turned out to be a Spanish guy called Juan (and his brother Two), carrying a big Catalan flag and doing a three day walk to Mostar. He was great and very funny. Has been walking some of the Camino trails for years.
By the time we reached the border, we were hot and bothered. Pulled up to a massive queue, but wormed our way in.
Had a right miserable git on the Bosnian side, couldn't get a smile out of him. On the Croatian side, the guy saw I was born in Liverpool and said "You'll never walk alone."
Waved us through and we rode down a good descent to the main road and into Mlini.
Checked out a mall for gas and outdoor gear....nothing. Shopped at the supermarket and then rode up a hill, (of course we did), to reach the campsite.
Met a family of six, four kids 13..11..9..7 who had cycled from Mostar and were finishing here after three or four days. The Czech father said the kids were tired. I'm not bloody surprised. We were tired and we chose to do this. And we knew what we'd signed up for.
Once checked in, set up the tent and down one hundred steps at the back of the camp for a swim.
It was fantastic...Just what the doctor ordered.
After some blogging and mapping, we ate an early dinner, finished off work on the phones and settled in for the night.
In the morning, we are catching the ferry to Dubrovnik for a look around.We will not be spending Euro 90 for the two of us to walk the old walls. I could build an old wall for less than that.
However, we will stroll the overcrowded streets with the hoards, as forty years ago, I didn't do the inside when there with my brother, and it would be wrong not to do it this time.
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