Shqipëria 2017
Highlights of my day by day journal of riding in Shqipëria ‑ that's Albania to most of us
As with some other of my rides this journal is also available ‑ with lot's more images & detail ‑ on the really interesting, if somewhat old‑school, idosyncratic Crazy Guy On a Bike collection of bike touring journals
Getting to Tiranë
Somehow it worked out that my flights on this trip have been early morning, meaning of course that I have had very early starts, this morning was the earliest yet, 04:00! I was up and about as the first call to prayer, the one at first light, the one that goes "prayer is better than sleep" rang out across Istanbul. A taxi was duly summonsed by the hotel and I headed off into the darkness on my journey to Shqipëria. It was quite apt actually, heading off into the darkness, I'm somewhat in the dark about Shqipëria. So why come here? For most of us Shqipëria (officially, Republika e Shqipërisë but hereafter, in this journal at least, it will be called Albania cos it's easier) is a place shrouded in mystery after decades of self-imposed isolation. That in itself seems a good enough reason to come here but for me, after a ride thru the Italian Alps last year there's also the challenge of riding in mountains again.
Arrival at Tiranë's Nënë Tereza Aeroporti (named after Mother Theresa, who was actually from Macedonia, whatever!) was like landing at a provincial country town airport. Not surprisingly, there are just 3.5 million people in the whole of Albania. It seemed like every single one of them were driving their cars into the city this morning, the traffic was incredible ‑ never seen so many high end German cars anywhere outside Germany either. One thing that immediately stood out, the road signage is very good and the distances are very small. Oh, and traffic lights where the entire pole illuminates also stood out.
A walk around a mostly low rise Tirana was like walking in an Italian provincial town, as it probably should be in a place where Italian is the de facto second language. There's a nice atmosphere, apart from that around the decaying remnants of the Hoxha years. There's a forlorn, unfinished pyramid that was to be his Mausoleum. Then there are the bunkers, they're everywhere, one has been turned into a museum dedicated to the victims of Communism, and is located in what was the principal nuclear shelter for Hoxha's government located right in the centre of town, it's more than a bit eerie, lots of photographs, lots of documents and actual artefacts used by the secret police to spy and torture all wrapped up in piped 'music' which is actually a menacing blend of white noise and static. The museum barely scratches the complex, there are 5 levels, even has it's own concert hall (and yes, it's own lock up).
Qatë Thanë to Tushemisht
Distance: 48 km
Total Distance: 48 km
For such a small place (less than a million people are said to live in Tiranë), the traffic is something else, just like Sydney in peak hour, so to avoid getting off to a bad start, we didn't start riding in Tiranë rather we transferred to Qatë Thanë. The 110km took about 2 hours, the roads were often in pretty poor shape, narrow, very steep, no shoulder at all, rather a deep, uncovered/unprotected drain ran right at the edge of the bitumen, not conducive to a pleasant bike ride. At Qatë Thanë bikes were waiting and after the usual tinkering with saddle heights and pedals and such, we set off on a 4 km downhill, now that's a way to start a bike ride!
Passed innumerable bunkers, squatting like malevolent mushrooms ‑ or perhaps, toadstools is a better allegory ‑ all over. It's said that no‑one knows how many were built, the usual numbers run between 150,000 to 750,000. Interestingly they only appeared after Hoxa visited the Dear Leader in North Korea, paranoia is obviously infectious. We rode straight thru Pogradec, a typical waterside resort town and into Macedonia to check out a 9th century monastery, Sveti Naum. The monastery (Свети Наум if you're looking for it on a Macedonian map) was an interesting and very scenic, if touristy place. Guarded by peacocks (including an all white one) and offering a rather nice beer garden on the lakeside. After a beer ‑ have to respect local religious customs don't I? ‑ it was a gentle ride back into Albania and into a smaller lakeside town, Tushemisht where it was time to call it quits for cycling. Only did some 50ish km, but had a great time doing it
Tushemisht to Korçë
Distance: 51 km
Total Distance: 99 km
A leisurely start ‑ apparently it is to be the norm ‑ at 08:30, backtracking to Pogradec along the shoreline of the lake before turning south towards Korçë. Almost as we left Pogradec the climb started (8km of 7% gradient) on a main road with no shoulder/verge to speak of, but on the whole traffic was considerate, even so, there was no wriggle room and as much of the traffic was heavy vehicles it often meant riding in a black haze of diesel exhaust. After this climb, the route detoured from the main road onto a back road with little traffic. Through rolling hills with a few sharpish climbs but also a few glorious descents when the road was clear, and that meant clear of horse carts, goat herds and the odd roaming cow rather than clear of traffic.
