TET Croatia 2021

October 15th — 18th

By Watracz Is Traveling

August 16^th, 2022

After more than 18 months of ceaseless work without time off, which was partially caused by the pandemic, and partially by working for a dynamically growing IT startup — which never really provided a good moment to take a vacation — I finally decided I’ve had enough and I quit my job. The only thing I wanted was to use up all of my remaining vacation days, grow a beard, and take my motorbike to get lost somewhere in the Balkans. To forget about the existence of laptops, deadlines, meetings, tickets, and calls. To come back only when I grow tired of motorbike touring, or when I run out of either money or days off. I’d bet on the latter, since I’m starting at a new job in 3 weeks.

Because the decision to go was a spontaneous one, I didn’t really have much time to plan the route. I wanted to go to the Balkans by following the TET route (you can read more about TET here), but I saw on Facebook that the higher parts of the mountains had snowfall. Besides, my Suzuki doesn’t really thrive on technically difficult routes. It’s a heavy bike, with low ground clearance, so it’s easy to get stuck in the dirt or on rocks.

Despite all that, I decided to go, hoping that the weather would improve and I won’t get thrown into a snowdrift in the middle of a forest. And even should that happen, it would make for a great story later on. I downloaded the latest versions of the TET route; my friend Griba of https://www.motostforky.pl/ I shared the trail of the Croatia trip he rode in August, and from my friend Marcin I got the trail through Balkans and a list of points of interest on the way. My plan was Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, then Montenegro. I started with Croatia.

Below you can see the map of the whole trip. You can also view it on Google Maps.

Day 1: Krakow → Croatia

October 15th, 2021

Wakeup at 4:30 am; chicken tortilla for breakfast. I leave Krakow at 6. It’s only 3°C on the thermometer, so under my thick Gore-Tex motorcycle jacket, I’m also wearing a puffer jacket. I pass Katowice, get to Czechia, then Austria. I buy a vignette at the border, and I’m in Vienna around 11:30. It’s much warmer than Krakow, around 15°C. I then reach Slovenia, and around 5 pm I’m in Croatia. As I crossed all those borders, no one asked me about an ID or a COVID test. And I did drive to the Balice airport the day before, specifically to get an antigen test done.

In Karlovac I leave the highway and ride to the town of Duga Resa. On the way, at the Camp Slapić campsite, I pass a restaurant with Rooms Brig accommodation. The price is 185 HRK for the night (breakfast not included), so I stay the night — I won’t have to put up my tent this time. In the evening, I take a hot shower and cap off the day with a cold Karlovačko beer. I missed that.

Day 2: TET Croatia, Korenica

October 16th, 2021

It was below zero at night. The bike’s seat and cases are covered with frost. Good thing I didn’t sleep in the tent. After breakfast, I return the room keys and around 8 am I set off, looking for a gas station. I fill up in Josipdol and head south towards Brinje, where the ruins of Sokolac Castle are located.

Sokolac Castle

It’s a nice enough castle, but it doesn’t seem to get a lot of tourist traffic. There’s only one person other than myself here.

Following the TET

In Brinje, I start on the TET trail. It’s pretty easy at first, your typical gravel forest road, with some mud from time to time or a steep climb on a rocky slope. On occasion I hear rocks bouncing off the bottom engine cover. In one spot, there’s more mud and I sink a bit. I take the tank bag and the bag with my tent and sleeping bag off the bike and manage to push it out of the sticky mud. Good thing I didn’t sink any deeper, or it could be a long time to wait for someone to pass by and give me a hand.

On the way, I pass a number of signs warning against mines.

The trail goes mostly through forests, so there aren’t that many sights and I don’t stop over very often.

I reach the town of Vrhovine, turn west towards Otočac, and look for the next gas station. I fill up the bike and return to the TET. In the forest, I come across 3 bikers going the other way. Then I see two KTM 1090 Adventure bikes, and that’s it as far as motorcycles go, at least outside of tarmac roads. The TET fan page has almost 80K followers, so I was expecting to see more riders here.

It gets cold in the evening, so instead of looking for a campsite, I look for some accommodation on Google Maps. Unfortunately, a lot of places are already closed because it’s past high season. It’s only after two hours of searching, in the 7th place I check, that I get a free room. I spend the night in Korenica, near the Plitvice Lakes. The price for the night is 200 HRK (breakfast not included).

Day 3: TET Croatia, Knin

October 17th, 2021

In the morning, I adjust and lubricate the motorbike’s chain. I eat a sausage sandwich for breakfast, with a few slices of cheese and a can of herring fillets in tomato sauce that I brought from Poland. As I leave, a couple of minutes before 9 am, the thermometer shows 2°C.

The first portion of the route today takes me through a forest quite high in the mountains. There’s some snow by the side of the road, but the road itself is passable — fortunately.

Lunch break. Sandwiches, tea, a Knoppers bar, and some fudges I got in Krakow.

It starts to get hot around noon. The next section of the route takes me through open spaces, and it’s more technically demanding. The climbs and downhills are steep, and there’s a lot of stones on the road, but I manage to make it without falling.

I get to a railroad crossing, and when I try to record a video with my phone, I realize I had lost the mount for attaching the phone to the tripod. It must’ve gotten loose and fallen out on one of the bumps. Luckily, zip ties come to the rescue! I use them to attach the phone to the tripod.

It’s around 4 pm when I reach a part of the route that follows a train track. The view is nice so I set up the tripod to record a video of myself on the bike. As I turn around, I lose my balance and the bike falls to the right. I can check off my first fall; good thing it wasn’t at a high speed.

The sun sets at 5 pm already. I reach a place where you can see a railroad bridge, and the Dinaric Alps in the background, on the border of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Knin

I arrive in Knin, fill up the bike and look for a place to sleep, this time using the Booking.com app. I hit the bullseye on the first try — the first bed and breakfast I check has an available room (Slatki Snovi, 200 HRK for the night + 40 HRK for breakfast). The owner also serves me a welcome beer. I unpack, ride to do some shopping at the supermarket and the nearby bakery, go through my photos, and hit the hay.

Day 4: Knin, TET Bosnia and Herzegovina

October 18th, 2021

The breakfast I’m served includes scrambled eggs with bacon, sandwiches with nutella, jam, honey, and cheese, cucumbers, and orange juice. All inclusive. I leave about 8:30 am, and arrive at the Bosnian border around 9.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

At the border crossing, they check my passport, the papers for the bike, and ask me for a COVID Pass, which I don’t have… So I show my antigen test done 4 days earlier in Krakow and pretend I don’t really understand much English. The border officer checks the document thoroughly and decides the date doesn’t check out, so they can’t let me in. To each of their questions, I answer “I don’t understand” and “negative” and I point to the place in the test where it says I don’t have COVID. The officers keep shaking their heads, but they let me through in the end. I just don’t know on what principle exactly, perhaps as transit? In case of any control, I’m supposed to say I’m on my way to Poland, and no other country.

My plan for the next few days is to follow the TET through Bosnia and Herzegovina. The route is 610 km long, and from what I’ve read it’s much more of a challenge than the Croatian leg of the TET. It’s going to be interesting!