Montenegro (Sam)

Having just crossed the border in the evening I was going to to try and go on to Kotor that night but I checked the map and it was about another 50k. So I just had a beer and some food instead, a much better plan.

I had a chat with a the guy behind the bar and he said that you could catch a ferry to Kotor. I still really wanted to get there that night so I went around looking for the ferry. I forgot to ask him the important detail of where you get the ferry from, so I just cycling towards the water and hoped for the best. Unfortunately it didn’t really work out this time but I did bump into some other guys who were cycling so I stopped and had another beer with them instead (it sounds like all I am doing is just drinking beer but its not that bad).

There was an American guy called Richard who was pretty much the veteran of cycle touring, he knew every trick out there! He gave me some pretty handy advice for cycling in the desert.

1, Put a tiny pebble or bit of grit at the front of your mouth as it keeps you salivating all day. He said not to worry about swallowing the stone as it comes out the other end anyway.

2, Don’t try and stay out the sun all day. it stays hot the whole time so just get on with it.

3, Don’t drink as much water as possible during the day as you only end up sweating it out. He said to sip water all day and then drink more at night when your body will not sweat it out.

I camped with them that night on some old sun loungers, which saved putting up the tent and all the extra hassle. I wouldn’t have had the guts to camp there myself as it was really close to the road and I thought that fishermen would be there in the morning, but richard and vincent said it was alright so no problems!

Before we went to sleep we were standing around chatting about our bikes and equipment. It became fairly obvious that I know nothing about bikes or equipment. Richard had a look at my bike and had told me that I was doing my bags up all wrong. He said there was an ortleib video online which showed you how to set up the bags properly so they all tied together, which I probably should have watched before I left. My dad suggested I watch the video before I left but I told him I knew what I was doing and that it couldn’t be too difficult! But it turns out he was right about that.

We chatted about what were the best kind of foods to eat as well and I was told that you need to eat loads of proteins and stay away from sugar drinks. So my previous cycling diet of pizza, beer, bread and cheese may have to change at some point.

Richard said that it was a really good idea to drop a couple of eggs in the pan when you cook up a pasta meal, boil the eggs and save them for later. About three weeks previously Luke had been telling me that he carried boiled eggs around as a healthy snack. I told him that it was insanse to carry eggs around and that it was not acceptable to eat whole boiled eggs in public places. I guess I was wrong about that as well and it pains me to admit it!

It was great bumping into richard and vincent as they taught me alot, which would definitely come in handy. We shared some homemade spirits richard had before going to sleep. A good day!