10. Shënmeri to Prizren (Kosovo)

Not much sleep last night.

Was that a bed bug…? Or a flea? And the pillows smelled rank. “You’re getting soft in your old age” chirped Iain. Too bloody right…!! Not the best of nights at all!!

So after a quick coffee…we got on the road early…bike (if not body) batteries fully charged! And yes…..up and up again….for another relentless 600m climb!

Lovely…but it was mizzling and damp…..and cold! 

As we approached Kukes….we tried once again to avoid the motorway..

But to no avail! Our wee side road went through the middle of a rubbish dump…home to at least six big and loud dogs! We promptly turned around…..

…and – yes – took the motorway!! (…& to think, on this road we are probably only three hours from Rreshen!!)

It was good to arrive into Kukes…where we stopped for coffees and food!

And thence on to Kosovo!! As with the entry into Kukes…..there used to be a road to Prizren…then they built the motorway along a similar (but straighter) route…and simply destroyed the old road wherever necessary! I had studied thus route quite carefully…and there seemed no way to avoid riding on the motorway!!

Not pleasant at all! It was not overly busy…but it was fast…!! And after about five hellish kms we pulled in to a service station…and discovered an old section of road running parallel for a bit. Jumped the fence….

…did a bit of cross country..and found it!!

And for a while it was really very pleasant, if a bit bumpy!!

Until…..a wee farmlet…and…more dogs! Those big sheep dogs we had been warned about!! Doubly aggressive this time….and they chased us for what seemed like ages! Needed a stress-break shortly after…our hearts beating out of our chests!!

A bit more of the old road…but then we were forced back on to the motorway for the balance five kms to the border!!

A wee bar appeared just before the crossing…and a calming beer seemed like a good idea….and a good place to off-load some leftover Albanian Leks. But no sooner than we had beer in hand..so relieved to have got this far…that a policeman turned up! Come with me…he said! But…but…we are just having a beer. “Passports please”! So we duly handed them over….and he would not give them back. “You must come with me!”. All felt very strange…and very uncomfortable! While we finished the beer…an interesting conversation about our bikes…”How much?”…so we lied and offered a figure half of the real cost…to which he replied…”in Albania, you can buy a car for less than that!”….hilarious really!! For yes…they are “cheap” as chips…but they are all stolen!!! And the police know they are all stolen! 

Anyway….we swallowed our beers…and went with him…..walked across the motorway, to be led into a windowless “garage” where his mate was waiting. We tried to keep things light-hearted..but we were both a bit concerned! 

They asked to see our bags….so we opened up our respective “day-packs”…containing nothing but water and an extra layer of clothing…and then…”ok, you can go now”. So bizarre. And they paid no attention to the bricks of cocaine filling up our bike panniers!! Part of me thinks they had never seen any cyclists at this crossing….(who would be mad enough!?)…& just wanted to be seen to be doing something with such a rarity!!

Anyway…we were quite glad to get into Kosovo!! Albania had once again given cause for lots of laughs, and lots of worries. Again, delightful people…great cycling (in the main!)…but plenty of challenges!

So…can we count Kosovo as a new country visited? It is not part of the UN so maybe not! Still Albanian people (well, the vest majority!), Albanian language…and – oddly really – the Euro as their currency!!

25kms into Prizren…with one stop…..

….and thankfully NOT on a motorway!! The traffic built up as we went, until it reached complete chaos in the city!! But we found our wee apartment by 2pm…..both hugely relieved, and exhausted!! High fives all round…for that had been a monster two days! Nearly 4,000m of climbing…(that is three times up Ben Nevis…!)…plus dogs…police…isolation…and motorways!!

Time for a brief siesta and beers! A time to explore tomorrow…a well-earned rest day!