Na tem delu se nama je zgodilo nekaj, kar nama bo za vedno ostalo v spominu.
Pridno sva vrtela pedale in pred sabo sem zagledal še en tak zaliv, globoko pod cesto. Azra je za mano zaostajala kako minuto. Bila sva na eni strani zaliva in sva se ravno spuščala v notranjost ovinka, ko sem na drugi strani zaliva zaslišal silovito zaviranje avtomobila. Voznik, ki je vozil v nama nasprotni smeri je prehitro pridrvel v ovinek in izgubil kontrolo nad svojim vozilom. Med ustavljanjem je s prednjo, desno lučjo udaril ob zid na desni strani ceste, se obrnil za 180 stopinj in pristal na nasprotnem pasu (po pasu, po katerem sva se iz nasprotne smeri približevala midva), mogoče nekaj metrov od prepada.
Če bi se v tistem trenutku pripeljal kdo naproti, bi se zagotovo zgodila huda prometna nesreča. Ne bi dvakrat rekel, da bi naproti vozeče vozilo ne zletelo v globok prepad. Cesta je bila na tem delu prekleto nevarna, nepregledna, nezaščitena z ograjo.
Prešinila me je grozna misel: kaj pa če se z Azro nekaj minut pred tem nebi ustavila in šla na WC? Najbrž bi bila midva ravno takrat nekje na mestu, kjer je voznik izgubil kontrolo nad vozilom in zapeljal na najin pas! Razdalja od koder sem »srečno« nesrečo opazoval se je ujemala. Spreletel me je srh, ko sem pomislil, kako zlahka bi naju avto zbil v prepad. To pa zato, ker ga midva zaradi nepreglednega ovinka, od koder je voznik prihajal, nikakor nebi mogla videti.
Kakšno srečo sva imela, da je Azra morala ravno takrat na WC. Kar nekaj časa je govorila, da se bo ustavila. Namreč jaz sem hotel hitreje uloviti nekaj kilometrov in se še nisem želel ustaviti. Vendar Azra, moj angel varuh, je pač morala iti na WC. In kakšna sreča! Nasproti temu nevestnemu vozniku ni pripeljalo popolnoma nobeno vozilo! Cesta je bila popolnoma prazna tisti trenutek! Kaj če bi se midva kar peljala dalje, namesto da sva se ustavila in šla odtočit?
Spodnjo fotografijo sem posnel, ko sva bila že mimo kraja nesreče. Na njej se lepo vidi voznik, ki skuša poklesati zvito pločevino, na levi strani fotografije pa sta lepo vidna cesta in smer s katere sva pripeljala z Azro, ter zelo slaba zaščita pred prepadom. Ravno del ceste, kjer se je vse zgodilo je nezaščiten.
Voznik je po tem, ko je končno obstal na nasprotnem pasu svoj avto zapeljal s ceste na pesek, tik ob prepadu, da se je lahko zbral in ocenil škodo. In veste, kaj je bila pri vsem tem največja ironija? Nosil je črno majico neke metal glasbene skupine, na njej pa seveda nič drugega kot okostnjaki s kitarami, nad njimi pa napis »Dead man« (Mrtev človek).
Srečna, da sva ostala živa in zdrava, sva se odpeljala dalje in poskušala pozabiti na dogodek ter uživati v razgledu. In res sva uživala. Pot od Splita proti Dubrovniku je res veličastna. Z besedami je težko opisati vso to lepoto. Edino kak poet bi lahko spravil skupaj prave besede, ki bi orisale te lepote. Mogoče je fotografija še najboljša v tem primeru. Hrvati so lahko res srečni, ker imajo v rokah tak zaklad. Le odlaganje odpadkov v naravi bi morali strožje kaznovati.
Nekatere fotografije sem si izsposodil iz čudovite zbirke fotografij na www.panoramio.com/. Žal ima najin sicer dober, vendar amaterski fotoaparat IXUS 65 svoje omejitve.
Peljala sva se mimo čudovitih Bačinskih jezer, proti hrvaško-bosanski meji.
V Pločah sva nakupila nekaj hrane in pri domačinih zaprosila za vodo. Dobila pa nisva le vode, temveč vrečo polno mandarin. Res so bili prijazni tej ljudje. Sedeli so pred svojo hišo in cela družina se je zbrala, ter naju spraševala, od kod sva, kam greva, pa kje bova spala in tako naprej. Po prijetnem klepetu smo se poslovili in z Azro sva kmalu drvela čez reko Neretvo in pa vzdolž nje.
Sonce se je počasi spuščalo, tema pa je bila še toliko bližje, saj so se oblaki pridno kopičili in napovedovali še eno deževno noč.
Dolga je asfaltna ravnina, ki spremlja Neretvo, ob njej pa ena poleg druge stojnice sadja in zelenjave. Iz obeh strani sva občudovala poljane njiv in vrtov, kjer so domačini pridelovali svoje blago in ga potem na svojih stojnicah skušali prodati mimoidočim. Prevladovale so mandarine.
