Day 38: Cycling from Berlin to Athens

Day 38

Shengjin > Lac > Tirana

68.7km

3 hours 51 mins

457m elevation gain

We had a good day of cycling, directly down South. I took us down some back roads for the first half of the day but then we inevitably joined the main road into Tirana. It wasn't too bad as the road was fairly slow and there was a little bit extra road so it made a tiny bike lane for us, I just wish it was a few feet bigger. We survived and got to Tirana, where there are quite a few bicycles on the roads - mainly boys - and even a few roadside bicycle workshops. 

Tirana - roadworks

On the approach to Tirana we experienced some "moving roadworks" again - where they are working on the road as you drive past. This time, 6 guys were negotiating the traffic whilst 5 heavy vehicles were laying tarmac as we went by. Some were picking up rubble, some laying the road and then a roller at the back to flatten. The guys telling us to drive by were laughing and motioning at us to peddle faster and get by quickly. It was all a commotion and then we were through! Phew. 

Sights of note:

• High five with a little girl - her top read "Here comes trouble"
• Moments later, an 8-10 year old boy drove past with his grandpa next to him!! He was going very slowly but it was a busy road!
• A guy on a moped with a fridge on the back

Day 37: Cycling from Berlin to Athens ALBANIA

Day 37

Dubrava > Albanian border > Rozafa Castle > Shengjin

79.2km

4 hours 35 mins

738m elevation gain

We headed out of Dubrava and straight up the hill towards Albania, going on the back road which was quite beautiful once we got up there. Our route for most of the day was much less busy and once we arrived in Albania the drivers were more courteous, giving space and we saw quite a lot of local cyclists as well as one big troupe of road cyclists who waved and shouted enthusiastically at us. Everyone in Albania is very chatty and they are excited to find out where we are from and what we are up to here. Everyone waves as we go by and shouts "hello" or "ciao". We did take one detour to get off the main road (which was much better for cycling), we then got a little lost on a gravel track, turned a corner to face a large gate with two guys in military uniform guarding it and a boy on a bike. We cycled up and asked how to get to Lezhe, one pointed through the gate to the right, the other opened the gate and the boy on the bike cycled with us to the right hand turn, his name was Alejandro!

The back road in Montenegro

Albania border

As we approached the border, there was a long queue which we zipped past and went through the walkway. This connects to the border guards checking the cars as well, but meant that we skipped the queue. We had 15km to cycle until the lunch stop and there's a single road to Shkoder, the fleet of camper vans who arrived at the border at the same time as us, did not get past us. So the wait time at the border must have been at least 45 minutes. Once we crossed the border we saw horse drawn carts, locals on bikes and mosques. Shanky used a cash machine on his bike (another currency here) and we found a small bike service workshop on the side of the road and two young guys pumped our tyres up, which we greatly appreciated!

A wave from a man on a horse drawn cart

Shanky using the cash machine on his saddle

The small bike workshop we spotted
just after Rozafa Castle - between the two rivers

Sights of note

• Lunch along the river Bojana and under the Rozafa castle
• Children waving from many school gates, waving and shouting "hello"
• One truck carrying hay bales with 3 guys sitting on top, I waved and they all waved and smiled back

Rozafa Castle on top of the hill, from our lunch spot on the river

We saw many mosques along the route

Shengjin

We arrived at the beach town which seems to be a party resort for the party animals of Albania. We tried to book a room at the hotel Adria which we found online but we saw that the doors were closed and as we stood outside on our bikes, two guys came past, who turned out to be the owners/managers. They said they closed up the hotel today as it's the end of the season, but they recommended a place down two buildings. We checked in at Hotel Rafaelo and I went for a swim. We went out for pizza and got bitten by loads of mosquitos, the restaurant owner came out with some bug spray after Shanky was going mad at the mosquitos.

The pool view from our balcony where
I took an evening swim

The sunset along the beach, lovely but there were many mosquitos

Day 36: Cycling from Berlin to Athens

Day 36

Budva > Dubrava

48.3km

2 hours 51 mins

1,340m elevation gain

We decided to take a shorter day today as I was tired and the roads here can be quite exhausting... the cars don't have much sympathy for cyclists and there is only really one main road unless you want to climb huge hills all day. So we took it slow and made our way along the coast, it had beautiful views and we still did have some up and down to climb. We stopped for lunch at a cool little restaurant with it's own beach and had delicious pasta. 

