Biking Southern Albania

The man from the village pointed to the blackening sky and asked me if I was going to be alright riding in that. "No problem," I said using one of the few English phrases I was sure he understood. I had no idea I'd be back on his doorstep begging for help less than an hour later. "Faleminderit," I said, thanking him for filling my water bottles which I consumed in their entirety on the long climb that was just coming to an end. I rode further up the dirt road hoping to run into my travel buddies. Half a mile later I saw Johanna and Sean sitting on the side of the road. They'd been waiting a while. Zeno and Giulia were further ahead and out of sight. Reinvigorated we were ready to finally reach the summit. Sean rode ahead to catch up to the front of the pack. We passed a stunning overlook near the top of the mountain and saw the not-too-distant flashes as the clouds approached. A few minutes later I felt the first drops. We all knew the drill, this was going to be the fourth day of riding in rain. I stopped near a big rock to put my rain booties, pants and jacket on. From a couple hundred feet down the hill I heard, "I think something's wrong with my bike." "Ok, bring it up here I'll take a look," I said as I finished zipping everything up. I looked down and see Johanna hasn't moved. She was bent over trying to get her front wheel back into the fork. I went down to take a look and saw what looked like a few remaining shards of metal where the skewer nut was supposed to have been. Uh oh. Seemed like all the riding on boulders cracked it off and we didn't have a spare. As we thought about what our options were the skies opened up and poured freezing rain all over us. I saw a small embankment with some loose soil and tree roots we could try to shelter in. We climbed under, clutching the exposed roots hoping it would pass quickly. Instead of the rain letting up it intensified; the water turned to hail and we started shivering. For the first time in my life I was concerned about hypothermia fifteen minutes after being concerned about heat stroke. We tried alerting the rest of our group but no one had service on this particular mountain pass despite all buying local SIM cards. We needed a plan. Our destination was about 15 miles further on unpaved roads which were difficult enough to ride with both wheels attached. Johanna could barely walk her bike in it's current state so the only option was to turn back and hope one of the nice villagers I just met could arrange a ride for us. We walk/carried our bikes through running mud and loose soil back to the village. It was a few small houses and what looked like a disused barn. I went looking for the man I just met. I walked along the garden near where he came out and saw one of his daughters with an umbrella seemingly talking to a horse in their yard. I asked her to call her dad and she ran off to find him. The man and his wife and two daughters were incredibly hospitable. They quickly brought warm drinks and snacks. They offered Johanna some dry cloths while they arranged someone with a truck to come up and take us down the mountain. It was truly humbling to be treated so warmly by total strangers in a foreign country without being able to speak each other's language.

Tirana isn't known as a one of the premier tourist destinations in Albania but I wasn't disappointed having to spend a few days there to start and end the trip. The culinary scene was terrific and there was a bustling energy in the downtown neighborhoods. The current nightlife district, called Blloku or "the Block," was where longtime dictator Enver Hoxha had his house. The area was walled off so that only government insiders could reap the benefits of power while the people outside lived in poverty. There is a much more positive energy in the area now even though poverty has not exactly vanished. It was interesting to see the remnants of the recent communist past juxtaposed with ancient remains and more recent modern infrastructure. I sought out the little Ottoman bridge that still stands on the side of a road serving little purpose today. The city has a large, well maintained urban park with views of the nearby mountains. The Euro 2020 tournament was taking place for part of our visit and the city was filled with viewing areas for people to watch games outside. All in all Tirana was a fine introduction to Albanian life and culture.

Our first day of riding out of the capitol was to take us to Elbasan by way of a castle and a scenic mountain pass. It would not disappoint. First we headed a few miles south to see the Petrela castle. It is a perched on a hill overlooking a river. The oldest remnants inside dated back to the 6th century AD. It was rebuilt a few times since then and featured a wooden section than now housed a restaurant. With Tirana and Petrela behind us we started climbing on unpaved roads heading south towards Elbasan. We passed groves of ancient olive trees growing on rocky terrain. The road surface was very rough with large loose stones and I was having trouble maintaining traction with my smooth 700 x 42c tires. On a descent with a curve right at the bottom I lost control and took a tumble. I skinned up my elbow pretty good. We continued towards the Krraba pass, a gorgeous winding road with mountain vistas on all sides. The climbs seemed endless, every time we thought we'd reached the top another turn yielded another hill. Finally at the top we ate in a menu-less restaurant specializing in goat and salad. It tasted amazing and we licked all our plates clean. A hairy descent down a steep road took us into Elbasan. Elbasan is a medium sized city with a prominent castle in the center. The homes inside the castle grounds are mostly maintained and inhabited to this day. Elbasan had many huge factories set up by the Chinese on the outskirts of town which are mostly lying in ruin. We didn't visit them but a photographer I met did and recommended them.