Začenjalo se je temniti in iskala sva mesto za kampiranje. Dolgo časa je minilo preden sva ga končno našla. Teren poleg Neretve je bil precej neprimeren za naju, saj je bil močvirnat in zaraščen. Bog ve, kakšne živali se pasejo v tistih močvirjih. To je bilo območje tik pred izlivom Neretve, njena delta. Sicer čudovito območje, ki kar vabi fotografa, vendar sva midva sedaj tekmovala s časom.
Takole ta predel izgleda spomladi.
Ujel naju je mrak in pot se je začenjala vzpenjati. Kazalo je, kot da še veliko časa ne bova dobila mesta za tabor in bila sva tudi že precej utrujena. Namreč tu sva naredila skoraj osemdeset kilometrov, kar je bil ponoven rekord. Ravno, ko so me začeli načenjati živci, sva pred dolgo vzpetino našla stransko pot, ki je se je strmo spuščala navzdol, v velik nasad oljk.
Nisva veliko razmišljala. Kljub temu, da sva vedela, da bo ponoči padal dež in da bo ilovnata zemlja popolnoma razmočena, sva se utaborila, pojedla in utrujena hitro zaspala.
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6.10.2007, DAY 12 - Exciting day and fortune in misfortune
We were cycling around plains, ascents, descents that were accompanied by great views on the right side. The road went forward and than followed the bay in a long right turn. The road was going high above the bay and we could see a huge cliff on the right. Something happened in this part that we will remember for a long time.
We were going forward and saw a similar bay under the road. Azra was a bit more behind me. We were on one side of the bay and we were just descending inside the turn when I heard a frantic braking of a car. The driver that was driving in the opposite direction was rushing to the turn and lost control over his car. While trying to stop he hit his right side light to a wall, turned for 180 degrees and stopped on the opposite side of the road, a few meters from the cliff.
If some other car would happen to be there, there would be a big car accident. The other car would definitely fall to into the deep. The road on that part was dangerous, extensive and unprotected.
I had a horrible thought: what if me and Azra would not stop a few minutes earlier and go to the toilet? We would probably be on the spot where the driver lost control over his car and finished on our lane. I got the creeps all over me when I taught that the car would run us over easily to the cliff. And that would be because we would not be able to see him because of the blind corner. We were lucky we had to go to the the toilet. Before all that Azra was saying to me for some time that she will stop, but I wanted to go faster and do more kilometers and not stop. But Azra, my angel guardian luckily went to the toilet.
Luckily, there were no cars driving in the direction of the irresponsible driver. The road was empty.
I took the photo hen we passed the accident site.You can see the driver trying to fix the metal and on the left side you can see the road and the direction where Azra and I cycled and also you can see a very bad road protection on the side of the cliff. Particularly the part where it all happened was unprotected.
When the driver finally stopped he pulled his car on the opposite waistline on the sandy part next to the cliff so he could check the damage. And the irony in all this was that he was wearing a black T-shirt of some metal band and there were bones with guitars on in together with a sign “DEAD MAN”.
Lucky that we stayed alive, we went forward, trying to forget what happened and enjoyed the view. And we certainly did enjoy. The view along the road beetween Split to Dubrovnik was spectacular. It is hard to explain all that beauty with words. Maybe a poet would find the right words. But the photo is the best in this case. The Croatians should feel lucky to have such a treasure and they should have a better punishment system for those leaving trash all around.
I took several photos from the collection on www.panoramio.com/. Even though our camera IXUS 65 is very good it has its limits.
We cycled pass the beautiful "Bačinska" lakes toward the Croatian-Bosnian border.
We bought some food and asked the locals for some water in Ploče. Besides water we received a bag full of tangerines. The people were really nice. The whole family was sitting in front of their house, asking us questions like where are we from, where are we going and so on. After a nice chat Azra and I said goodbye and headed toward and pass the river Neretva.
The sun was slowly going down, the dark was coming and the clouds predicted another rainy night.
The road following the river Neretva was long and next to it there were a lot of stands with fruits and vegetables. We admired plains of fields and gardens on both sides of the road where locals were producing their goods and tried to sell them to people passing by. They mostly had tangerines.
It was getting dark and we started to look for a camping place. It took a long time to find it. The land beside Neretva was fairly inappropriate for us, because it was swampy and overgrown. God knows what kind of animals where in and around that swamp.
It was the area next to the delta of Neretva river. The area is great for taking photos but we were racing with time.
We were caught by the dark and the road started going uphill. It looked like we were not going to find a camping place for a long time and we were really tired.
We almost did 80 kilometers which was a record for us. Just when my nerves started to explode, we found a side-way next to a long elevation that went down to a plantation of olive trees.
We did not think much. Even though it was going to rain trough the night and that the land there was going to be completely soaked in the morning, we made a camp, ate and went to sleep very tired.
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