HERE BE DRAGONS

On ancient maps there appears a phrase to warn the observer that beyond this point nothing is known. “Here Be Dragons” appeared on my gps on Monday morning as I was leaving Zagreb. I tried to enter the name of a major town, and nothing showed up. I tried an address. Nothing. So I went to my paper maps, which I still keep for good reasons like this. 

The reason I had sailed off the edge of the known world was simple. I had a version of European maps created in 2008. That is a long time ago in gps history. And I knew I was out of date many times when my gps showed me crossing plowed ground, when I was using new asphalt. 

I made it down the road to Slavonski Brod and found a good room with freaky fast internet. Then I looked on my gps to see if Istanbul streets were on my current maps. Nope. Nor were Belgrade or Sofia, or anything east to Zagreb.

At this point some economic bullet biting took place. Do I pay $80 to update the maps for 10 days of travel before I go off the edge of the earth again? Or do I buy paper maps, and hope I can find the street address with the help of strangers? I bit the digital bullet. 

So now my gps has all of Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the streets for major cities. I will be able to find my hotel in Istanbul! 

Then I made another decision. This one may not be smart at all. I went to Sarajevo instead of Belgrade. I thought it would be a shame to be this close and pass it up. The problem is that to get from Sarajevo to Sofia, Bulgaria is a poor, winding road. Google maps says 7 hours. I’ll bet it takes me two days. I have found that Bosnia has a 100 km speed limit, unless it is 70km per hour. Guess which is more prevalent. Yep – 70 km/hr or a whopping 43 mph. And that is moving along without being behind a truck.

The really poor part of my decision is the weather. It just poured on me as I got about an hour outside of Sarajevo. I had checked the weather report and it said scattered showers. It was scattered enough that it soaked me. That is unusual because my gear really is water tight. This time it managed to leak through. I really need a weather break.  

Sarajevo is the first Ottoman city I have been in. There are mosques all over, and the call to prayer is announced. But at the same time the city is very much a European place with visitors from all over.