(Can't do pictures today -rubbish but free internet connection. Will post asap)
Had a mad day today and saw some weird
things. Rode down to Tirana. Left the hotel later than we'd planned
but that seems to be the way it is everyday, but then this is not a
race but a ride, so it doesn't matter. Two German bikers stayed at
the same hotel last night, and we all met in the garage this morning.
Nice guys, from Bavaria, and very amused by our trip.
There was bedlam outside the hotel.
Everything and everybody everywhere but that is clearly just the way
that town runs. The road was up, there were channels and holes in it
but it was still in use and one woman was even riding her pedal cycle
along a freshly dug trench. Maybe that was safer than the road. But
nobody bats an eyelid at any of this; they just stare and point at
us.
First weird thing I saw this morning
was a giant fish, freshly caught, in a standard fish tank like you
get at home. It was only about 10 cms longer than the actual fish and
the poor thing was obviously temporarily housed there pending its
execution.
The road to Tirana wasn't too bad but
it rained quite a bit, probably because of the surrounding mountains.
Passed a woman walking a cow on a lead, a dog sitting in the middle
of the carriageway at a roundabout, a man with such a big load of
freshly cut grass on the back of his motorcycle that it looked like a
moving haystack, and a horse standing on the back of a flat bed
truck, tethered only by a halter, and travelling at about 40mph. It
didn't seem bothered though, and looked like it did that everyday.
Tirana was interesting. It was a free
for all with the traffic, with people riding and driving wherever
they wanted. My rear light, brake lights and right indicators stopped
working so I fitted right in because nobody there uses them anyway.
Also noticed a very high number of
British registered cars – but very local looking drivers. The
vehicles also looked local and bore local stickers, so its probable
that they had been pinched off the streets of the UK. Definitely not
bona fide imports!
A cool Albanian word is " shitet " which despite what is sounds like, is actually Albanian for "sale" or " for sale" etc. But it also serves as a good indicator of some of the stuff we saw.
A cool Albanian word is " shitet " which despite what is sounds like, is actually Albanian for "sale" or " for sale" etc. But it also serves as a good indicator of some of the stuff we saw.
Spent the afternoon riding in the
mountains, literally with our heads in the clouds. Many hairpins, mad
drivers and worrying gaps in the barriers where somebody had taken a
shortcut to the bottom, and then zero visiblity due to cloud at the
top. But the locals were still flying along on the wrong side of the
road and high speed, and local vendors kept stepping out of the murk
at the approach of engines to try and flog us all sorts. It was a bit
like one of those old fashioned ghost trains; go round a corner and
dodge the scary thing that suddenly jumps out.
Later on we rode as far as Podrodec an
stopped on the lake opposite Macedonia. It is very cold and blustery
here because the wind is coming off the Macedonian mountains, and
blowing icy wind all the way across the lake. But we've got a nice
hotel right on the shore – 30 Euros for both of us with breakfast
included. Can't grumble at that price and I think we are the only
guests.
To get here, we again had to ride
through hills on roads that had masses of diesel spilled on it. Not
good anyway, but especially in the wet, as Nadine found out. A bit of
fishtailing and a front wheel slide but she stayed rubberside down so
that was OK. But both of us are grateful for the recent rough off
road experience we had across Africa.
The towns on the way here are
surprising too. Lots of what look like brick works line the road but
most seem to be derelict. Not sure why but there doesn't seem to be
much work about. There is some farming activity but they've clearly
had better days here and many bars and restaurants have closed down
and are now derelict. Shame because there is clearly a thriving local
population.
Through this bit of Albania, there are
many small round topped concrete bunkers. Apparently, former
dictator Enver Hoxha was a bit on the paranoid side, and ordered the construction of 750000 bunkers, or one to everyy four Albanians. They dot the landscape, now in varying stages of
disrepair. Not sure how useful they would hav been though, given the four minute warning and the fact that it takes bloody ages to get anywhere in Albania.
As for the bikes, mine now needs a
clutch fixing session, the rear lights sorting and the brakes
tightening. Nadine's is fine, although hers does run a bit rich and
tends to run out quicker than mine. Think we'll do that first thing
as we leave here this morning.
Useless snippet of information just
added by Nadine – Albanian has 27 words for moustache and 27 for
eyebrows. I am so glad we found that out.
