Croatia was great. The Rocky coast and the clear blue water makes for great scenery. It was kind of cool riding on the same road I was on 9 years ago when I was bike touring. I met a bunch of other cyclists, and had a nice couch surfing host, but by the time I rolled through Dubrovnik I was ready to get back into the craziness. Everyone spoke English, the roads were well paved and easy to follow, and although it wasn't busy tourist season it was still pretty touristy. I was ready for the unknown, where people don't visit, where shit is real.
I rode up over some big mountains into Bosnia and had a nice hammock spot with the Adriatic Sea in view for the last time. Then I pretty much just blew through all the way to Montenegro. I didn't have any local currency so I just didn't stop. At the border station there was an stray dog barking, I biked by and stopped a few houndred feet further to put my passport away etc. The dog lost its shit, but then another dog apparently took notice of the first dog barking so crazy that she came out of her spot. She was older and wiser, and I beaconed her over, she approached very cautiously, and with a limp, but then as soon as I pet her she was in love. She rolled over and was loving all the love. She even let me examine her foot, which had a pretty deep cut in the pad, but nothing too bad. The other dog was her puppy and it chilled out once I was petting it's mom. I pulled a few ticks off and just enjoyed the company of the dogs for a while then biked off. The road was really remote, and beautiful.
After a while I found a roadside restaurant and had a decent meal. When I got back on my bike it was getting close to sunset so I just rode for a bit and started looking for camping spots, which there were plenty of. Not too long after, I passed by a dog on the road. It didn't bark or anything. I stopped a houndred feet past it and whistled and it ran over enthusiastically and then approached me in the most submissive and and nervous way ever. Again, as soon as I showed it some love it was in love. This one was pretty young and very healthy. No ticks. I figured it would be nice to have some company so I let it follow me to the first camping spot I found. It was genuinely the happiest dog ever. I didn't give it any food, but it was super grateful for a bowl of water. I decided not to set up my tent in fear that the dog would mess it up. There weren't any mosquitos so I just slept out on a tarp. It was a beautiful stary night and I stayed up watching Netflix. The dog curled up in the grass a few feet away from me and was quiet the whole night, despite other dogs barking in the distance.
I was already thinking it would be hard to leave the dog in the morning, it was really in love with me and it would definitely try to follow me... In the morning my sleeping bag was completely covered in dew, and much of that dew had frozen. I looked up and the dog was still there, so I dozed off again hoping that the sun would dry me off. When I woke up again the dog was gone. I was a little surprised, but also relieved that it had something else going on today and maybe wasn't as bonded as I thought it was. I started hanging up my still totally wet stuff in the sun and putting my stuff away when about 10 minutes later the dog came bounding up, and he brought his girlfriend! She had a raggedy collar with a couple feet of chain still attached to it. Jailbird! She was more cautious than him, but I could see that she was excited. When she came over she happily received about 30 seconds of petting before running off to do dog stuff.
I couldn't really mess with the collar too much because the boy dog kept trying to turn it into a cuddle puddle, but I could see that the metal links on the chain were super worn down. The girl was off sniffing stuff when I heard her bark, me and the boy dog went over to check it out and it looked like she found a ground squirrel or something in a hole. I went back to eating spoonfuls of imitation Nutella and peanut butter for breakfast, and the boy dog checked her hole out then came and sat politely while I ate. I gave him some peanut butter and whistled for the girl to come get some too, but she didn't come. I went over and upon closer inspection she wasn't sniffing a hole, she had gotten her chain stuck between some rocks and she was stuck. She looked embarrassed and she had given up. No struggling, just sitting awkwardly with her neck pulled down by her chain. The boy dog wouldn't leave us alone so I tossed him some cheese and I took out my knife and cut the leather collar. Initially she was just happy to be unstuck, but after a couple minutes she just became totally estatic, running in circles, rolling around, playing with her boyfriend etc. She probably had that chain and collar on her whole life, and I'm guessing before she broke free life was total shit. But she was still much skinnier then the boy, and that chain kept hitting her legs and dragging and making noise, and with it finally off she was just so damn happy. I gave them both some cheese and water and then I packed up and started feeling bad for getting these dogs so excited about life and their new best friend (me) only to abandon them. As I walked my bike to the road the boy dog followed my every step, tail wagging the whole way, saying, "where we going!?" The girl wasn't far either. But I had a plan, and I had a downhill for a quicker escape. I put some peanut butter in a little jar I found and walked with the dog into the bushes where the road wasn't visible. I gave it to him and walked away, and initially he left it and followed me, but after I held it for him to get a couple good licks he stayed to get the treat while I got back on my bike and booked it down the hill feeling a bit heartbroken. The girl saw me and started chasing after me, and the boy saw her running and quickly started sprinting after me too. I had gotten a decent head start, and I was going pretty fast but they followed for a while. I was slowly leaving them behind, but I could still see them running in the distance. Towards the bottom of the hill there was another dog. This one was dead, at least I think so. In the exact middle of the road still looking very cute, probably very recently hit. I didn't stop, and the next time I looked I couldn't see the other dogs. I doubt they ran past the dead one. All I could do was imagine their past and their future, and all the suffering and how I was just some crazy anomoly, a tease, a heartbreaker. They were good dogs, I hope they find some good humans.
