Part 12: The Motor Takes Us to Kotor!

Departure from Dubrovnik – even the deepest love comes to an end. We left the old fortress town with one crying and one laughing eye. While being there, we owed our smiles not only to the breathtaking beauty of the scenery. Jennifer and Bernard from Düsseldorf – globetrotters whose hearts beat to the rattling of motorcycles just like ours do – are at least as responsible for this.

And so we wished them a safe journey and got on the saddles ourselves. Next stop: Montenegro!

A Picturesque Stretch of Sea

We can only describe the Mediterranean landscape along our next tour as gorgeous. Like traveling through a picture book, our BMWs flicked past the shimmering bays and green-clad hills of the Croatian coast.

In Krasovici, we finally reached the borders of the EU: one barrier passed and we were in Montenegro, one of the smallest countries in Europe. And as luck would have it, we immediately made the acquaintance of another biker there: Thomas Schnürle from Freiburg. Unlike us, he prefers to rely on muscle power rather than horsepower. At over 68 years old, that hearty cyclist plans to challenge the coastal roads of North Macedonia, Greece and Albania in order to arrive in Istanbul at the end. There he will join his wife and fly back to Germany.

Kudos to so much strength and sporting spirit!

Rolling Down to Kotor Bay (Us Boys)

The Bay of Kotor topped our coastal routes in terms of idyllic scenery. We witnessed many a yachts gliding through the water. And the bay is also a popular destination for cruise ships.

But it was on the mountain roads off the main route that we really got our money’s worth as motorcyclists. A curvy ride. However, we had to be careful, as the young, sporty car drivers liked to take their chances when overtaking. We suspected nothing bad and suddenly one of them came shooting up behind us.

Where’re You From? Where’re You Heading?

We reached Kotor around lunchtime and found a nice spot on the promenade by the harbor in front of the city wall. As we relax and unwind, we realized that our packed motorcycles were real small-talk starters: Motorcyclists from Austria and Germany greeted us in a friendly manner. Boat travelers from England stroke up a conversation. Australians asked Berthold about the stickers on his suitcase depicting Tasmania and Australia. But the most amusing encounter we had was with two French women who asked about arrests – apparently our Wunderlich motorcycle jackets reminded them of the outfits worn by French motorcycle policemen.

However, the motorcyclist highlight was our meeting with F.C. Frenzel, a passionate biker with an unmistakable machine: A real Harley-Davidson, two-cylinder. Impressive. But he also liked our machines. He even took a test ride on Berthold’s Gs and was surprised at how comfortable it was to sit on such a Wunderlich motorcycle saddle.

From a “Basar Summer” to a “Späti Winter”

Kotor is a very old town, which was settled by the Romans as early as the 3rd century BC. Surrounded by high city walls, which were restored in 1944, the town was a great sight.We still have the bazaars in the old town clearly in mind. Between the seekers and bidders, we met Michael, a real Berlin snout.His father comes from Kotor and he himself runs several stores in the old town, e.g. for leather goods.His sons now support him in other stores that are open during the vacation season. In winter, the family is back in Berlin.

If there’s one thing our trip has taught us so far: As a motorcyclist, it’s easy to come into contact with other people. The meeting with Michael was certainly one of those great encounters that stay in our memories.

But a charity tour like this doesn’t just happen on its own. It was still early and Shkodra, Albania, was waiting for us as our next destination.

Oh, we had no idea what laid before us…

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Do you want to help us make the Rhein2Ganges tour a success? Then support the action group Kinder in Not e.V. with your donations! Every amount helps.

Berthold and I want to collect at least 1 euro in donations for every kilometer ridden – in the end this would be around 50,000 euros. The money will be used by the action group Kinder in Not e.V. to set up educational opportunities that will benefit children from poor population groups in India. We look forward to your donation!

Donation account: DE40 5745 0120 0030 5199 46
BIC: MALADE51NWD
Purpose: Rhein2Ganges

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