First climb I've ever recorded!\n\nLocation: Kaunas, LT (Lithuania).\n\nSong: Mssingno - Xe3 (Wheathin Turn)
The mountains relax me. This mission was more to test myself rather than to reach a goal. As I was hiking through the bottom of the valley, I couldn't take my eyes of the peaks surrounding me. At first, seeing the distances it felt impossible, but the more I thought about it - the more realistic it got. Like I mention in the video - I had no idea how long or how difficult the mission would be, but I wanted to at least try the route I imagined while looking from below.
This was supposed to be a continuation of the previous Montenegro surfing journey. Last time we enjoyed the sights of the west/south route and, upon hear that north/south route is even more impressive, we started planning the next trip. Coincidentally checkmate notified me a couple days before my flight to Montenegro that he would be there as well - he was planning to do our previous west/south route by himself. I notified Poison, suggested checkmate to join us and couple days later we all met up.
After the spa day, we decided to get back on tracks and surf south to the coast. As often happens, this did not go the way we planned. Before we even got to the yard, we got carried away by an unfortunate kitten who happened to walk past the door as I was exiting the store. After feeding it, we realized the dire situation it was in and decided to bring to someone who could properly take care of it. This event most likely made us miss the train to the coast that day, but, looking back, it set off a chain of events that were spontaneous and fun than what we initially wanted to do.
After splitting with checkmate and having a good rest it was time again for adventure! We knew we were far from the railway and we didn't mind it as we had other plans. We decided to take things into our own control and provide our own transportation instead of putting our trust in the local railway system once more. The calmness of kayaking in the sea and lack of rush from scooting at our own pace made this part of the journey feel very rewarding.
Waking up on the bunker, surrounded by a peaceful mountain view, we were excited to continue our quest. Our first destination of the day was not far and, even though it doesn't show in the video, we took our time getting there, often stopping to admire the scenery. Despite the beautiful morning, I felt bit fatigued through the day as I rarely get a good rest sleeping outside. It takes me a couple nights to adjust to the outside noises and temperature shifts. The following day, waking up soaked due to condensation also didn't help. However, the lack of sleep wasn't a big issue, as I was constantly distracted from it by the beautiful, quickly changing scenery and new challenges it brought along. Every hour of the trip felt special and I enjoyed the entire experience.
Last time I was cycling in Bosnia, I was on a route given to me by one of the workers in the store I bought my bicycle at. After two days of cycling, I did about 100km and felt exhausted, as I didn't pace myself correctly. That route has been on my mind for the past two years and this spring I finally decided to try again. I chose to skip half of the initial route I did and start near the top of one of the mountains, about 50km from Sarajevo. I wanted to begin at the snowy peak and experience the incredible downhill ride from last time, before cycling the new part of the route.
Waking up after a cold, wet and uncomfortable night - I was motivated to get back on the road and get my body temperature up. The second day was hard to predict. I still did not have a good rest and with a huge mountain to overcome, I had no idea how far I would end up. The beautiful scenery, friendly doggos and occasional breaks kept me pedaling further than I anticipated.
Waking up in the center of Mostar, on the roof of an abandoned building, was beautiful and tiring. The songs from the mosques didn't let me sleep long and the lack of it started affecting me in the second part of the day. The road was smooth, the temperature was pleasant and emotions were good up until the rocky old railroad route. However, realizing I was in control of all my actions, I decided to spend the evening resting and enjoying the serenity abandonment - getting ready from the challenges of next day.
The final day of cycling was the longest. The weather was perfect and I was full of energy from a good night's rest. Passing many abandoned train stations, towns and beautiful vistas - I was steadily approaching the border of Croatia and the sea. Apart from the occasional scarcity of water and a few drained batteries, I had no setbacks and was moving faster than any day before. It still wasn't easy, but it felt great.
