Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia,Albania, Kosovo and Greece.

Well Slovenia wasn't much to write home about, so I won't. Nice enough, surprisingly mountainous but to make time we followed the autostrada, we wanted to reach the coast!
We had to show our passports for the first time at the Croatian border, then down to the first town we could see on the map, Rijeck. The diesel fumes from old buses filled the air and I assumed this town would not be pleasant. We parked the bikes at the marina, full of fish in the clear sea. The town was surprisingly modern with many cafes and a long pedestrianised high street. Geoff asked in a tourist office if an internet cafe was in town, only to find the internet is freely available anywhere along the high street! A stark contrast to the lack of availability in Italy, where we had to surrender our passports to use it. I proudly showed of to Geoff my prowess at ordering a toasted ham and cheese roll with ketchup, then wandered the town while he sat in the shade with his laptop. It was very hot as I admired the locals latest fashion of English slogan T-shirts and the unusual way they are translated. Such as 'Extremes Meet,' 'Dirty weekend' and 'Against.' One man approached me and apologised for Croatia beating England, It wasn't his fault, it's just that their footballers are good!

Then followed the A8 along the winding coast. This must be one of the best biking roads in the world! Constant sweeping curves for hundreds of Kilometres, with mountains to the left and the beautiful Adriatic to the right. A campsite is easy to find, they are everywhere along the coast, but because we were enjoying the ride, kept stopping when we found one, the deciding to ride to the next! A small site right on the seafront was nice enough, just in time for a rain shower. We tried our best to impress the owner by ordering our food in bad Croat, after reading the English translation. Fine until what we wanted wasn't available! Including 'scrumbled' eggs! Mixed grill? Ta muchly. My phone screen was damaged somehow so my old spare phone now has to be used. I'd brought a spare for Russia, just in case we get robbed, so at least I'd be giving away a duff phone now.

I had a bad stomach in the morning, but felt better after a shower with two huge hairy caterpillars and an ants nest. Luckily a builders bucket came in handy for the second time on the trip, this time to flush the toilet!
We rode a few Kilometres back to take photos of a fantastic little fishing hamlet we'd spotted on the way through. A few run down houses, one or two occupied in an idyllic calm little bay. A large carpet lay on the beach to dry and an old man fixing his fishing net while two ladies sat chatting over a coffee. So serene we both agreed it's a perfect place to live.

Back along the marvellous A8, a short look around the city of Split, a mixture of old run down shops and buildings, ugly apartments and modern fashion shops.
Through another 'stealth' toll booth on the A8 and a nice campsite on the cliffs. We pitched the tents at the foot of the cliffs by the sea, went for a swim in the cold but refreshing sea before retiring to the site restaurant, where a Dutchman recommended Albania but avoid Kosovo because of the political unrest at it's Independence from Bosnia. He introduced us to Milan, the site owner, and proud owner of an orange Zastava 750. He knows an opportunity when he sees one and a few phone calls later had arranged for us to meet a journalist friend of his back in Split, providing we stayed one more day for his infamous 'Fish Party.' Of course we had to accept!
We waited for an hour in the morning to meet Milan's daughter Maria, who arranged for us to meet the Journalist by a large metal sculpture of a yellow apple. Nobody in Split had heard of a yellow apple, so Geoff gave his phone to a lady in a bookshop who spoke to Ivana the journalist and arranged to meet us there. Ivana probably was the most beautiful girl in Croatia and we were smitten!
She led us to where the locals go for coffee and food, along narrow streets to a large Egyptian palace, built by the last Roman emperor for a summer house. She interviewed us over a coffee for the local newspaper, then to the yellow apple which had been removed, explaining why no-one knew where it was, then a photo shoot by the marina where we met the first English tourists. Unfortunately stereotypical, and shouting England is the best country in the world! But not as beautiful as Croatia, we hastily added to Ivana in our embarrassment.
A day certainly not wasted, and a shame we may never see ourselves in a Croatian newspaper.
Back in time for the 'Fish Party' already in full swing where Milan greeted us with a cup of his home brewed paint stripper and equally strong red wine, which actually was quite nice in comparison. An 11yr old girl named Antonia was busy serving drinks and anything else we wanted. She was a guest staying at the site and was extremely helpful, asking us English questions such as the difference between 'these' those' and 'they.' Difficult even for us! I tried two salty Anchovies for the first time, not being over impressed and glad of the fresh bread and good beer to soften the impact. A nice grilled Mackerel and very strong potato salad, followed by another Mackerel, then another. Not much choice really but only 3 Euros. We chatted to a German couple from Stuttgart who insisted we come to their house for Black Forest Gateaux. Apparently Geoff had another different kind of proposition by a younger German couple in the Gents, but given the choice, prefered the Gateaux option! The accordion I'd seen hanging over the bar last night was in full swing along with guitar gave us all the entertainment we could hope for.
I don't know what Milan put in the drink but it successfully gave us our best nights sleep and a head as overcast as the morning weather.
The Albanian border was manned by a few grumpy overweight guards who demanded a 'Tax' payment of 10 Euros each. We were annoyed and amused but after seeing the state of his office didn't mind as long as we got into Albania quickly as it was getting late. The first town was for want of a better description, a 'shithole.' Never have I seen so much filth, litter and squalor anywhere before. We didn't stop, choosing to head for the hills and somewhere to camp. Just before the next town a man on the worst motorbike you could imagine shouted to us as we passed, 'I love London.'
Ok mate no worries, but he caught me and insisted he buy us coffee. I politely refused but he said 'Hotel cheap,' I said 'No money.' He insisted, even offering to pay for hotel as he had worked in London and had money. Our choices we limited, so we went for a coffee in a nice modern cafe, one of many looking out of character with the surroundings. Jack the Albanian had worked as a plasterer in London for 5yrs between 1999 and 2004. He had built a large house with the money and talked us into staying with him and his family. We followed his noisy bike with me lighting the road for him. He had no lights, brakes or anything of use on his bike but it got him around!
He had a very nice house, and soon had us drinking his home brewed Raki, very strong! We met his kids, 3 boys, two of them twins and a young girl. Plates of food were soon served by his wife, beef, fish, cheese, olives and cucumber, all from his own smallholding behind the house. We chatted until late, used up all his hot water in his posh bathroom then I was even given his double bed to sleep while Geoff fitted nicely in one of the kids beds. Jack's sister also lived with them after divorcing her Italian husband. Jack envied us for living in London and earning good money. He was unemployed since returning home and had no way of getting back to London. We were also envious of his lifestyle, almost totally self supported and a 50 gallon waterbutt full of Raki in the front room!
We were humbled at his generosity. Next morning he gave us 3ltrs of Raki, then led us to the road where we could find a ferry to Kosovo, but not before he had a puncture. We had nothing to fix a tubed tyre and regretfully had to leave him, he assured us he'd be ok.