The lunch spot

Dubrava

We turned up in Dubrava and found a place to stay, checked in and then we headed to the beach for an evening swim! It was great and another wavy beach, we had to get in quickly from a pier and swim out, as the sea was covering the pebbly beach and crashing against the wall already. There was a beautiful sunset and we headed to bed early to prepare for the cycle to Albania tomorrow.

Rolling up in Dubrava ready for a swim

Sunset in Dubrava

Sights of note

• Three cyclists before lunch, and then spotted them later also - I wished I had stopped to have a chat with them 
• The island of Sveti Stefan, which is an old fishing village 

Sveti Stefan island

Day 35: Cycling from Berlin to Athens MONTENEGRO

Day 35

Dubrovnik > Montenegro border > Herceg Novi > Bay of Kotor > Budva

93.7km

6 hours 6 mins

1,675m elevation gain

This was a long day for us and was also full of change, we crossed into Montenegro, the scenery and weather changed all day and my front inner tube was changed - flat tyre number 2. We did a lot of cycling and by the time we reached Budva it was dark, so we were glad to have arrived in town and we were pretty tired. We also saw two snakes today, one as we were leaving Dubrovnik and then other was further along the Ciro Trail in Croatia!

Our bikes were hanging out on the steps in Dubrovnik

Croatia

We had been warned about the busy coastal road coming out of Dubrovnik, as it's the main road leading to the airport. I found with some searching online that the "old road" is still there but they have put up a barrier at the new road. So we headed up that route and saved ourselves 4km on the busy road and we just about managed to lift our bikes over the barrier. The road was busy and fast, but as it was Sunday morning I think there may have been fewer lorries than usual and the worst thing we found was the wind which was blowing hard against us and making the bikes unstable. We took a few breaks and carried on the 12km doing fine, we then took a left before the airport and joined the Ciro Trail route which weirdly has an extra bit here. It had different signs, but we did see one map with our signs on it, we carried on through many vineyards on a lovely clear road until it brought us back to the main road at Gruda. 

Vineyards and winery's along the Ciro Trail

Nice scenery along this route

Flat tyre no. 2 and the border

Just as we were approaching the border I got another flat tyre! This time on the front wheel and it was a thorn that went straight in and pierced the inner tube. We are more skilled now at fixing tyres and we did the job a lot quicker and the bike still rides fine as the front wheel doesn't carry as much weight. We then arrived at the border crossing which has a long stretch in the middle of the Croatian and Montenegrin passport controls, I'm not sure what's in the middle there. Funnily enough, in the middle area we saw a man on foot with a large suitcase heading for the border too. We joined the "bus" lane as there were a few other cars and he came behind us soon after, so it was a bunch of odd-jobs in the lane. We all got through and then we cruised into Montenegro.

The culprit - a thorn

Sights of note

• A man crossing the border on foot with a huge suitcase 
• The fortress in Herceg Novi 
• Lots of excitement in the evening for a basketball game
• We spotted the Hungarian guy walking again - but at the side of the road having a rest (from the wind probably)
• A line up of spotty minis

Herceg Novi fortress and bay

The line-up of spotty minis

The car ferry

 

After a lovely lunch in Herceg Novi we cycled through some of the Bay of Kotor and a huge rain shower. It had been dripping rain on us all day, we had the covers on but stuck with our t-shirts as the air was very warm and the light showers were a bit of relief. However, when we were approaching the car ferry the heavens opened and we had to take shelter. It was a huge rain shower and there was a lot of water on the roads after - the cars were splashing us after that. We got to the car ferry a bit wet but we jumped on with 3 minutes to spare, only to watch them cram on an extra bus which barely fit - they couldn't even fully pull up the back runway as the bus was hanging off the end. They didn't seem to mind though and we carried on across the bay. It was beautiful and nice to see the ocean and beaches along the way. The sun was setting as we rode and it lit up a cloud across the sky in a crazy way.

