<title>Day 32: Cycling from Berlin to Athens

Day 32

Mostar > Ciro Cycling Trail > Ravno

91.1km

5 hours 32 mins

1,364m elevation gain

It started out as a fantastic day of cycling, we have been planning for a while now to take the Ciro Cycling Trail which is described as an 'open-air museum,' linking Mostar and Dubrovnik along the old railway route. For the first 40km it was a lovely ride, with very clear signposts to show us the way. We were cycling between the river Neretva and the new railway tracks for most of the time and we also saw a lot of the old railway such as old stations and bridges.

Station Gabela, the starting point for narrow gauge railways

The river Neretva by our side

Railway Bridge Krupa - "Cross at your own risk!"

The ascent begins

However, after the first section of the trail, we had to ascend a mountain, at every turn the road just kept going higher and higher and the sun was blazing down on us. We also hadn't really been expecting it as articles about the route hadn't mentioned it. We persevered and at the eventual summit we found a little village and one guy serving drinks, thank goodness. We ate our picnic lunch at his cafe as well, with some chickens nearby. After lunch the route was flat and became a bit shaded, so we reached 90km and the Hotel Stanica Ravno which is a converted railway station and it's beautiful. Great views of the mountains and they have their own wine cellar with local wines, which we enjoyed.

The view of the lake from near the top

Colourful shrubbery along the trail at the top of the mountain

Hotel Stanica Ravno, another old station, this time converted

The dinner terrace at Hotel Stanica Ravno

Sights of note:

A Hungarian man travelling on foot, pulling along a trailer which I assume he sleeps in along the way, we had a quick chat with him
A tiny turtle on the road in front of me, I just missed him (Shanky missed him too)
Another abandoned car in a bush
A cactus
Loads of plantations of this strange fruit, see photo below