Almost precisely at 10:00 there was the obligatory coffee stop taken al fresco at one of the many restorans that pop up in the weirdest places. Bidons were refilled at one of the myriad of natural springs, now water isn't meant to have any taste, but this crystal clear, slightly cool, water seems to taste great. The rest of the route to Korçë was up and down thru rolling hills, thru small villages, grain fields and apple orchards ‑ there must have been cherry orchards too, there were plenty of cherries for sale along the road. Pleasant, undemanding riding.
A few km out of Korçë we stopped for lunch. According to Wikipedia, lunch is the principal meal of the day in Albania, well, the table groaned with fresh salads, grilled & pickled veggies, hot cheese, cold cheese, zucchini patties, manti (dumplings) filled with rice and lamb, and a few grilled lamb chops. This is one ride where losing weight is going to be impossible! After such a gargantuan meal it was good that there was only another 10 km or so along the main highway ‑ good surface, wide shoulder/verge and very good signage to Korçë
Korçë is a pleasant town, did a walking tour which took in the principal sights, the memorial to the WW11 partisans, erected in the '70's in some sort of national pride program dreamt up by Hoxa, the first ever school in Albania, created in the late 1880's (shut down in 1902 and boys only) and the nearby Orthodox Church, looks ancient but definitely twenty first century. Nothing is quite as it seems here! The tour coincided with xhiro - just like the Italian passeggiata whole families just stroll to see and be seen and of course, eat and drink. And as Albania's largest brewery is located in town I just had to have a beer, gotta support the local economy don't I?
Korçë to Gërmenjë
Distance: 72 km
Total Distance: 171 km
A tough day, no, a bloody tough day!
Almost as soon as we left Korçë the climbing started, at first it looked as if it would be sweet, we were on a nice new road, great surface, easy gradients, but of course that didn't last and it was soon back to the old road, and old it was, deformations, corrugations, crumbling pavement, and good ol' potholes, you name it, the road had it. Plus, this being rural Albania, horse carts, donkeys (both hauling stuff and being ridden) and the almost ubiquitous flocks 1always accompanied by packs of large dogs with a shepherd bringing up the rear somewhere).
The first climb took us over the 1000 m mark and then dropped into a valley that was a lower altitude than where we'd started in Korçë, this pattern of slogging up climbs and then dropping almost all the way down in altitude repeated itself several times during the day. In fact, the day really consisted of climbing into ever higher valleys, powering along the valley floor before going up to the next valley. Somewhere along the ride into the Gramoz Mountains we crossed the Barmash Pass (1159 m) before finishing up in a working farm resort, a really idyllic way to end a demanding day.
Gërmenjë to Benjë
Distance: 68 km
Total Distance: 239 km
After the pain, the pleasure!
Well, a kind of deferred pleasure at least. The road from the farm kicked up another couple of hundred m over 5 or so km before heading downwards. A repeat of yesterday's pattern, but with one very big difference, today there were some glorious descents, somehow it's easier to grind up hills after you've freewheeled down after the previous climb.
While there was plenty of mediocre (and worse) road to contend with, there was also some pretty good stuff too, from Leskovik to Çarshovë there was an 800 m descent over 14 km of new, smooth as a billiard table, road. Brought out the 'boy racer' in everyone, though gravel on a couple of the hairpins had brakes squealing. And I found a new hazard on that nice road, donkey shit ‑ thought I was going to lose control for a bit when I inadvertently ran thru fresh droppings but after a few wobbles I was still upright and rolling.
