Penguins Bike

Day 36 - Bat Exposure Therapy - Dračevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina to Ravno, Bosnia & Hercegovina

David

July 26, 2026 - biked 47 km (29 mi) - biked 1447 km (899 mi) total

Today we did the exciting part of the Ćiro Trail! Hercegovina is definitely a different vibe from the rest of the trip; much more remote and abandoned feeling. We spent the morning figuring out where we could get any potable water on a Sunday. Stores are closed and there are no more public taps like there were earlier on the trip. We knocked on the house next to a closed store and a confused woman let us fill up our water on the side of her house.

The old rail grade is now just rough gravel, but it travels through very beautiful terrain and has tunnels and bridges. Gravel is a harsh sword; no cars but so bumpy. Thankfully this was at least not steep either, as it used to be a train. This was a long enough day, though that I have promised Sarah no more gravel the rest of the trip.

It's a little sad all the towns we passed through that used to have stations. The rail line closed in 1975. I stopped to look at a weird truck and this guy came out to chat with me. His name was Milanko and he was 71 and he said he was born here and when he was a kid the train was still in service. All these towns had people working on things related to the train. There used to be 700 kids in the school in town. And now it's just two retirees. He said he worked as a machinist in Sweden for 30 years, then moved back to retire. I hope one day to feel the draw so strong to a place that you would return to it in quiet decline, but I don't know how to have such strong feelings about place. It is the sort of thing that culture tells us is honorable, but I'm still working on understanding.

He says a few bicyclists each day ride by. That's probably small consolation compared to a full train of yesteryear. I hope some more folks get to chat him up, though.

Not sure what else used to be in this direction.
Thus far Hercegovina has not been a land of water. Nor markets. A woman let us use a tap on the side of her house. Unclear if she liked the experience. She wouldn’t accept any money but we gave her an animal riding a bike. She can give it to her favorite grandchild.
Beginning of the gravel section of the Ćiro Trail! Today we discovered deflating our tires slightly. Very cush.
The countryside and thumb is beautiful.
It turns out there are 10 tunnels on this trail! It also turns out Sarah is terrified of bats! We have to bike under the bats hanging on the top of each tunnel.
I snuck back on foot to photograph some bats. They huddle in clumps on the ceiling.
This is the second huge spider that has attached itself to my bike.
Sarah took deep breaths and turned on her headlamp before clutching the handlebars and pedaling for her life.
Sarah survives more bats.
We said we were going to eat lunch after the longest tunnel so we wouldn't be stressing out about all the bats still ahead, but then we were hungry and forgot about bats for a while.
One big bridge on the trail. This one was designed by Gustav Eiffel! The second bridge of his we have seen on this trip!
The bridge is terrifying with loose planks.
Abandoned station that Sarah helped demolish by removing two bricks.
Abandoned car by abandoned train station.
Really did not expect to find anyone else on the trail, least of all two minivans from Poland.
The old railroad was really narrow gauge.
The only tap we found on the route was at this cemetery and it tasted horrible so we did not drink it. Apparently it is custom to wash your hands after leaving a graveyard which is why this tap is here.
Sarah finally got an action shot of me.
Sarah rightfully demands we take paved roads for the second half. Just not this motorway. The rest of the trail had been paved into a local road.
This is the machine that got me talking to Milanko.
This valley near Trnčina is gorgeous. Might be my favorite views on the trip.
Velja Meða. Damn this valley is gorgeous. The graveyard here has the best view.
Also possibly the most dangerous part of the trip? We did not leave the trail due to the possibility of remaining land mines. Although the terrain here was incredibly steep, and you would have a hard time exploring.
A beautiful quiet paved road on this valley for a whole afternoon.
Cars are gone. Sun is gone. Hair is free.
Made it.
Here's our hotel! It was a train station on the Čiro trail.
View from the window. The mountains are getting epic.
This was a huge good meal at the Ravno Station. We ate every last morsel, including a whole slice of raw red onion.