I rode up over some big mountains into Bosnia and had a nice hammock spot with the Adriatic Sea in view for the last time. Then I pretty much just blew through all the way to Montenegro. I didn't have any local currency so I just didn't stop. At the border station there was an stray dog barking, I biked by and stopped a few houndred feet further to put my passport away etc. The dog lost its shit, but then another dog apparently took notice of the first dog barking so crazy that she came out of her spot. She was older and wiser, and I beaconed her over, she approached very cautiously, and with a limp, but then as soon as I pet her she was in love. She rolled over and was loving all the love. She even let me examine her foot, which had a pretty deep cut in the pad, but nothing too bad. The other dog was her puppy and it chilled out once I was petting it's mom. I pulled a few ticks off and just enjoyed the company of the dogs for a while then biked off. The road was really remote, and beautiful.
After a while I found a roadside restaurant and had a decent meal. When I got back on my bike it was getting close to sunset so I just rode for a bit and started looking for camping spots, which there were plenty of. Not too long after, I passed by a dog on the road. It didn't bark or anything. I stopped a houndred feet past it and whistled and it ran over enthusiastically and then approached me in the most submissive and and nervous way ever. Again, as soon as I showed it some love it was in love. This one was pretty young and very healthy. No ticks. I figured it would be nice to have some company so I let it follow me to the first camping spot I found. It was genuinely the happiest dog ever. I didn't give it any food, but it was super grateful for a bowl of water. I decided not to set up my tent in fear that the dog would mess it up. There weren't any mosquitos so I just slept out on a tarp. It was a beautiful stary night and I stayed up watching Netflix. The dog curled up in the grass a few feet away from me and was quiet the whole night, despite other dogs barking in the distance.
I was already thinking it would be hard to leave the dog in the morning, it was really in love with me and it would definitely try to follow me... In the morning my sleeping bag was completely covered in dew, and much of that dew had frozen. I looked up and the dog was still there, so I dozed off again hoping that the sun would dry me off. When I woke up again the dog was gone. I was a little surprised, but also relieved that it had something else going on today and maybe wasn't as bonded as I thought it was. I started hanging up my still totally wet stuff in the sun and putting my stuff away when about 10 minutes later the dog came bounding up, and he brought his girlfriend! She had a raggedy collar with a couple feet of chain still attached to it. Jailbird! She was more cautious than him, but I could see that she was excited. When she came over she happily received about 30 seconds of petting before running off to do dog stuff.
I couldn't really mess with the collar too much because the boy dog kept trying to turn it into a cuddle puddle, but I could see that the metal links on the chain were super worn down. The girl was off sniffing stuff when I heard her bark, me and the boy dog went over to check it out and it looked like she found a ground squirrel or something in a hole. I went back to eating spoonfuls of imitation Nutella and peanut butter for breakfast, and the boy dog checked her hole out then came and sat politely while I ate. I gave him some peanut butter and whistled for the girl to come get some too, but she didn't come. I went over and upon closer inspection she wasn't sniffing a hole, she had gotten her chain stuck between some rocks and she was stuck. She looked embarrassed and she had given up. No struggling, just sitting awkwardly with her neck pulled down by her chain. The boy dog wouldn't leave us alone so I tossed him some cheese and I took out my knife and cut the leather collar. Initially she was just happy to be unstuck, but after a couple minutes she just became totally estatic, running in circles, rolling around, playing with her boyfriend etc. She probably had that chain and collar on her whole life, and I'm guessing before she broke free life was total shit. But she was still much skinnier then the boy, and that chain kept hitting her legs and dragging and making noise, and with it finally off she was just so damn happy. I gave them both some cheese and water and then I packed up and started feeling bad for getting these dogs so excited about life and their new best friend (me) only to abandon them. As I walked my bike to the road the boy dog followed my every step, tail wagging the whole way, saying, "where we going!?" The girl wasn't far either. But I had a plan, and I had a downhill for a quicker escape. I put some peanut butter in a little jar I found and walked with the dog into the bushes where the road wasn't visible. I gave it to him and walked away, and initially he left it and followed me, but after I held it for him to get a couple good licks he stayed to get the treat while I got back on my bike and booked it down the hill feeling a bit heartbroken. The girl saw me and started chasing after me, and the boy saw her running and quickly started sprinting after me too. I had gotten a decent head start, and I was going pretty fast but they followed for a while. I was slowly leaving them behind, but I could still see them running in the distance. Towards the bottom of the hill there was another dog. This one was dead, at least I think so. In the exact middle of the road still looking very cute, probably very recently hit. I didn't stop, and the next time I looked I couldn't see the other dogs. I doubt they ran past the dead one. All I could do was imagine their past and their future, and all the suffering and how I was just some crazy anomoly, a tease, a heartbreaker. They were good dogs, I hope they find some good humans.