The first spot of the mission was not what we expected. Poison and OnTheEdge were there couple months ago, but now the area had changed and we had new problems to deal with. Those problems prevented us from exploring the territory further. After we departed from the first spot, we split with Poison and went to the second - the satellite complex. There Carlos said we shouldn't have problems with security as long as we stay out of sight of cameras and sensors. We explored what we could and, in the end, got tempted to go inside the main building. Seeing the sensor light up did not bring positive emotions and we decided we'd rather walk away quietly instead of risking getting in a chase and losing the footage.
Driving through a mountain road, we saw abandoned industrial structures and decided to check them out. As we were getting ready to leave checkmate stayed behind and explored a bit more. Sometime later we all met up near the car and he told us he stumbled upon a semi-closed mine entrance that led deep into the mountain. Excited, we all grabbed our cameras and went straight in. Matt gave us quite a scare in the tunnels as he decided to not wait for us and go all the way up the ladder. This resulted in a pleasant reunion later on, but a nerve-racking climb until then. Checkmate and I were seriously considering he got lost or fallen down a crevasse. The next couple of mines did not provide as much underground exploration, but were very scenic and had their own unique challenges. Was a very fun improvised mission!
The first mission of the north Italy journey. The weather wasn't what we expected and, at first, I was quite demotivated by it. With the increasing elevation, beautiful views and good company - my mindset quickly changed and I realized the rain never prevented me from having a good time. Admittedly, Matt and checkmate weren't as prepared for the wet and cold as I was and the final push through the snow was more fun for me then it was for them. Near the end, after about four hours of hiking we were exhausted and, with the snowstorm increasing, we made it just in time to our shelter. Dry socks and warm food were a well-deserved reward, plus the metal-chain mattresses we found in the attic were a very pleasant surprise. The gorgeous mountaintop views of the morning were waiting for us as we slept calmly through the night.
This overgrown playground in the venetian lagoon was on my list for a while. I was never interested in the lore of it, rather the beautiful crumbling structures and exotic location caught my attention. It was quite the contrast from the previous days experience of a snowy, mountain-top radar station. However, once we got to Venice, we immediately encountered a problem - transportation. We spent couple hours wandering around Venice, racing the sunset, looking for someone to take us to the island. From the few people that were willing to give us a ride, only one actually promised us a way back. We got to the island with about an hour of sunlight left, settled in and were ready to find out what it had to offer.
In comparison to the previous one, this NATO base was much more preserved and easier to reach. First day's weather was cold, but pleasant. Setting up the sleeping room was a very fun challenge and the following day's explore was all we could've hoped for - lots of climbing, beautiful scenery, sunshine (though Matt had a strong headache that morning and had to take it slow). This mission was exactly what we needed after an unexpected security encounter in a previous location made us look for an unplanned sleeping spot late into the night (all of that will be shown in the future).
First mission in Armenia. We felt that due to the political context of the country, our usual activities would not be ignored if seen and, most likely, punished more severely than we are used to. All I knew about the chemical plant territory is what I saw through satellite view and read online. I was cautious picking an entrance, but did not expect the security to be positioned so strategically inside the territory. As we jumped the fence, we quickly realized that guard posts and loose dogs are abundant. Escaping hastily with this knowledge, we picked a more concealed entrance point and hoped our awareness would not let us down.
I was aware of this place for a few years now. Driving up to it, I was sceptical of our chances to explore it without the intervention of guards. Over the years, the more people got aware of it, the more protected it got. However, by sheer coincidence, we arrived to it on the same day as a group of tourists. The social camouflage let us explore the area with minimal worry. However, that mindset changed as soon as we approached the huge radio-telescope in the middle of the territory. The urge to climb it overwhelmed and discreteness was a forgotten concern.