Our next destination from Elbasan was Berat. It was a much easier day of riding than the first with mostly paved roads and much less climbing. We stopped briefly in a small town to regroup and some old men started trying to chat with us. They didn't speak English. We didn't speak Albanian. I tried Russian but they just looked confused. Then Giulia spoke Italian and their eyes lit up. They brought us to their daughter's house nearby for drinks and snacks. She had lived in Italy at some point and was excited to practice Italian and welcome some travelers who don't pass through this small village very often. After lunch it started raining for the second day in a row. My shoes had just about dried from the previous day before the new rain soaked them again. We arrived in Berat around dusk. Berat had an even bigger castle on an even bigger hill than Elbasan. The town below the castle was a perfectly preserved Ottoman city. It was composed of small houses with lots of windows and tiny narrow alleys running between them. We had a meal next to the mosque during the evening call to prayer. The food was exquisite and a short stroll around the alleys was the perfect way to end the night.

We spent the morning and early afternoon exploring Berat's sizable castle grounds. Once we were sufficiently exhausted from the extreme heat we packed up to continue our tour. We decided on a half day of riding to make progress further south and get closer to the sights we wanted to see along the Greek border. We rode through Polican, another post industrial city with ruins of old factories. On cue it started raining and we spent an hour riding wet roads along the Ozumi river to the small town of Begova which we chose to stay in because it had a few restaurants and hotels. We ended up having an entire floor of our hotel to ourselves. The owner rain into us at the bar across the street and bought us a round of beers on our way out.

There were two routes south of Begova and both of them were challenging unpaved mountain crossings. We picked the shorter one through Kelcyra and set off. The first town we passed was Corovoda, a relatively modern blue collar city with a Bulgarian name. Just north of Corovoda we took photos of a small but still functional Ottoman bridge called Ura e Kasabashit. The imposing cliffs and ominous clouds behind it were particularly striking. A while further south we rode alongside the Osumi Canyon. The river cut through the mountains exposing multi-colored rock layers. The road we were on gave way to an ancient rocky path alongside farms and meadows. It was partially covered by cow manure. It started raining and the rocky path became slippery. A short while later, on a small summit the sun came out and the views were like something out of a fairy tale; unspoiled nature. The heat of the sun made the ensuing climb a challenge. I finished most of my water and when I heard voices while passing one of few mountain villages I decided to stop. When I returned a short while later, soaking wet I at least knew were to look for help. The village was called Prishta and that's where the riding portion of the day ended for myself and Johanna. We ascertained from the villagers helping us that the ride across the mountain towards Kelcyra was impossible by car and the driver arranged to take us back the other way to Corovoda near where we started. They dropped us off at a homely little hotel where we were the only guests and we waited for word from Sean, Zeno and Giulia. We worried that they might have waited for us and were equally unable to complete the trip down the mountain. We were in the midst of arranging a search party when a message finally arrived from Kelcyra and put our worries to rest.

We had to reunite with our group somehow and not wanting to spend an entire day trying to conquer the same mountain pass we hired a car to take us to Permet. We were able to improvise a skewer nut using an ordinary nut and some washers from a hardware store next door to our hotel. The car took the only other route south which was equally slow going (even in a car) but super picturesque. We arrived in early afternoon. There wasn't enough time to sight see in Permet which was a shame as there was another canyon, a thermal pool and another old bridge nearby. There was time for a tasty lunch though. We got back on the road just in time for the obligatory rain to start. That's five days in a row for those keeping score at home. The ride took us past Kelcyra where the other half of group spent the previous night. The road from Kelcyra to Tepelena followed the valley of the Vjosa river. It was fully paved and probably the most spectacular road riding I've ever done. The mountain landscapes on both sides were incredible. We passed more goats than people and traffic was extremely light. The stretch from Tepelena to Gjirokaster was also scenic but a lot busier. We arrived in Gjirokaster and met up with Sean who took a day off riding and was waiting in town.

