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You’re listening to an Englishman in the Balkans welcome to an Englishman in the Balkans the podcast that takes you on a captivating Journey Into the Heart of Bosnia and herzo and The Wider Western Balkans each episode we delve into the rich history vibrant culture and hidden gems of this beautiful country through
Engaging conversations and personal anecdotes we aim to bridge the gap between the Balkans and the rest of the world so sit back relax and get ready to be inspired entertained and connected thanks for listening to our podcast if you would like to support us and the production of future episodes then
Please consider maybe giving us a tip or becoming a member of our podcast family the link to do that is in the show notes for this podcast thanks again for listening we really do appreciate It this is the bul Adventures podcast everyday life and experiences in the western Balkans hello and welcome to another Bulan Adventures podcast with me David on this episode I talk to yella who is from Belgium and now lives in Kitz in Northern herzo yela is a mountain biker
And over the past 8 years or so has been exploring the extreme but beautiful rural mountains and valleys around his new HomeTown on a recent vlogging trip to Black eyy I caught up with him to find out more about him and his mountain biking so how did he end up living in
Bosnia and herzo this is the Balan Adventures podcast it’s a long story it started uh as a a volunteer for a Youth Organization it involved afterwards in a Arian work and somehow uh some kind of microb bit me and I needed to come back and back all
All all over again and more and more at the end I just decided to give up my job and to go to live to Bosnia Western Balan lifestyle is certainly different from that in northern Europe so how difficult has it been to adjust I was lucky to spend maybe seven years in
Bosnia as a as a frequent exper so I I got the opportunity to get back to Belgium to consider the situation to learn more about the country so it was more like to move to to France or Italy for me because I had already a lot of experience and I
Had good friends in magai who who warned me about uh a lot of situations and who explained me more about uh difficulties maybe I I would uh I would encounter so at the end it it it was even worse than they said but okay I somehow managed this is the Boran
Adventures podcast with me David Bailey and I’m talking to yell a Belgian living in Bosnian herzo now being an expat always has its challenges one of the most uh beautiful parts of the country is the people but that’s actually the hardest part also for me uh because uh I
I’m I have to work with the people also on a professional base and um it takes a while to to get people to trust you and for you to trust them to have some kind of a relationship with them in this episode of the podcast I’m talking with yela a
Mountain biker from Belgium so what made him take up mountain biking and how does he plan his tours I wasn’t a mountain biker before I had some uh Sports Experience maybe with running a little bit before and then um the thing is Bosnia has an amaz amazing nature and I have been
Hiking with uh friends from kits into the surrounding mountains uh but you always need some way of transportation to get there and to to have a hike you you to get really somewhere you need a lot of time and um I had an operation in 2014 need to start
With sports again the doctor said it wouldn’t he wouldn’t advise me to to start running and um biking was a perfect Sports to explore the mountains on a on a very easy way they are close by but uh with the bike you can you can get
Everywhere and to reach high peaks to to get to the the most beautiful parts of of Bosnia somehow which would be impossible to to do buy food all the time and I can combine it with work because I’m a little bit time limited this is the Bulan Adventures Podcast I was a poor man but now I’ll never know during insurgence my eyes been worthless and now I’ll Never See O this is the Bulan Adventures podcast riding for hours at a time in the remote areas around conit must be lonely so how does he cope with that I have never actually I’m driving a lot of time alone but you meet people there’s people uh
Hiking I have one guy who met who whom I met uh in moster uh while climbing to uh the one Peak on the Val mountain and decide to go together and uh since we are uh riding some tours together also so it’s a nice way to meet new people
Also on this episode of the podcast I’m talking to yella about mountain biking in the Balkans what have been the reactions to images he posts of his mountain bike tours on his social media depends if it’s one stranger maybe from from the from the Western from the
European Union or or whatever they are amazed about about the views the the tours the the nature of Bosnia and and the achievements people from Bosnia sometimes are skeptically they think not about the biking actually they like it a lot too and and they are amazed as
Well but it’s difficult for them to believe that the Belgium is really willing to live in in Bosnia they they want to go out I want to go in there’s recently been an addition to his content Creation with the addition of a GoPro camera well I’ve been thinking thinking
About it and I think it will uh bring my goals even on a on a bigger level now I have to get some good footage so I won’t uh be able to please myself with a with a rather easy tour then so I will definitely try to find some uh better
Locations better tracks higher Peaks in this episode of the podcast I’m finding out about mountain biking in Bosnian herzo from yella a Belgian who now lives in Kitz recently The disused Narrow Gauge Railway line from chapl has been opened to mountain bikers yes it’s uh
We’re in BL guy now so it’s locate maybe half an hour from this place it’s uh Bosnia is uh promoting it uh right now as a tourist attraction for people who are interesting in uh in uh exploring the country by bike so I can really recommend it it’s
A it’s a nice ride it’s not too hard uh everybody can do it people who are traveling from Croatia to Bosnia can use this uh this tour not to to be able to avoid some uh traffic it starts in chapina in some Village near chapina and uh you can I drove to some
Point where where the where there’s an old station um you have a view on the hood of BL uh Lakes uh but I I think you can even continue to doik if you want so what’s yellow’s next goal I’m not setting goals for whole year but I try at least once a
Week to have uh one good tour and uh in between some training tours uh the next plans are PR again the mountain then L Village I’m thinking very soon to go on prosco Lake from fit town then I need to explore Northern of Bosnia I already have been
In contact with people from uh the town of zavid to explore um a Nature Park uh over there so yeah there’s a lot to explore this year Bosnia and herzo is still a Hidden Gem for extreme sports and for mountain bikers in particular they should get here pretty quick and I
Think they will never go anywhere else anymore because it’s really it’s even too much the there’s too much to explore and it’s one place is more beautiful than the other and every time you go somewhere new it’s even better it’s always it always gets better so
That’s almost the end of this episode of the podcast thanks for letting me join you and it would be cool if you could subscribe to the podcast so you’ll never miss a new upload so until next time I’ll leave yela to finish this Edition with his one thought about beautiful
Bosnia and herzo I usually when when I have to do this when I get the question I don’t know what to say because uh and I don’t have the the answer really it’s too much it’s nature is too beautiful it’s really too beautiful you can’t imagine this exists
In Europe then the people of course although there’s a difference between meeting people as a tourist it they will be very friendly it’s it’s an open culture it’s a it’s people who have been here they can they can approve it it’s really uh hospitality is uh is
Tremendous then uh in my case something has bitten me and there’s a whole history related to it so it’s sometimes it’s strange to answer but something there’s something good in in this place and it made me return all the time so I’m sure tourists will have the same
Feeling about it and they have because last year there were people from Belgium and they had some they had the same feeling the same problem they had about entering really this question what has been so amazing about it but it’s way too much to uh to put on a A4 paper sheet it’s
Impossible just look around in this place we’re in in a normal house the mountains is everywhere around the weather is fine to find out more about us and where we live why not check out our blog at an Englishman inthe bans.com see you next Time and that’s a wrap for this podcast we hope you’ve enjoyed finding out a little more about both Bosnian herzo and the Wier Western Balkans if you’ve enjoyed this journey as much as we enjoy bringing it to you please take a moment to leave us a review And subscribe to
Our podcast your feedback helps us tremendously and makes a huge difference thank you once again for joining us and we’ll see you on the next episode thanks for listening to our podcast if you would like to support us and the production of future episodes then please consider maybe giving us a tip or
Becoming a member of our podcast family the link to do that is in the show notes for this podcast thanks again for listening we really do appreciate it