Author Archives: todd

Mojkovac + 8km – Djurdjevića Tara

Today was one of the shortest days, in terms of cycled kilometers. But the landscape we cycled through was easily one of the most beautiful of the trip. We rode through the Tara Canyon, which is just grand. The water of the Tara river is crystal clear. At one point the road climbs quite high above the river and we had a great view at the blue-shining river.

In the evening it started to rain heavily but we reached an official camp site (the first one on this trip) and pitched our tents just in time.

Cycled: 43km

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: | Comments Off on Mojkovac + 8km – Djurdjevića Tara

Rožaje – Mojkovac + 8km

Our next destination was the valley of the river Tara. We were quite lucky with winds and roads and reaching Mojkovac felt easy, even though we had some long climbs to do, too.

We finally found a nice spot for pitching our tents next to a couple of streams on the slopes of the Tara valley, a few kilometers from the town of Mojkovac.

Cycled: 91km

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: | Comments Off on Rožaje – Mojkovac + 8km

Rožaje

As usual we got up late. And decided to stay another night.

In the afternoon we cycled a couple kilometers through the forest to the source of the river Ibar, which is quite a massive one (the source). András estimated the outflow to 5 cubic meter per second.

From the looks, the valleys here could also be located somewhere in the Alps, in Tirol or Bavaria. Just the odd mosque challenges that thought. :)

We also did some bike maintenance and I put the Chinese rubber tyre on the front wheel.

Cycled: ~25km

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: | Comments Off on Rožaje

Pejë – Rožaje

Today’s breakfast was included in the hotel’s fee. A coffee and a chocolate croissant.

We left Pejë to the north-east, heading to Montenegro. For the first 10km the road was almost flat. Then the climbing started, and 12km later we reached the Kosovar border check-point, then had to climb for another 10km to the pass at approx. 1796m (according to my GPS).
Soon after the check-point it started to rain (the first rain on the entire trip!) and at the pass it was freezing cold (well, around 8°C, but in a strong wind and in wet clothes that feels icy). We changed to dry and water-proof clothing inside an abandoned hut next to the road, and started rolling down on the northwestern side of the mountains – first to the Montenegrin border check-point (where the rain stopped while we had our passports stamped), and then 20km non-stop to the town of Rožaje.

Frankenwheel had lost air pressure again last night but was fairly stable over the day once pumped up. On the downhill section I tried not to exceed 40kph, though. With a proper tyre that ride would have been a hell of a lot of fun!

We were still freezing when we reached the town and decided to stay in a hotel for the night.

Cycled: 56km

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: , | Comments Off on Pejë – Rožaje

Gjakovë – Pejë

Quite a shitty day, both physically and emotionally. Nothing of interest to report other than that we cycled just 43km to the north on comparatively easy terrain and are staying in the city of Pejë.

Pejë is a lively and sympathetic city, as far as I can tell. Had a well-done hair and beard-do for 2,50 Euro.

Cycled: 43km

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: | Comments Off on Gjakovë – Pejë

Kukës – Gjakovë

For breakfast we had a coffee in the bar of a guy who had worked in Germany for 6 years and spoke German quite well. Amongst other things he told us that living costs had increased a lot in Albania over the last years. The average monthly income is approx. 200 Euro. Fuel, for example, costs about 1,50 Euro per litre – almost as much as in Germany. He also told us that there was no boat or ferry service on the Liqeni i Fierzë anymore – maybe 10 years ago there was one.

We left Kukës quite late, almost at noon. Not far from the city we had a short break at the road side. A guy stopped to ask if we needed any help. Turned out he was German and worked for a German NGO called Nehemia in Krumë, a town some 25km down the road. We looked for the office there but it was closed for the day already.

Our planned destination for tomorrow was Bajram Curri, approx. 100km from Kukës. Tonight we wanted to camp somewhere in between. The other option we had discussed was to go to Kosovo. To make a long story short, at the respective junction we flipped a coin. I kind of didn’t like the result (heads – ‘go to Bajram Curri’) and András was ok with overriding it, so we’re now in the city of Gjakovë in Kosovo.
We both opted in to have Kosovar entry stamps put in our passports. This might pose a problem later when we (try to) enter Serbia. As you may or may not know, Serbia considers Kosovo part of its territory, whereas Kosovo has declared indepenence in 2008 and is de facto self-governed, excluding some provinces in the north of Kosovo which are administered by Serbia. Now, Serbia might or might not accept passports with Kosovar stamps. The situation is somewhat unclear to us and the Kosovar border guards could only tell us that for them, Albanians and Kosovars alike, entering Serbia is at least problematic.

Kosovo seems as friendly as Albania. Personally and totally subjectively, I like it a tad better so far.

