Finally Almost to Shkoder

We just crossed the border into Albania. The roads changed from paved to gravel (for the next 70+ km).

We thought our luck had finally run out when we crossed the Albanian border and the smooth, paved road immediately turned to gravel under our tires. We knew things were worse when the coasting downhill we'd expected turned out to be more uphill, and the road deteriorated from grated pebbles to rim-bending boulders. We made it about 10 km into Albania in the first 6 hours of riding—the amount of time we'd budgeted for the entire day's journey to Shkoder.

Then, things really got worse: the road momentarily got smoother and tricked us into breezing past a small town with water in their stores, cafes, and a nice camping spot. We figured that with the good road, we could still make it to the coast. After about 15 minutes of paradisiacal downhill riding, we got to the pass that I can only assume gives these hills the namesake of "Cursed Mountains." The sun was out in full force, squeezing every ounce of moisture from our pores and quickly forcing us to drain our water bottles. With nothing left but an apple and a cucumber for hydration, we slowly pressed on, walking our 20-kilo bikes up 10% grades and treacherous switchbacks for over an hour before Albania decided to relent.

The beautiful and challenging mountain road from Gusinje to Shkoder

Finally, a break came when a friendly shepherd offered to flag down a truck to give us a ride. He succeeded in his first attempt, and we loaded our gear into the flatbed of a truck heading in our direction. With our benefactors at the helm, we traversed the pass that clearly would have been impossible for us on our own, especially given the state of our water supply, our fatigue, and our battered wills. The ride was an eye-opening experience. We'd heard that the pass we attempted to cross was over 700 vertical meters, but the reality of that distance didn't strike us until we looked down from the top, into the tiny, rocky river below. If we'd been at the tip of a skyscraper, looking down at the base, it would be just slightly shorter than Dubai's Burj Khalifa. Stephanie carried an impressive conversation in pidgin Italian for over 45 minutes, and then they left us on the smooth tarmac of a small town just 30 km from Shkoder. The sun was already disappearing, so we posted up in Koplik for the night—20 km short of our original goal, but securely nestled in the agricultural Albanian flatlands.

Terrain: We cycled about 87 km along the notoriously dangerous SH20 mountain road. Mostly uphill with strenuous climbs over mountain passes. In Montenegro the road is paved. Once in Albania, the majority of the road from Vermosh to Tamare is in very poor condition, all rocky and none of it is paved. Frequent steep ascents, descents and deep puddles of water. Since you're going through mountian passes, it can be hot one minute and windy with heavy rain the next. The road between Tamare and Hani i Hotit is under construction, and be aware of a very steep climb before entering the flatlands. Note Google Maps indicates there are several "villages" between Gusinje and Hani i Hotit, but they are really just a few scattered houses. We did this ride in one day, but it was exhausting: prepare and carry extra water and food to have a safe and enjoyable trip on this road. 

Success in Plav

After a long day of filming, a photo op with the staff and volunteers of Prokletije National Park

Our exploring and filmmaking in Plav went extremely well, mostly owing to the enthusiastic team behind Prokletije National Park. It didn't hurt that the food was fantastic and our hotel was perfect (read: cheap). We conducted interviews with the park's director, Enko Dreskovic, as well as Alsen and Irfan, two key volunteers who impressed us with their dedication to rebuilding tourism in their home region. The team also took us on an afternoon outing in and around the park, giving us ample opportunities to capture its dramatic beauty in high-definition video.

The town of Plav has provided us with the perfect backdrop for our adventure. Though it's seen busier days—decades ago, Plav was Montenegro's top tourist destination—it's full of spirit and laid-back charm, and offers magnificent scenery over Lake Plav.

For our last night in the area, we elected to set up camp in one of the park's most scenic valleys. We'll hop on our bikes and head to Gusinje, about 15 km from Plav, where the entrance gates to Prokletije National Park will be built. We're saving our burek for after we've erected the tent and started a fire.

Done biking for the day! We found a perfect spot to set up camp.

Tomorrow we'll cross the border into Albania and head south, hopefully reaching Shkoder. So far we haven't been biking much, so this 103 km journey may be quite a challenge.

Podgorica to Plav, Montenegro

After picking up our bikes from the awesome folks at Tempo Bikes in Podgorica, we headed toward Plav, a small mountain town in northern Montenegro.

Buses between Podgorica and Plav were too small to fit our bikes, so we had to take a larger bus to Andrijevica, fortunately just a smooth and scenic 20-km ride from Plav. We were treated to gorgeous mountain and river views the whole way, and friendly traffic that honks in greeting rather than scolding.

Upon arriving in Plav, we touched base with the office of Prokletije National Park and scheduled interviews for later today. We'll talk to them about their work with the park, plans for the future, and the climate for eco-tourism in northern Montenegro and the tri-border region (Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania).

So far everything's off to a great start. For now, we'll get back to our burek!

Where we are: Montenegro and Albania

During the next few weeks we'll be biking through Montenegro and Albania, two countries that make up the Balkan Peninsula. We'll be producing a series of films and supplemental media about transboundary parks, bicycle infrastructure in the Balkans, as well as documenting the humor and challenges of our own experiences traveling by bicycle.