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Dan did a little mountain climbing with his Anakee 3!
https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7284/2...12defb3b_b.jpgRubik CC-20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7307/2...f8dc161c_b.jpgRubik CC-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7339/2...2557cf6d_b.jpgRubik CC-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7600/2...b48afa7e_b.jpgRubik CC-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
From here we were headed south to Berat, but decided on an off road route. We are well aware of the risk of off road route in Albania, where the conditions of the roads can be very bad, but the plan was about a 20 km stretch or so we thought. The first part to Klos is paved as is the first 2 km up the side road.
https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7467/2...7d815ba5_z.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-02 at 16.17.21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7397/2...5f389d51_b.jpgBerat CC by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7709/2...e71d88fe_b.jpgAlbania-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7689/2...a44e55d3_b.jpgAlbania-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7781/2...aa050a86_b.jpgAlbania-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7650/2...f0a2c653_b.jpgBerat CC-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
It is then unpaved and much of the time un road like. It was a challenging 8 hours to finally get back to the pavement. As usual as the road got worse, we got more tired, and the stress level increased the photo taking was abandoned. You can see how close the every 15 min SPOT dots are at times! So heer are some pics of the easy bits.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7290/2...94ab3ac4_b.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-02 at 16.19.59 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7568/2...7bfb083e_b.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-02 at 16.22.11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7226/2...d2929a30_b.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-02 at 16.22.46 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7302/2...0fd1aba9_b.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-02 at 16.20.21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7368/2...8e086fd8_b.jpgAlbania-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7078/2...069141ca_b.jpgAlbania-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7360/2...a50b5559_b.jpgAlbania-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The initial part was up over a mountain pass and then down across a bridge into a small village. We met this herdsman who actually spoke English very well.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7437/2...b2f6d7e8_b.jpgBerat CC-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7592/2...371fa2e2_b.jpgBerat CC-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7010/2...e9fc8846_b.jpgBerat CC-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7432/2...ee949909_b.jpgBerat CC-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7176/2...3c2e36f0_b.jpgBerat CC-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7302/2...072a1546_b.jpgBerat CC-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7315/2...8080000e_b.jpgBerat CC-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7377/2...0e3bbe44_b.jpgBerat CC-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7302/2...b6c65bbb_b.jpgBerat CC-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7567/2...69a735e7_c.jpgBerat CC-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We stopped for a drink in the “restaurant “ in Xiber murriza and headed out again. And looking back now we had mad a turn somewhere off the main road. How we are not sure, but after here is where the route got really tough at times and mostly donkey track.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7421/2...b06498a5fa.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-05 at 13.16.46 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7571/2...8d4bb168_b.jpgBerat CC-20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7330/2...5a870dda_b.jpgBerat CC-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7476/2...57daa5be_b.jpgAlbania-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
In the base of several of the valleys the route was more like a river bed and there were a number of water crossings.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7247/2...bb7caf7e_b.jpgBerat CC-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7304/2...f4d6aa60_b.jpgBerat CC-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7722/2...bf7271d4_b.jpgBerat CC-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr There were some pretty steep and rocky up and downs and a lot of switch backs. https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7407/2...b44280cc_b.jpgBerat CC-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7370/2...c47bd64c_b.jpgBerat CC-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7751/2...8ecf5e8e_b.jpgBerat CC-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7535/2...28928cf5_b.jpgBerat CC-31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7052/2...65c083fa_b.jpgBerat CC-32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7564/2...a6aaf74e_b.jpgAlbania-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7758/2...a680f94b_b.jpgAlbania-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7189/2...b33e4353_b.jpgAlbania by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr This is the only other vehicle we saw and this is 5 hours in. https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7072/2...3980406a_b.jpgBerat CC-33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7366/2...5447521e_b.jpgBerat CC-34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
These bunkers are located all over Albania. There is a great article done by Merlin and Rebecca Merlin and Rebecca: The Concrete Pillboxes of Albania
“Over 700,000 bunkers in Albania were constructed during the nearly forty-year rule of Enver Hoxha – one for every four inhabitants. The bunkers are still a ubiquitous sight in Albania, with an average of 24 bunkers for every square kilometre of the country. Hoxha's programme of "bunkerisation" resulted in the construction of bunkers in every corner of the then People's Socialist Republic of Albania, ranging from mountain passes to city streets. They had little military value[citation needed] and were never used for their intended purpose during the years of Communist rule (1945–1990). The cost of constructing them was a drain on Albania's resources, diverting them away from more pressing needs, such as dealing with the country's housing shortage and poor roads. The bunkers were abandoned following the collapse of communism in 1990. Most are now derelict, though some have been reused for a variety of purposes including residential accommodation, cafés, storehouses and shelters for animals or the homeless. A few briefly saw use in the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.” https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7364/2...fa3410f4_b.jpgAlbania-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Here is one from the south. https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7621/2...2dbb388b_c.jpgBerat-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
At about 6 hours in it started to poor and luckily we came upon a village soon after. Here we took shelter under some trees, but we were soon asked into a grocery shop for shelter. Here the family gave us cold drinks, peaches, and walnuts from their tree while we waited the worst of the downpour out. We stayed about 45 min, but as we still have a long way to go we headed out again.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7368/2...40fc4a02_b.jpgAlbania-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7406/2...47298458_b.jpgAlbania-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Lulu did have a few dirt naps today. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7364/2...4dfef2c8_b.jpgBerat CC-36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7424/2...febb8286_b.jpgBerat CC-37 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We came to this cross road and after scouting both routes they were both really technical. We went back to the last settlement. We stopped again to ask these kids for direction and again they spoke English well. We had missed the turn on the “road” since it did not look very road like.