Cycled: 62km

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: , | Comments Off on Kukës – Gjakovë

Near Qafë Drajë – Kukës

Yesterday the head of the family asked at what time we wanted to leave today. I had no clue what was appropriate and just guesstimated 9am.

This morning the family started to move with first light – around 5am. We got up at 7, had a coffee and milk directly from the cow, and were on the road by 7:40am.

We kept cycling along the Black Drim’s valley. More or less. Twice we had to climb out to circumnavigate a narrow gorge. That was a couple hundred meters in elevation both times, and quite exhausting.

We’re in the town of Kukës now. The original Kukës was submerged in the 1970s when the Liqeni i Fierzë reservoir lake was created. It’s not pretty and there is lots of construction work going on. People are nice, though.

We were totally exhausted after arrival and downed 3 liters of some dangerously coloured fizzy drinks pretty much immediately. Average speed and temperatures were mostly identical to yesterday’s – around 10km/h and 42°C (in the sun), respectively.

I bought an emergency replacement for Frankenwheel – some cheap Chinese rubber tyre that won’t last long but would hopefully bring me to the nearest city if need be.

It is now 10pm and still 26°C.

Cycled: 41km

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: | Comments Off on Near Qafë Drajë – Kukës

Peshkopi – near Qafë Drajë

We finally left Peshkopi at around 11am, after some shopping for food.
Communication is getting more and more difficult. My bits of Russian are useless, and so are Hungarian, French and German. Some people, like last night’s receptionist, speak English to some degree, but mostly it doesn’t go any further than ‘How are you?’ and ‘Where are you from?’.

We left the main road that connects Peshkopi with Kukës and cycled down into the Black Drim valley. The pavement soon ended and the road became a rough gravel track. Our total average speed didn’t exceed 10km/h.

Many houses of the few settlements along this road were abandoned and crumbling. We didn’t see a single shop of any kind.

On the last descent my rear tyre almost exploded. It had worn out near the rim, probably due to one too many stones rubbing along.

Of course I didn’t have any spares… András to the rescue. He’d brought a spare inner tube that we put into the wheel. We also swapped front and rear tyres and taped the problematic spot. Frankenwheel was born.

We then crossed the Black Drin, or Drini i zi, as it is called in Albanian. There is barely any flat land in the valley, so we started inquiring at the scattered houses about the possibility to pitch our tents in their – hopefully flatish – gardens. Quite a difficult endeavour, as it was impossible to find a common language. Fortunately, some gestures are universal, or at least widely understood.

We are staying in a 3-generation household of 8 people. We received a fine dinner and are sleeping in their lounge.

Temperatures peaked at 42°C (in the sun).
Cycled: 49km

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: | Comments Off on Peshkopi – near Qafë Drajë

Ohrid – Peshkopi

Today’s ride along the shore of Lake Ohrid and then the Black Drim, Lake Ohrid’s only outflow, was easy. We covered the 70km to Debar in a bit more than 3 hours.

The Black Drim’s valley is beautiful – if you don’t look at the details. It is full with plastic bottles, plastic bags, and other rubbish. The lack of sense for every-day, visible pollution is a serious problem in all of Macedonia. But the real problem is that we (‘The West’) just export our oh-so-civilized progressive achievements without teaching about the consequences. People here are just not aware that plastic doesn’t decompose within any reasonable amount of time.
A pleasing attempt has been made in the Galičica National Park, where notice boards inform about decomposition times of various packaging materials. Interestingly only in Macedonian language, whereas all other signs are bilingual (English/Macedonian).

After Debar we said Good Bye to Macedonia, the land of the open Wifis, and crossed the border to Albania.

The road became much hillier and far worse in quality almost instantly. The people seemed even more friendly than in Macedonia – almost everyone greeted.
So, the last 20km to Peshkopi were far more exhausting than the 70 before.

Arriving in Peshkopi we were quite the attraction with our bikes. Though not only in a positive way. The streets were filled with mostly male youths and youngsters, some of which cracked jokes about us in a loud and obvious way. It wasn’t the most cordial welcome… However, as soon as you speak to someone directly people are friendly and helpful.

Cycled: 93km

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: , | Comments Off on Ohrid – Peshkopi

Ohrid

We got up a little late. Our breakfast was interrupted by Jovan, and we had to move our stuff to a different apartment for the 2nd night.

After finishing breakfast we went to the bike shop he had recommended. They did have spare rim, hub and spokes and rebuilt András’ wheel within 1.5 hours!

Other than that it was a relaxed day.
I finally added some pictures to these posts.

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: | Comments Off on Ohrid

Konjsko – Ohrid

It was difficult to leave this almost magic place. We had another swim and packed our stuff very slowly, with long breaks in between. We left around noon.

The plan was to try and continue to Ohrid as planned, some 60km away, despite András’ decaying rear wheel, and look for a bike shop there. From there we could go back to Bitola if need be.