Followed the Albanian/Greek border for awhile alongside a fast flowing river before climbing yet again to Petran where we turned off towards the Lengarica Canyon. The Canyon was a bit impassable, but there was a fine thermal spring that feeds a couple of large pools. After a relaxing soak in the thermal pool, the water isn't too warm but has a strong sulphury smell, all thoughts of further riding seemed all too much, so a leisurely 4 km ride back to Benjë and that was it for the day
Benjë to Gjirokastër
Distance: 70 km
Total Distance: 309 km
No coffee this morning, how can any cyclist start the day without coffee? But there was no coffee to be had for/with breakfast in the little inn in Benjë this morning. The inn may not have had coffee, but like the farm the previous night, they made their own wine, grew their own vegetables, butchered their own meat, made their own bread, jams and butter, but as well they also distill their own raki ‑ a real witches brew flavoured with juniper berries. Perhaps it was the raki that led to a late and coffeless start this morning? What to do? Simple, ride like hell for 9 kms to the nearest town for coffee.
Having finally started the day off properly we hit the road again for a relatively easy ride to Gjirokastër along the Vjosë valley. Undulating terrain over mostly OK roads made for easy and reasonably fast riding. A lively Sunday market was in progress at Këlcyrë so there was a fair amount of traffic, both vehicular and animal. A fabulous ride along the Këlcyrë Gorge, just wide enough for road and river, brought us to within 25 kms of Gjirokastër just as the heavens opened up and for the next hour or so a thunderstorm raged as torrential rain dumped down. Naturally there was no accessible shelter and of course by this time we were on the main highway. Nothing concentrates the mind like rain, we fairly ripped up the road racing for Gjirokastër.
As fast as it came, the rain went, and after the required clean up in Gjirokastër we headed off to explore the town, known as the 'town of 1000 steps', and I reckon I walked on every single one of the thousand. Gjirokastër is one of Albania's oldest towns and is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and apparently owes it's preservation to the fact that it was Hoxha's home town, the only thing razed here was the mosque whereas in other Albanian cities, Hoxha's (and later would be despots as well) destructive bulldozing was much more thorough. There are a few really neat sights, and a spectacular view from the fortress which towers over the town, if this place were in Western Europe it'd be overrun by tourists.:..
Gjirokastër to Sarandë
Distance: 70 km
Total Distance: 379 km
A long day, but a good one with a bit of everything, including an hour or so being a tourist at an archaeological site, plus a swim in the Ionian Sea. But as usual I'm getting ahead of myself
The day started with a quick transfer along SH4 (narrow, heavy traffic) before a 6 km 300 m ascent to the Muzinë Pass where we jumped on our bikes for a fabulous 7km descent and about the same distance of relatively flat valley floor. Great riding. After some 25km of up and down we were just a few km (and a damn big hill) out of Sarandë when we took a hard left turn into an abrupt 1km climb which had us heading towards Butrint National Park. A short crossing of the Vivari canal on a cable ferry and we were in Butrint, yet another UNESCO World Heritage site, in fact a double, it's both a protected wetland area and an archaeological site (the archaeological site is slowly sinking into the wetlands at 1mm a year). Butrint is interesting, and like much of Albania, unknown to me
The ride back into Sarandë was good, spectacular even, with mountains one side and sea the other, plenty of climbs and plenty of good descents but it was into a pretty stiff headwind. Almost didn't notice Corfu lying in the mist a smidge over 10 kms off the shore. Sarandë is part of the 'Albanian Riviera' it's a straggly, seemingly unplanned, overdeveloped type place ‑ the final 10 km were past hotels/resorts in various stages of completion ‑ but you can still see why it became this way, beautiful water, pebble beaches surrounded by mountains, very attractive. And the water is indeed beautiful, warm (21° C) and clear, a swim was a great way to end a great day.