The initial idea for this mission was to rent a boat and explore couple smaller islands before heading to the big one. Due to the demand and poor weather conditions we could not get a boat last minute and decided to focus only on the biggest island. Initially we thought only the port of the island would have people, but, as we explored, we stumbled on a person living in a renovated fort. She told us that the initial smaller islands we wanted to explore with a boat were active military grounds. This was a time where not getting what we wanted worked out for the better. Even though this one did not have as many abandoned structures as the Venetian island, it still felt desolate, had an impressive scenery and offered a great hiking/camping experience.
We came back for the crane, but the mission did not go according to plan. Already aware of the dogs and guards, we were a lot more efficient navigating the industrial ghost town. We reached the crane with time to spare as I wanted to climb with less light on us, but we realized light was not our biggest issue. There was no way of reaching the crane from the platform we were on. We noticed that the only way up was at the bottom, right next to the dogs and guards. Had two options - climb the crane and get caught, or vacate while it was still bright enough to navigate the complex terrain.
A year before recording this video we were attempting to to get in this building. It was fully abandoned, but sealed and sensored-up pretty well, so we didn't manage to explore it. Recently my friend told me that the building was open and fully accessible to the public. I thought it was renovated, but he said "no, it is still technically abandoned". I was very confused, but intrigued. Once we got to the building my confusion didn't fade. As we entered, the weird atmosphere was both creepy and interesting. People wandering the dimly lit hallways, art exhibitions in abandoned office rooms, crumbling walls, completely deserted floors and distant music. With each turn we saw something different and it was exciting.
The train ride out of Tbilisi didn't go according to plan, but we immediately moved on further. After spending a chill day in Kutaisi, we rented a 4x4 and drove off into the mountains. Our goal was to reach the highest village in Europe - Ushguli. We were both very excited for this part of the journey as this was something new for both of us. The views along the roads were amazing as always and it felt great moving at our own pace again.
I got a message on Instagram from Penco about exploring some cool spots in Slovakia. Few months later I came over and we got to work. Bunkers are tricky - even if the location and entrance is known, it is a mystery if they will be accessible. This was the case with the first pair of bunkers we tried. Although the surrounding areas themselves were interesting to be in, we could not manage to get inside the structures. Hopes were a bit down as we approached the last and biggest bunker on our list. With the night overtaking the day and fog creeping in, the atmosphere was perfect to try and find out if we can get in. Regarding the rooftop missions - they were a spontaneous. With the tallest buildings always being in sight, we were tempted to find out if we can get on top of them.
The idea to explore this location came from checkmate. I was not aware of it until he brought it to my attention while we were planning the trip. Apart from marking the coordinates on our map, we did not put much more thought into this object. Weeks later, once we got to the location to scout it, we realized getting in will be a lot more difficult then we imagined. The power plant was never turned on, but is still actively guarded. We were not very organized during the sneaking in process and I was sceptical of our chances reaching the inside of the plant without getting caught. Luckily, we managed to improvise well and pulled it off with great teamwork! The following day while exploring minor locations, we stumbled upon an abandoned sugar factory. It was overtaken by storks, but they seemed welcoming. The atmosphere was serene, so we decided it to spend the night there and explore it further in the morning.
After a long day of driving, we decided to explore a couple ghost towns that we knew we would encounter along the way. As we started exploring the first town, we immediately got greeted by angry guard dogs. Surprisingly, a couple people seemingly fixed up and found accommodation in one of the decrepit buildings. The sun was setting fast and we realized we would not feel comfortable spending the night with loose dogs and people roaming around. We quickly took in the sights and moved on to the second ghost town, hoping that one would have less surprises.
When I was gathering locations for the Armenia trip with Poison, these tunnels were priority. I found out about them years ago, but never researched the location. By the time Poison and I met up in the country, I still wasn't sure where they were exactly. It took a couple days, but I managed to track down the location of both entrances and we immediately went to check them out. The metro is a highly protected infrastructure in Armenia and we were paranoid about running into trouble while sneaking around it. Luckily the active parts were walled off pretty well and the abandoned tunnels didn't seem to be protected from the inside.
