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

This entry is part of the In the Canyons of the Balkans trip. Country: . Bookmark the permalink.