Goodbye Albania! 8/4-2013

It's a weird season here, one day summer, the next autumn, winter or spring. Today I left Sarande by taxi to Syri Kalter, or it's English name, The Blue Eye. It's a underground spring with crystal clear, icy water from it's underground spring. I can imagine what a sight it would be in it's summer dress as it looked extremely beautiful this day in cloudy skies with a gentle rain.

I thought I'd cut the trip shorter since I already passed this road the other day after my crash. This time it took quite some time to get up and over the mountain roads, I took a break at the scene of the accident. Later this day I got an explanation to the hundreds of memorials that's been scattered along the roads in Albania and also in Greece. 

This memorial is from the road between Maliq and Gramshi, also known as the Road. It was shot as a movie of me biking the road and it was raining, that's why it's slightly blurry.

They are memorials of people who have died in roadside accidents, I imagined that might be the case but the sheer number of them made me wave that thought away, maybe because I didn't wanna become a memorial myself.

Anyway, once over the hill it was... wait for it... DOWNHILL! But it has to be the slowest decent ever, the road on the opposite side of the mountain of wich I had my crash was a lot more dangerous, more "straight of the cliffside"-like. I shot some video from it with my GoPro. So I paced myself extremely much.

Once I got closer to the border I decided to stop and eat in an attempt to void me of Albanian currency.

Regular roadside place, it was rice with peas and a chicken fillet rolled up in bacon stuffed with peppers, the chicken was  the most stringy thing ever.

After that I headed to the border and had a Cappuccino and a Red Bull just at the border crossing. A very friendly and welcoming Greek border guard waved me past all the cars and said I wouldn't be able to reach Monodendri, my goal in Greece, because it was late in the day and a lot of steep climbs during the last 30 k's.

He was right, I called the hotel I had booked a room at and mentioned I would't get there in time. They offered to come pick me up for 20 Euro and I took their offer. It was nice talking to someone speaking English for a change on my way up to the mountain village. Once there, after a hot shower, I sat in their restaurant near an open fireplace and ate a complimentary cheese pie made my the mother of this family owned hotel, Hotel Ladias.

Lovely warn fireplace and a cheese pie to die for!

Slept very well.

A very uneventful day in Sarande. 7/4-2013

So today I had another free day in Sarande, sadly the weather wasn't anywhere near what it was the day before but I thought I would do a check-up on my bike and besides that just don't do anything in particular.

That's what happened!

I had major problems communicating with the girls at a fast food joint and after a while I managed to order my brunch, a grilled sandwich with chicken, bacon, cheese, mayonnaise and... potatoes! Seems the don't get enough carbs in these countries I mean c'mon - bread and potatoes in a sandwich?! Anyway, it was good and I washed it down with a Amstel as they didn't have local beer.

Saved about half of it for a afternoon snack!

After that I headed to the supermarket and bought some stuff and on my way home they seemed to have a kind of a farmers market on the main strip along the beach.

Lots of vegetables in the place on the left!

When I had postponed starting with the bike long enough I took the bull by it's horns and got started, I removed the front wheel, the tire and the inner tube and examined it, it wasn't in need of any tuning from what I could see. I then tightened the bolt for the saddle, that's the one thing that I can't get fixed properly, it always loosens after a while and tilts forward enough for me to risk hurting the family jewels should a sudden need of braking occur.

Tomorrow I leave Albania!

My mood is all over the place... today was a good day! 6/4-2013

I am struggling with the challenges I have faced so far, it might not sound that special but to me its been hard with weather, mountains, mud and whatnot that's been against me. It is part of the adventure and so far I managed to come out on top but it really brings you down when you don't get a chance to talk to people face to face either. I had a dream the other night about my childhood dog and the place my dad lived in in Piteå, Sweden, long story short but my dog ran away from me in the dream and I broke down crying.

This is testing me in many ways, hopefully I will come out a stronger person from it and remember what I managed to pull off.

Anyway, this day, 6/4-2013, was probably one of the best days of the journey so far, both for the head and for the body. I left the home I stayed at in Kasmil early in the morning, heading for Sarande and a proper hotel. I got a suggestion about Hotel Ari and after getting a room there and entering the room I knew it was gonna be a good stay. The sun was heating the air in Sarande to summer temperatures.

Palm trees outside my room balcony...

Panorama from room balcony.

 Since I left in a bit of a hurry I had an early lunch at a good restaurant near the Mediterranean and while I sit there I realize I have reached the sea, it feels so grand to see something else than mountains.

It was cheese- and pepper stuffed Escalope in a cream sauce and fried potatoes with parsley that was very good.

A picture says a thousand words.

In the afternoon I went to Butrint, one of the major goals on this adventure. It's the remains of a town founded 600 BC, yeah that's before Christ, and it's on UNESCO's World Heritage list. The place was a magical place in a cacophony of stone, nature and small lizards, some snakes, thousands of butterflies and bees pollinating flowers. Most things here makes stuff in the Antiques Roadshow look as old as yesterdays newspaper... Enough words...

This is a soft start near the entrance.

You actually get to walk on, and among, most of the ruins.

As I went home on the bus I felt so happy, it was such a tranquil place and the images above are just a little part of what I shot there, both video and photography almost made the camera battery get depleted. I save some of the good stuff for my travel video I look forward to do. As it isn't high season yet it was also very few people there.