Gjirokaster was the most stereotypically touristy place we made it to so far. It was also incredibly charming with it's pedestrian-only cobblestoned historic downtown. We decided to spend an extra night there to soak it all in. I needed a rest day anyway as I'd been lagging behind the rest of the group for most of the trip. Gjirokaster was again a city that had an impressive castle perched at the top of the highest hill. The town spread down from the castle and was composed of attractive 19th century Ottoman houses. Many of the historic homes were restored while others were completely derelict. Just west of the city was small valley where a stream had once been but was dry now. Sean and I went over there to see an 18th century aqueduct built by Ali Pasha, a powerful ruler of the area who once entertained Lord Byron when the Romantic poet traveled east. Just steps from a bustling city, the valley was empty except for three or four goat herders shouting to each other from across the hilltops. The aqueduct was beautiful and serene. Our second day in Gjirokaster was the first day it didn't rain. We rode off in the morning towards the coast. Just off the main road, in an empty field, I stopped by the Roman ruins of Hadrianopolis. It was a modest site with only a small weathered plaque to inform visitors of what they're looking at. The ruins are from the 2nd century AD and include a theater. On the way down from another greuling mountain crossing (the Muzina pass), we stopped by the Blue Eye. It's a natural spring bubbling with frigid cold water. We had a big lunch before completing the descent to the sea. We arrived in Saranda in the early evening and headed down to the waterfront for supper.

Saranda, like Gjirokaster was deemed worthy of a two night stay. This gave us a chance to visit Ksamil and Butrint which lie south of Saranda before continuing our ride north along the coast. Saranda is one of the bigger seaside resorts in Albania. It has the usual fare of beaches, boat rides and seafood restaurants along the bay. There's a castle on a hill here too but I think we were castled out by this point in the trip. We rode to Ksamil, which is a smaller beach resort with some very quiet beaches. We lounged for a bit before riding a bit further south to the UNESCO world heritage site of Butrint. Arriving at Butrint our phones all picked up the Greek network as we were a few miles from the border. The clocks changed too which confused us for a bit. Butrint was an inhabited city dating back to the time of ancient Greece. Everyone who controlled the area left a little bit behind in Butrint. There are relics of the Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman times. On the way out we took a tiny cable ferry across a channel to check out another Venetian edifice left standing with no apparent entrance.

I was worried riding along the coast would be uncomfortable due to heavy traffic but was pleasantly surprised. The traffic was light and the views were completely stunning. The hills seemed like they were falling into the deep blue sea. The roadside was pocked with concrete bunkers that Hohxa built as some sort of defense strategy against an attack that never came. The towns along this stretch of coast are largely Greek speaking. Many of them would be easy to mistake for their counterparts across the border a little further south along the Ionian sea. There is a strange submarine cave in the bay of Palermo a short distance north of Himara. The bay also has a beach and a well preserved castle which we explored in the late afternoon sun. We got to downtown Himara at sunset but the place we booked was one beach further separated by another tough climb. I took a snack and drink break on the boardwalk before continuing. I was super tired by the time I arrived in our beach community that Giulia referred to as the "Tulum of Albania." I forgot to put my riding gloves back on after my stop in Himara proper and found just one of them on top of my pannier when I got down the hill. That bummed me out. After dinner I went to the beach to try astrophotography for the first time and got a pretty decent shot of the milky way.

All good things must come to an end and my race was run. The crew decided to take on the Llogara pass, a 5000 or so foot climb, and ride to Oricum for the night but I didn't think I'd make it in a reasonable amount of time. I also decided to get back to Tirana a day earlier to take care of packing the bike and other formalities of returning home. After going to see some bunkers near the beach I started up the hill to go north in the late morning. As I rode up the windy road I saw some flattened roadkill in the other lane ahead of me. As I got closer I got irrationally excited. It was my missing glove; a bit run over and dirty but still serviceable. Tiny little wins like these are so rewarding when on a bike tour in a foreign country. Having a little extra time I explored one final castle, the one just up the hill from our beach resort in Himara. It was a mostly ruined one in a residential part of town. I had it all to myself and a small herd of goats. The rest of the ride was as gorgeous as the day before with small villages and views of the hilly coast. When I got to Dhermi I decided to arrange for a car to Tirana. I asked at the first place I saw but they were not helpful so I walked down a hill to a hotel who helped arrange a very professional driver. I rode the Llogara pass in a car. From the top it looked like the view out of an airplane taking off. A short while later, after the descent, we passed the riding crew who made it up and down the pass and were close to their destination for the night. Back in Tirana I rode the cable car that takes you up to the top of mount Dajti and had a few more terrific meals. Riding all these hills for 9 days was the most challenging trip I've ever done but also the most rewarding.