https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7447/2...6752bb89_b.jpgBerat CC-38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7304/2...257dee32_b.jpgBerat CC-39 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The route then was across a river bed for a km or so, but at least we finally saw vehicles!! https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7585/2...97fd877f_b.jpgBerat CC-40 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7405/2...6d4fa404_b.jpgBerat CC-41 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7359/2...cf1f265c_b.jpgBerat CC-42 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7343/2...c68cc58b_b.jpgBerat CC-43 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr After this the last half hour finally the route was like a road and we could make some time. We hit the SH 61 finally for a maintained gravel road. https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7229/2...a316472a_b.jpgBerat CC-44 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7021/2...0b165798_b.jpgBerat CC-45 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
This brought us to the capital Tirana at about 730 pm. At this round about we were in the left lane and about 3 minutes later we were pulled over by an unmarked police car. This would be the first time in 4 years. He cut Dan off to force him over3 lanes and could have caused an accident. This was all just to warn us that in Albania motorcycles are not allowed to drive in the left lane. Hard to know since there are almost no motorbikes or scooters in this country.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7354/2...cd1dc6bf_b.jpgBerat CC-46 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We then still had 123 Km to go to get to Berat on the highway. https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7391/2...8ec544c087.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-02 at 16.18.17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We arrived here after dark and had to get directions to the hotel since the GPS was telling us to drive up a stairway on a path. The hotel is actually inside the walled hill top Castle of Berat. This is up a brick road and into the walled city. Here we were warmly greeted out on the road by the owners, who had begun to worry about us since we arrived so late. They had heard the motor coming up the hill and came out to make sure we found the way in the dark. We felt so grateful for the family of Bora, Leo, Xeno, and Klea for taking such wonderful care of us. We were so exhausted we stayed 2 nights.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7512/2...68087caf_c.jpgBerat-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7193/2...5ea8807e_c.jpgBerat-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We rested most of the day but did take time to tour the small old city and the museum and take a walk down into the city to see some of the churches and mosques. https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7302/2...24c5985a_c.jpgBerat by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7484/2...84ba7086_c.jpgBerat by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7058/2...273145a1_c.jpgBerat-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7547/2...341cccaf_c.jpgBerat-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7444/2...35812a91_c.jpgBerat-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We headed this morning out of the castle walls and then cross country to the city of Fier. Nearby is the ancient city of Apollonia, which was a very important place in the past.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7377/2...5ca3dbdd_b.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-03 at 20.12.58 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7373/2...d3bd5467_b.jpgSarande CC by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7407/2...a5a69824_b.jpgSarande CC-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7680/2...47baff87_b.jpgApollonia-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7402/2...bc9cea53_b.jpgBerat-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flick https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7405/2...715b8907_b.jpgBerat-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7289/2...22ecb963_b.jpgBerat-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
In Ancient Apollonia we toured the museum and the ruins.
https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7203/2...94a4ff5d_b.jpgApollonia-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7316/2...a5153b9e_b.jpgApollonia-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7445/2...21e2fba4_b.jpgApollonia-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7094/2...73aa60f5_b.jpgApollonia by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7620/2...3c8505c9_b.jpgApollonia-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7215/2...7b11009d_b.jpgApollonia-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
From there we are going to the coast and down the scenic SH8. Some of this is thru the Kombetar Llogara National Park. (Goggle will not route thru from Ducat to Dhermi in the park). The road climbs up and down the mountain over numerous switchbacks.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7353/2...8575efd8_z.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-03 at 20.14.27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr From the top you have a view of the southern Albanian coast and the Greek island of Corfu. We ended the day in the beach side town of Sarande. https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7579/2...3c2cce46_z.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-03 at 20.13.57 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7565/2...086a040f_b.jpgSarande CC-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flick https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7383/2...767c93e6_b.jpgMeteora by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7159/2...e650ebed_b.jpgSarande CC-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7199/2...4bee430c_b.jpgSarande CC-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7191/2...8c351d4d_b.jpgSarande CC-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7739/2...ed8ddfa3_b.jpgSarande CC-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7294/2...53cb7455_b.jpgSarande CC-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7306/2...e5ea2e42_b.jpgSarande CC-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7304/2...176d8df1_b.jpgSarande by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
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