Sarandë to Himarë
Distance: 54 km
Total Distance: 433 km
The only drawback to stopping for the day at sea level is that it inevitably means a climb first thing the next morning, and so it was, straight into a 2 km climb ‑ the sign said 10%, but it seems like every sign I've seen has been a 10%er, I'm starting to think they only have one sign. Not a fabulous start with cold legs, and the rest of the relatively short day's ride can best be described as a roller coaster, a slow grind upwards followed by an all too brief, fun, descent, followed by another climb on the SH8, the main, actually, the only, coastal road, it was in pretty good condition and lightly trafficked.
The lovely green mountains are no more, the mountains are bare, with brown/grey exposed stone, the vegetation more the grey/green of olive tree leaves. Every possible bit of arable land is terraced. The road mostly hugged the coastline, high above the water, making for spectacular scenery. Coffee stop was in a blink‑and‑you'll‑miss‑it village, where old men sat in the shade of a giant tree in the centre of a sun-exposed square. Very picturesque.
More climbing followed more climbing, tho in fact, overall, the elevation gain for the day was 1064 m and guess what the elevation loss was? Would you believe 1064 m?
Himarë to Vlorë
Distance: 64 km
Total Distance: 497 km
Again, right from the get go it was a climb, in fact the first 7 km out of Himarë were probably the steepest climbing of the day. In passing, many a true word is spoken in jest, today I was told that there are just two gradient signs used in Albania, 7% and 10%! I saw nothing but 10%ers today, which might well be a blessing as I was also told that the gradients over those first 7 km were between 12 - 15%. A few descents followed, nice ones too! But the initial 15 km to the coffee stop still took over an hour of riding
Coffee is important for cyclists, but there was a bit of an issue with today's stop, the impending climb over Qafa e Llogarasë (Llograss Pass) was a clearly visible scar zigzagging up the mountain side. A bit daunting. The climb was long, some 20ish kms, with a fairly steady 7% gradient, it was a grind. For a non‑mountaineer like myself it was early into granny gear and that's where things stayed for a slow and steady push, ever upward. As we were still on the main road (SH8) there was a fair bit of traffic in both directions and unfortunately too much black smoke from poorly maintained diesel engines. Such is life.
A very welcome short break at the summit of the Pass for a photo opportunity and we set off on the descent. The first few km were a bit of a nightmare of extremely tight hairpin bends and extremely bad pavement. The stop for the usual pig out lunch was also a welcome break. Maybe it was the lunch, maybe the beer, or the double shot coffee, or maybe just the passing time, but when it came time to continue, it was as if we were on a different road! For at least 20 km I barely turned a pedal as we descended towards Vlorë and sea level. It's a bit hard to believe, but yet again, elevation gain and elevation loss today were both the same, 1634 m. The last 15or so km into Vlorë were undulating and I couldn't have imagined it an hour previously but we fairly flew those last kms, I looked down at the bike computer at one point and we were rolling along at over 27 km/hr
Vlorë to Tiranë
Yesterday was the final day on the bike, fitting I guess that it was a challenge that we've obviously been building up towards over the whole journey. I'm a bit surprised that I'm feeling no pain right now, I kinda expected my legs to feel heavy or something after so much unusual (for me) climbing.
Anyway today was a transfer day, from Vlorë to Tiranë via Durres. Probably just as well, the roads were narrow, with heavy, congested traffic and there was plenty of roadworks too. Inexplicably we kept being diverted onto then off of a very good motorway. There's a lot of road construction going on all over the country.
Durres, the place where Pompey defeated Caesar in 48 BCE is Albania's main port of entry with daily ferries to/from Italy (which carry bikes I'm told) and it's much like any port city, and like other cities in Albania bereft of a past thanks to the Stalinist regime of Hoxha. Like Vlorë tho it does boast at least one relic, a Greek/Roman amphitheatre which is the biggest in the Balkans.
So, back in Tiranë, I'll be here another day before beginning the long journey back home, but no bike = no journal of note, so this will be the last daily post. In the meantime tho, why not think about a ride in Albania? You're guaranteed both a great ride and a fabulous holiday.