I ended a perfect day of sun, t-shirt, jeans shorts for the first time and Butrint with dinner in the sunset.

:)

Cycling 5/4-2013 as tracked by the GPS...

Day 10 of cycling 5/4-2013, as tracked by the GPS; http://connect.garmin.com/player/294046580

I stopped the GPS after the getting the ride with  those guys.

Hurricane winds, crashes, a flat tire and how I ended up in a private home with barely running water and electricity...

Going out from Gjirokaster started fine until I reached the main road I was gonna ride along. It turned out to be a major highway with heavy traffic and add a headwind that's so fierce I couldn't keep balance because it was going so slow. When I took breaks I turned my back into the wind and I had to take a cautionary step at times so the wind wouldn't literally knock me down.

When I left the road I had to get over a smaller mountain but it was on good roads so besides the rain and the wind wanting to tear the bike out of my hands and throw it down the mountain side I was fine.

Once over I enjoyed downhill for a bit, until lack of concentration and the wet road made my wheels lock and skid across the road while breaking into thorn bushes and I crashed violently, as I went through the ditch I could hear the air going out of the front tire in 2-3 seconds. Besides the bike I only scraped my knee so it began to bleed
a bit. After curses, damnation of most things, chock and getting scared, I could have gone of a cliff, I started to get my stuff of the bike and change my inner tube.

Roadside v´bicycle repair shop!

A couple of guys in a van stop and ask If I need help as I am almost done. They offer to drive me to Sarande, my goal for the day. It's getting somewhat late so I accept their offer, as we are heading towards town they stop several times trying to sell fish that they probably caught in some mountain stream. 

The younger of the two, seems to be the older guys son and the house were their private home.

One of them speaks a little English and mentions something that sounds like a hotel that a friend of his has in Kasmil, a town just south of Sarande. I think, despite them saying the price is 30 euros per night, that I can stay there one night since they were helpful towards me and if it's good I stay there more nights. It turns out to be their private home, it looks like they are preparing the top floor for tourists but it's still very questionable, it lacks electricity at the start and the toilet faucet doesn't work. I'm thinking at one point to try and sneak away as fast as I can but after they come up with food and try to cover the horrible conditions with being good hosts I decide to stay and leave fast the next morning.

At least they fed their prisoners, no seriously the mom of the house was nice and made the bed with clean linen and provided a meal that was quite ok.

I barred the door with a chair during the night...

Sun and a Castle with a capital C.

I started by eating breakfast at Kotoni B&B, it consisted of boiled eggs, bread, cheese, jam and coffee. Our hostess also had prepared Börek in tinfoil as a snack during the day. The sun decided to show it's face and that helped with my spirit, I went to Gjirokaster castle, the second largest castle in the Balkans.

Sexy devil eh?

Size does matter!

An Italian tank built by Fiat.

At the top of Gjirokaster castle.

Summer in the air even among the hard stone that is Gjirokaster castle.

Truly impressive place, a big exhibit of artillery hardware were in the start and later a US spy plane that, according to who you believe, was captured either because of engine failure or was forced down by the Albanian military.

US Air force two-seated Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_T-33

I ate again at Kujtimi, this time grilled lamb, potatoes and Korca. Just relaxed the rest of the day.

These f*****g dogs... (Day of cycling 3/4-2013)

Today I had a short day on my bicycle planned, I hadn't had time to recuperate from the day on Mr Mountain and I've felt drained these last days. So the stretch was about 50 kilometers to Gjirokaster from
Kelcyra and then take Nasho's, from Berat, suggestion and stay at The morning started without a proper breakfast, I stocked up on energy drinks, chocolate bars, peanuts, ate a little of it together with Cappuccino and a Red Bull. The gentleman from the night before drove me and my gear to his house and I thanked him again and then I was off. My clothes from the downpour of yesterday hadn't dried yet and on top of that it was raining a lot as well this day. I was thinking that it would have been a nice ride had the weather been better.

After like an hour I saw some goats on and around the road and a few seconds later a dog comes charging out of the brush, as I am going quite fast slightly downhill he starts to bark and chase me. I try to push him into the ditch with my bike but it makes me almost loose balance and crash. The dog snatches at my leg, I feel he makes contact but it doesn't break the pants (thanks Gore Bike Wear Rip Stop). I wouldn't wanna think what would have happened if I had fallen.

These damn dogs is really bringing the whole experience down. I can understand them being territorial around flocks of livestock but when I again get charged by a dog at a nice, modern petrol station where I planned to take a break I just wanna scream all the anger out of me, there are no damn sheep to guard here - put a leash on your f*****g dog. I am a dog person but considering I had 5-6 dogs run after me this day, one in the middle of oncoming traffic on a highway, I almost wish I had a Glock with me.

When I reached Gjirokaster and got a warm "You are home now" from the hostess at Kotoni B&B most of the anger washed away.

A personal room at Kontoni B&B, really nice after generic hotel rooms of late.

View from room, right.

View from room, left.

I ate dinner at Kujtimi, Qifqi ( rice balls with eggs and herbs ), potatoes and the sour cream I've come to love.

Yum!

Slept excellent after eating a Croissant filled with chocolate and a Fanta for desert a few hours later.

The day as tracked by the GPS; http://connect.garmin.com/player/293389606