We wanted to pass through the next town of Puke just to say we'd been there but it was out of the way and we had an 11am ferry to catch. The road over the mountains was scenic but also the worst yet. Very hard on the bikes and us. We approached a huge dam and through the spooky dark tunnel alongside it to a small ferry terminal where we discovered the ferry wasn't until 3.30pm! Given the choice of a 5hr wait or the road back proves how bad the road was, as we chose to wait. It was an hour late setting off and took two hours longer than we expected but at least it was a nice ride through the mountains. Albanians seem to be unaware of litter as we watched a constant flow of bottles and beer cans being thrown into the water.

The dusty road from the ferry was even worse, leading us to a small town, again heaped in litter and small children chasing the bikes. The road soon improved and the last stretch into Kosovo was very good, reminiscent of Scotland.
The border crossing was the most pleasant yet. A very helpful policeman who spoke good English, translated for us to buy insurance, and chatted about Manchester United. He picked up a large black scorpion to show us. Suitably impressed. we jumped on the bikes and rode off into the pitch dark, only to be worried by a violent lightning storm, making us wonder if another war had kicked off!
Most of the fuel stations were closed but one that was open soon gave us a crowd of onlookers around the bikes. A helpful pump attendant fetched the garage owner who happily led us to a hotel to shelter from the storm. There was actually little rain but given the choice of a rough camp in the dark amongst the scorpions we agreed a hotel was a better option. Hotel MFI as I called it. Very superficial but pleasant enough. The jacuzzi worked well enough even if I couldn't fit in it very well. The floor was wet, the washbasin wasn't fixed to anything and the door handle came off. Apart from that, it was the Hilton compared to Albania. Two 12" pizzas and two beers in a posh cafe for 10 Euros! Kosovo has come a long way since the war, still some evidence of it such as piles of rubble where buildings used to be and one or two bullet ridden houses along the roads but a pleasant and friendly place, perfect for our budget. We did exceptionally well thanks to Jack in Albania, totally free for us except for the 'tax.'

We had to pay 50 Euros for insurance across Macedonia but at least the roads were good. So good in fact, at a toll booth I nearly offered my change as payment for another go! The motorway split around a mountain so we had two lanes for miles with little traffic. A steady 70 or 80mph along a winding road was without a doubt the best motorway on the world, probably. I remember thinking I'm too old with no flippin' reflexes to be clippin' apexes! Joy.
'Elf and safety hasn't reached this part of the world yet. A man with a red flag stood in the inside lane warning of works in the tunnel.
We stopped for Kelly's crisps and a cold drink in one of the many new fuel stations, spread across the country, to reflect on the ride before pressing on the the Greek border.
The road flattened out and became straight and boring. At the Greek border we met Jason from Northern England who now lives in Stockholm, who had recently travelled the world on a Harley he'd built himself. Top Bloke. The Bureau de Change had closed down and was empty. So, no change there then!

We headed for Thessaloniki and the coast to find a campsite. A man in a white BMW pointed the way around the busy ring road, even phoning an English speaking friend to help out.
We found a site eventually, hampered by darkness and bug splattered visors. Not realising we'd lost another hour putting us two hours ahead of GMT until we reached Epanomi and saw the church clock. At least the campsite restaurant was still open. We had a long day, around 300 miles, putting up the tents in record time and wolfing down a strange beef kebab steak stuffed with Feta cheese. Nice enough. We are staying here in Epanomi for a day to catch up on the blogs and rest. We've had a wander around the huge local market, had an expensive cappuccino, found a small internet cafe packed with excited noisy kids playing online games, and later should have the beach to ourselves!
We hope to enter Turkey tomorrow but there is some confusion as to whether we need a Carnet or not. We were told not but Jason seems to think we do. If we do then it's Bulgaria and the Ukraine around the top of the black sea. Maybe a few days longer but should be fun. We shall see.