4 October Ulcinj (M) – Laç i Qyrsac (A) - Mjedë

 

I leave Ulcinj at around 10.30 a.m. and feel my legs from yesterday. Bad legs, no doubt about it! Too many kilometers yesterday, I am sure.

This town breathes the more Arabic atmosphere, loud Islamic prayer calls from some of the mosques and few women in the streets. Bars with coffee drinking men, cars honking’ and many smaller motorcycles and mopeds. Of course no one wears a helmet and at night quite often they don’t have lights. It’s mostly men on the streets and many young, hanging around, smoking, heaving a coffee, but without a stable job. I sometimes wonder that they are so friendly and curious, often trying to start a conversation. Why don’t they just mug me and steal everything I have? My third-hand bicycle is worth a monthly income of 350 euro’s! This the most southern point of Montenegro, but it already feels like the world I am about to enter even more in Albania.

Through a beautiful landscape of a protected delta, with many wine and pomegranate orchards, some cows, a lost mule and some goats, I am approaching Shkodra.

I can’t resist stopping at a food-stall. The guy who flags me down later appears to be an American. He is already 6 months on the road with a smaller type folding bike and a trailer as a suitcase that can hold his bicycle. I remember, in the hours and days I spend in preparing for my trip, reading his blog. I even considered also travelling with such a combination. But I am glad I did not. It’s not necessary if you don’t want to load your bike on a plane very often.

A woman with good English sells her fruits. The fruit is juicy and sweet. Time to get on the bicycle and move on. After I have passed the border, which is by bicycle a lot faster than by car or bus, I decide to stop and lunch at a small bar. The guys inside speak a little Italian, but a young girl is called and communicates easy in English. I eat an enormous fresh salad and some French fries. I also manage to buy the Albanian roadmap 1:200.000 that I saw earlier. Luckily I have enough Euros, because I haven’t been able to get a hold of the Albanian LEK. (1€ = ca. 140 LEK)

The lunch is 2 Euro and the can of juice 1! The western products also penetrate this country and will most probably destroy the locally produced lemonades etc. I remember this from my trip to the Baltic States in 1993. It seems unavoidable, through the infiltrating communication, then only by TV, but now also by Internet, it creates an image of a society that doesn’t exist in reality. However, it looks promising and everyone would like to be part of it.

fishing with big nets in the Drini at Shkodra

Up to now the roads have been good and the traffic calmer than in Montenegro and Croatia. The only thing lacking are town signs, so you need to ask where you are. But the Albanians are quite willing to explain with hand and feet if needed. They also do not trust maps and that comes from experience. The roads are just a little different than mapped, so you better listen to them!

At 5 p.m. I reach my destination and I stop at a restaurant, owned by a real businesswoman. 

It’s built with natural materials. After receiving info that the only place to sleep is the hotel 2 km back (Mjedë), I bike back. After some bargaining, I have a spacious room, with nice beds, WIFI and shower and check in. I am beat. It’s good I did not go further than 60 kilometer today.

I dine out at the earlier mentioned restaurant, speak with some locals, one being a very loud speaking Army Major. He also owns a gas station and goes to his second job for the night. I ask him about his beret. Why does he wear it when he is of duty? He laughs and wants to know my profession. When I joke that I am also military he asks: “secret police’? No SAS I tell him. Now he is really lost. We have some laughs and he buys me a wine. At nine they leave.

I bike back through a pitch-dark night with my flashlights on my head and on the bike. Don’t want to ride into one of the holes and crash my wheels. The Milky Way enfolds above me. The village is already asleep by 10 p.m. Life starts early here 5.30 at light break. I crash and dream.