The 15km climb up to the 1567m pass between Lake Prespa and Lake Ohrid was quite a challenge for riders and bikes alike. Needless to say that we were rewarded with beautiful views once more…

Somewhere at the descent András became adventurous (considering his wheel) and we took a mountain bike trail as a short-cut. Great idea, the track was beautiful and lots of fun to ride.

Lake Ohrid is much more touristy than Lake Prespa. The villages along the shore boast with hotel next to hotel. We liked Lake Prespa better…

In the city of Ohrid we were chatted up by Jovan who rents out apartments. I think he ripped us off a little, but that’s ok. We’re happy the bike(s) brought us this far.

Cycled: 56km

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: | Comments Off on Konjsko – Ohrid

Bitola – Konjsko

This morning we headed westish from Bitola on quiet back roads, mostly parallel to the new motorway. We climbed up to a pass at 1156m, then turned south along the boundary of the Pelister national park, and cycled down to the Lake Prespa, at roughly 850m altitude. The views across the lake were stunning.

On the road we spotted something amazing. Have you ever seen something like this??

It didn’t last long. Almost all of them were killed by two consecutive cars.

I guess this is just one of the examples of what you simply don’t see when traveling by car.

Less than 9km from today’s destination, Konjsko, András’ rear wheel made a cracking noise. One of the spokes had been ripped out of the rim. Two more seemed to be going to share that fate soon. We were on a steeply climbing gravel road and the wheel was seriously untrue. We decided to go on carefully anyway and discuss our options over dinner.

Our camp site at the outermost north-eastern tip of the peninsula on which Konjsko is located was beautiful. We pitched tents just a meter or two from the water. Pelicans and lots of other birds were constantly flying over our heads or starting from/landing on the lake somewhere. Thousands of bees and other insects created a humming background noise.

While having dinner the full moon rose from behind the mountains on the other side of the lake. And later I spotted the most distinguished shooting star I have ever seen. It looked a bit like fireworks…

Cycled: 64km

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: | Comments Off on Bitola – Konjsko

Bitola

This morning we decided to stay another day here in Bitola, and to have a look at the city some more. We also made up our minds about the next days.
As before, the weather was grand.

Bitola is really amazing. The main street is literally packed with cafés, bars, and people. Everyone is trying to look posh in their pink pumps and track suits. Never mind that comment – it has a really relaxed, lively, and sympathetic atmosphere about it.

So basically we visited Heraclea in the burning afternoon sun, and hung out at a bar. It was a very relaxing day.

For dinner we had a dish (I forgot the name, unfortunately) that reminded me of Adjaruli khachapuri from Georgia.

The streets were still packed at 10pm.

No cycling today.

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: | Comments Off on Bitola

A1/Radobil – Bitola

For breakfast we had squid soup. :) Quite an interesting contrast to yesterday even though András didn’t like it so much.

Then we continued to climb the remaining 15km to Pletvar Pass at an altitude of 998m. The last 3km we hung on to a truck.

From there it was a long and pleasant downhill ride into the Pelagonia plain and the city of Prilep. We didn’t stop but continued to Bitola, at the southern end of said plain, which we easily reached at around 3pm.

Bitola is a very nice city. The lively main pedestrian street, Širok Sokak, is long and fun to walk along. At the southern end it leads eventually to the ancient settlement Heraclea Lyncestis from the Hellenistic period (founded in the middle of the 4th century BC). Left and right of Širok Sokak there are quarters with beautiful, if a little run-down, old buildings.

Cycled: 67km

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: | Comments Off on A1/Radobil – Bitola

Zagorci – A1/Radobil

The left-over food we had consisted of: Cola, muesli, dried apricots, chocolate. We mixed all that in our bowls for breakfast. Yummy… ;)

We left around 10am and continued on the track in a westish direction. The views into the valley beneath were beautiful in the morning sun. The few villages we passed through were as interesting to look at and almost as dead as Zagorci.

After 6km – as promised yesterday by the old couple – we hit paved road. Soon we had to do another long and exhausting climb, followed by an even longer visually rewarding downhill ride, almost until Negotino.

Negotino is not exactly beautiful, but it was kinda charming nonetheless. We had an extended lunch there, had the wifi password of a neighbouring bar provided by a friendly local, bought some sun cream at a pharmacy, and even found some spare batteries for my phone at a small mobiles shop.

We wanted to make it to Prilep today, but we weren’t lucky – again. The road conditions and the hills are killing all the plans.

We are camping high up on a hill-side, opposite the noisy A1 (or is it called M5?), a major road connecting Prilep with the motorway of the same reference number.

Cycled: 76km

Trip: In the Canyons of the Balkans | Country: | Comments Off on Zagorci – A1/Radobil