Dubrovnik has impressive town walls. Mostly used to keep out the Venetians.

Game of Thrones filmed Kings Landing and Qarth here.

We went sea kayaking with around 3,463 other people. All trying to stop at the same tiny beach where hundreds of people were swimming. Sue had to jump out of the kayak to stop us running over some teenagers.

Today was tough in the brutal heat - but excellent. We started with a \240long climb which was hard in the heat - and were rewarded with lovely views on the way down.

I was expecting the border crossing to leave Croatia be bigger. It wasn’t anything more than a toll booth. Nowhere to have a rest and Coke and crisps.

Then we had to cycle 1km through no man’s land to Montenegro. Where we couldn’t stop either. So had to keep going in the heat, and I was seriously flagging.

Eventually we got to the lovely seaside town of Herceg Novi for lunch.

The afternoon was hard as we were on a very busy main road with no hard shoulder.

Kotor is an enchanting medieval town. I like it even more than Dubrovnik. Twisty turny narrow streets

It is so hot here the sun umbrellas in the cafe’s spray water on the guests.

The town walls are insane. I’ve never seen anything like it. They go up a steep mountain.

Look closely to see the walls in this photo. They blend in with the mountain

But the final hill was too much for us. We’d planned to walk it, but didn’t realise in this heat we couldn’t even walk.

When we finally made it to our hotel we walked straight into a cold shower - with all our cycling clothes on.

Budva is another pretty medieval walled town.

From Bar we cycled 5km uphill - but it was the start of the day and it wasn’t too steep so we managed it easily. The rest of the day was lovely, flat or downhill, and very rural.

There are lots of water fountains along the road where we stopped to fill up our bottles and drench ourselves - which really helped.

It feels like Croatia is the west and Montenegro is the East. In Croatia all the churches are Catholic and the alphabet is Roman. In Montenegro the churches are Orthadox and the alphabet is Cyrillic and there are lots of Turkish tourists.

But past Bar it is all mosques not churches. A mosque in every tiny village.

We crossed into Albania today (which is also Muslim, but uses the Roman alphabet not the Cyrillic).

We’re staying in a lovely spa hotel. Not sure why but the restaurant was playing folk music loudly at 2:30am

It was a long, hot drive. So many cars on the road. We did like the haystacks though.

The ugly bunkers that paranoid Hoxha created are everywhere.

It is so hot that even Sue has sworn off the drink. She hasn’t touched a drop since Dubrovnik.

Elbasan is slightly nicer than Tirana, but I still can’t recommend it.

There were lots of older men enthusiastically playing domino’s (on the chess boards)

Lake Ohrid is gorgeous, but I’m too sick to enjoy it.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwZnP6esA8G/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

But I managed to get in a bit of sight seeing in Ohrid. Saint Sofia in Ohrid is a very significant church. I read it is the only church in the world that has both Catholic and Eastern Orthodox frescos. The schism between the 2 branches happened in 1045AD and this church is somehow involved, but I’m not sure how.

St Clements of Ohrid invented the Cyrillic alphabet, based on the Glagolitic alphabet. He is also depicted in the church.

There is a small but well preserved Roman amphitheatre.

And lots of churches

And old buildings

Sue’s cycle went well. She’s doing amazing. It was another hilly day for her.

Jenny is inspirational. She’s 72 and much faster up hills than us.

It is so hot here that some of the graves have a roof over them (like a car port) \240to protect them from the sun.

A link to a video Julie made of todays ride: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwdcfYysrvD/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cwfw8pwsOM7/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

At the summit there was a place to stop. We bought peaches from a roadside stall.

This sign says don’t litter as it encourages wild boars.

Once we were over the summit the views were sensational.

We’re staying in a B and B and the owner cooked us a lavish meal, which was lovely. But the best part was actually the conversation.

Caroline (aged 59) was telling us how when she was 18 and blonde and pretty she cycled the Karakoram Highway (Pakistan). It was incredibly dangerous, bandits almost kidnapped her and her sister, and they ran out of things to barter. Money wasn’t used there….

Then Julie told us about her trip round Ethiopia.

Nick told us about driving round Cuba.

And Jenny (aged 72) told us how she drove her classic Austin Healey from Panama to Alaska.

I don’t think there is anywhere in the world, between us, we haven’t been.

Here is a link to a short video Julie made of todays ride: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cwiaew8siUY/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Then in the afternoon we had a fun easy ride downhill, by a river, to Gotse Delchev.

Every few hundred metres there are roadside shrines. I think they’re in memory of people. They contain photos - and often a bottle of water. \240

Unlike the rest of Europe, there aren’t churches or mosques in every hamlet. Instead the churches are much grander affairs.

We had lunch in Drama, which had a beautiful church. But I can’t find a picture of it when I google ‘Drama Orthodox Church’ 😀

Service in restaurants now western - there were some restaurants in Bulgaria where the waiter was very annoyed at having to serve us.

Tonight we’re staying by theamazing Archeological Site of Philippi, which is the ruins of the city of Philippi, the most important city in East Macedonia.

It was named after King Phillip II of Macedonia. He was an important king, who unified all of Greece but he was overshadowed by his son - Alexander the Great.

It is the site of the first church in Europe.

Julie’s video of the day: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cwpx-ihsqkp/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Then, feeling like we were in Mama Mia, caught a ferry to Thassos Island

Where we biked 10 miles round the coast to Thasos town.

It’s a lovely holiday island, lots of happy tourists here.

Link to Julie’s video of the day: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwrRD7roDSH/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Julie’s video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cwsq_jbMD6Q/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Julie’s video of the day: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwvWYjIMkKq/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

It took us an hour and a half to get through the border. The van had to be X-Rayed, and Caroline had to buy a visa. Everything closed for lunch and then again for call to prayer.

We had a brief lunch in Ipsala and got a transfer to Cannakale. We caught a ferry across the Dardanelles. We have now left Europe and entered Asia!

Julie’s video of the day: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cwx6twesyv0/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

The 1915 bridge across the Bosporous.

When we arrived at Gelibolu, when Sue finally allowed herself a drink. She hasn’t had a drink in 18 days!

We were driven the final stretch into Istanbul

The adventure is now over. The cycling has been hard and the weather has been insanely hot. I’m never coming back to Europe in Summer 😀

Highlights were: Istanbul, archeological site of Philippe, Kotor, Ohrid and Budva.

But absolutely the best thing about the trip were the other cyclists on the trip. The 8 others were all amazing people and incredible cyclists.

Todays video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cw27ZgoMbf3/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==