Day 33
Sleeping location: Off the side of a mountain “road” at about 1100m, east of Zall-Bastar, Albania
Distance (km today/total): 70 / 3355
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1500 / 24700
Time taken to do last 10km: 3hrs
Day in three words: Fancy a hike?
The day started with the sort of sleepy befuddlement that you often get when you arrive in a new country after an overnight journey. My first task was to withdraw some cash, which was quite confusing because the first ATM gave out Euros and I almost ordered 5000 before I realised this. Once I found one that dispensed Lek I got my 5000 (about £40), which obviously came out as a single note that would be useless in most shops. In order to break it I went to the fanciest looking cafe possible, which also employed the world’s most suavest waiter. His response on receiving the note was to make a sort of “UUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHH” sound, which more than made up for the previous hassle. After this I checked the route, which actually only included about 140km in Albania, so I had way too much cash and would have to concoct some kind of Brewster’s Millions style spending spree to get rid of it.
After this I set off towards Tirana, which was pretty flat and uneventful. I stopped at another cafe which was initially really confusing as the owner was just saying things at me and gesturing, which I think made me look a bit flustered (I was), so then she chilled right out and gave me a free coke. The old guy who showed me to the toilet also had the world’s best slow nod of respect. Albanians are mostly incredibly sound, and very helpful despite the language barrier.
Tirana itself was absolutely mental, heaving with traffic, so I strapped on my helmet and played Real Life Frogger for a few km. Weirdly there were lots of cars with UK plates, all very fancy, all driven by very serious looking men. Given that Albanians now supply most of London’s cocaine* I figured they wouldn’t appreciate a cheery “howdy friend, aren’t we both far from home” and stayed well clear.
After this things took a turn very quickly. The road out of Tirana got gradually worse and pretty soon the tarmac ran out altogether. Then followed 10km of very bad and rocky dirt road, which served as a sort of amuse bouche for things to come. After a random 2km section of smooth tarmac in the middle of nowhere, the road quickly deteriorated and then got very steep. This is when shit got real. The “road” was mostly unrideable so I had to push, which took an absolutely huge amount of effort, and I had to climb 900m and cover 12km to get to the summit. I managed to cover the first 10km/700m of this in the 3hrs before dark, but I reckon 90% of this was pushing and it was both agonising and agonisingly slow. At one point I had to drop the rear panniers and ferry them separately to Maggie for a few hundred metres, because it was literally impossible to push her fully loaded. My route planning app records your movement and its suggested type of activity for this section was hiking.
Finding a camp spot was tricky as it was so steep and there was hardly any woodland to sling my hammock up in. Bizarrely there was a little shop/restaurant at one point, which gave me great fantasies as I approached it (Hot food! Cold beer! Hammock in the garden! Wifi!) but the two residents were spectacularly unhelpful (Food? No. Water? No. Sleep anywhere in the region of this village? No.) and then the kid hugely overcharged me for some bottled water and fanta so sod them. In hindsight, maybe he was just trying to help me get rid of all my cash. One man offered me a place to sleep in his house, but motioned for me to carry on up the hill and I never saw him again. Eventually I settled for the only bit of flat ground in ages, quite near the “road” but not lit by the headlights of the few 4x4s going up it. Cherry on the cake? I could see the lights of Tirana through a gap in the mountain, probably no more than 15km away. The one upside was that the stars looked amazing, although I didn’t look at them for that long as I was scared of being eaten by a bear/bandit.
*I read an article Mum
Distance (km today/total): 70 / 3355
Estimated climb (m today/total): 1500 / 24700
Time taken to do last 10km: 3hrs
Day in three words: Fancy a hike?
The day started with the sort of sleepy befuddlement that you often get when you arrive in a new country after an overnight journey. My first task was to withdraw some cash, which was quite confusing because the first ATM gave out Euros and I almost ordered 5000 before I realised this. Once I found one that dispensed Lek I got my 5000 (about £40), which obviously came out as a single note that would be useless in most shops. In order to break it I went to the fanciest looking cafe possible, which also employed the world’s most suavest waiter. His response on receiving the note was to make a sort of “UUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHH” sound, which more than made up for the previous hassle. After this I checked the route, which actually only included about 140km in Albania, so I had way too much cash and would have to concoct some kind of Brewster’s Millions style spending spree to get rid of it.
After this I set off towards Tirana, which was pretty flat and uneventful. I stopped at another cafe which was initially really confusing as the owner was just saying things at me and gesturing, which I think made me look a bit flustered (I was), so then she chilled right out and gave me a free coke. The old guy who showed me to the toilet also had the world’s best slow nod of respect. Albanians are mostly incredibly sound, and very helpful despite the language barrier.
Tirana itself was absolutely mental, heaving with traffic, so I strapped on my helmet and played Real Life Frogger for a few km. Weirdly there were lots of cars with UK plates, all very fancy, all driven by very serious looking men. Given that Albanians now supply most of London’s cocaine* I figured they wouldn’t appreciate a cheery “howdy friend, aren’t we both far from home” and stayed well clear.
After this things took a turn very quickly. The road out of Tirana got gradually worse and pretty soon the tarmac ran out altogether. Then followed 10km of very bad and rocky dirt road, which served as a sort of amuse bouche for things to come. After a random 2km section of smooth tarmac in the middle of nowhere, the road quickly deteriorated and then got very steep. This is when shit got real. The “road” was mostly unrideable so I had to push, which took an absolutely huge amount of effort, and I had to climb 900m and cover 12km to get to the summit. I managed to cover the first 10km/700m of this in the 3hrs before dark, but I reckon 90% of this was pushing and it was both agonising and agonisingly slow. At one point I had to drop the rear panniers and ferry them separately to Maggie for a few hundred metres, because it was literally impossible to push her fully loaded. My route planning app records your movement and its suggested type of activity for this section was hiking.
Finding a camp spot was tricky as it was so steep and there was hardly any woodland to sling my hammock up in. Bizarrely there was a little shop/restaurant at one point, which gave me great fantasies as I approached it (Hot food! Cold beer! Hammock in the garden! Wifi!) but the two residents were spectacularly unhelpful (Food? No. Water? No. Sleep anywhere in the region of this village? No.) and then the kid hugely overcharged me for some bottled water and fanta so sod them. In hindsight, maybe he was just trying to help me get rid of all my cash. One man offered me a place to sleep in his house, but motioned for me to carry on up the hill and I never saw him again. Eventually I settled for the only bit of flat ground in ages, quite near the “road” but not lit by the headlights of the few 4x4s going up it. Cherry on the cake? I could see the lights of Tirana through a gap in the mountain, probably no more than 15km away. The one upside was that the stars looked amazing, although I didn’t look at them for that long as I was scared of being eaten by a bear/bandit.
*I read an article Mum
Comments
Post a Comment