A Blind Woman, Two Wheels and 25,000 Miles – Day 25

We got up early and I still feel unwell and cannot seem to shake off whatever is bothering me.

For now we have to focus on fixing the bike and so off we went to see the hotel staff to explain the problem and sure enough a solution came leaping at us. It seems that the hotel know a 'fixer' of things and so off Bernard went with the hotel receptionist as translator to locate some bits and pieces. Bernard was a little miffed when he came back (but very, very happy). He was miffed as the previous day - being so tired - he hadn't noticed the dismantled engines everywhere at the rear of the hotel which would have supplied the bits he needed with a bit of persuasion and a big hammer! The mechanic (or fixer) came out with a big box of bits and pieces which Bernard gratefully rummaged through it until he found some heavy duty thick washers with which to reinforce the mounting of the shock absorber. From that point onwards the problem became known as The Croatian Washer problem! All back together and packed up with a sigh of relief we moved on towards Dubrovnic.

After sweltering in Dubrovnic looking for pin badges (and even considering staying put until next day) we moved on and took the road away from the Old Port and walled city towards the border with Montenegro. About 4kms from the border we pulled into a garage for petrol and Bernard described the four Harley Davidson's parked there with denim and combat trousered bikers standing around.

As we filled up they came over and started talking to us and they turned out to be from Sweden on a 3.5 week tour of Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro (amongst other places). They were burnt from the sun and readily admitted that the temperature was somewhat different than they were used to! One of the bikes had broken down and they were waiting for a pick up to come for it and take it to be repaired. We spend some time talking about bikes and mileages and our own trip and they lined up to take pictures as we set off towards the border. Their advice was to miss out Albania as a destination towards Athens and we gratefully accepted their advice. After all, after Bernard's descriptions of them, if they were concerned about travelling through Albania then there must be something to worry about!

We arrived at the Border and sat in the queues to cross into Montenegro from Croatia. They moved slowly and eventually we arrived at the border hut to be confronted by a Guard demanding 'Documents for bike' which just happened to be locked deep within the panniers! So off I have to get while Bernard tried to retrieve documents from the bowels of the pannier while holding up the whole place! Its obvious to me there is a problem as we do not have something called a 'Green Card' (an insurance bond). The guard is getting impatient with Bernard and tells us to move off to the side and clear the border. Bernard indicates it may not happen as quickly as he wants due to the fact I cannot see. What a transformation in a person.

He instantly understood what Bernard was conveying and very gently took hold of my arm guiding me to a bench where I could sit while the bike was moved. He then went back to his hut and started shouting at everybody in sight!

At this point we went up several flights of stairs and into an office where another person filled out the relevant documents for us and we paid the 10 Euro levy to be let into Montenegro. Once we had this document we could retrieve our passports from the border guards - who had taken them when we first arrived.

Driving through the border we couldn't help but talk about the impact that blindness has on even the toughest looking person. They seem to understand and go out of their way to assist in any way they can. It is an amazing experience to go through. I suppose it is even more amazing for Bernard as he can see these people in their uniforms and holding their guns and - he says - looking very intimidating.

The ride from the border was short and soon a hotel / guest house appeared where a room was acquired for the night complete with the biggest rack of lamb ever seen on the planet. We feel into bed and gratefully went to sleep after an event filled day only to be woken by wild dogs barking through most of the night!