The car ferry and cloudy sky

Day 34: Cycling from Berlin to Athens

Day 34

Rest day in Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik old town from the city walls

We took a well earned rest day after a long week of travelling and although Dubrovnik old town is full of tourists, it is a beautiful medieval city. Also, we appreciated the feeling of being in King's Landing from Game of Thrones. First things first we put our laundry on and then went for breakfast which was a disappointing sandwich, however, the laundry worked so we are relieved to have clean cycling gear for the next stage. Shanky had a rest at our apartment and I went up on the city walls to take in the views of the city and the Adriatic Sea which was pretty cool. We then went for lunch and to the small beach - Banje Beach, to have a cool off and when there's an ocean nearby, I just can't resist a swim. It was beautiful clear waters and a pretty wavy sea, so it was perfect for me. 

Banje beach where we had a swim

Peekaboo on the city wall

I couldn't resist getting in the instagram
sign at the laundry

Route planning

After some sightseeing we had a look at the routes ahead, as we haven't planned very much from here onwards. It seems we cannot avoid the busy coastal road now but it won't last forever and we will enter Montenegro tomorrow, all going well. We then plan to head along the coast to Tirana in Albania and from there decide if we will go inland across to Thessaloniki or keep heading down the coast to Athens. We are reading many other blogs to figure out the best options for biking, so let's see. We did plan a route out of the city itself which avoids going back up the stairs but going down some stairs and then joining the road by Banje beach. 

Dubrovnik harbour

Dubrovnik by night

We went back to our favourite vegan restaurant - Nishta - and our favourite ice cream establishment - Sladoledarna - and then wandered about town listening to the different street bands performing. We also found the staircase and street of the famous Game of Thrones "shame" scene with Cersei Lannister. It was Saturday night so pretty buzzing and it felt weird to be on the way home at 10pm, our usual bed time, but we have a busy road and some hills to face tomorrow, so we have to be fresh. 

Staircase from Game of Thrones "shame" scene

Sights of note

• A basketball court under the walls - not even a full size as they had to squeeze it in
• The staircase from Game of Thrones "shame" scene with Cersei Lannister
• A tourist submarine you can take a ride on

The three-quarter sized basketball court

Day 33: Cycling from Berlin to Athens CROATIA

Day 33

Ravno > Ciro Cycling Trail > Dubrovnik

52.4km

3 hours 5 mins

444m elevation gain

We have made it to Dubrovnik and that puts our total to over 2,000km cycled so far! That means we have done two thirds of our trip, as we are estimating now that we will cover 3,000km. We are taking a rest day in Dubrovnik and we actually arrived at 3pm so we had some time to look around the old city, look out for Game of Thrones filming spots and to have some food - we found a vegan restaurant which was delicious - Nishta.

Dubrovnik - we sat in this bay while the sun set, between
the medieval walls and Fort Lovrijenac

A photo of me cycling today - with lovely mountains

Ciro Trail Day 2

Today's cycling was nice but it was hot and we finished the Ciro Trail at the Croatian border, without as many sights as yesterday. Most of the houses in the villages along the way are abandoned and there are signs warning about land mines and not to stray off the route, a sombre reminder of the civil war. What we did see were animals; a snake, a big lizard, many little lizards, a cow crossing the road and a fierce dog who barked and jumped all around us which was scary. However, we were finally rewarded with all our uphill work yesterday with a long descent into Dubrovnik and a lovely view. The roads did get busy and then we had to drag our bikes down steps to reach the apartment in the old and pedestrian (and many steps) part of the city - I'm just not sure how we are going to get back out of here!

An abandoned railway station

The view from the top

The view of Dubrovnik old town

Sights of note:

• A tandem at our hotel, with two Australians going in the other direction on the trail
• Warning signs about land mines
• A snake

Blueberry ice-cream today

Sunset in Dubrovnik

Outside table at Nishta vegan restaurant

Day 32: Cycling from Berlin to Athens - Ciro Trail

Day 32

Mostar > Ciro Cycling Trail > Ravno

91.1km

5 hours 32 mins

1,364m elevation gain

It started out as a fantastic day of cycling, we have been planning for a while now to take the Ciro Cycling Trail which is described as an 'open-air museum,' linking Mostar and Dubrovnik along the old railway route. For the first 40km it was a lovely ride, with very clear signposts to show us the way. We were cycling between the river Neretva and the new railway tracks for most of the time and we also saw a lot of the old railway such as old stations and bridges. 

Station Gabela, the starting point for narrow gauge railways

The river Neretva by our side

Railway Bridge Krupa - "Cross at your own risk!"

The ascent begins

However, after the first section of the trail, we had to ascend a mountain, at every turn the road just kept going higher and higher and the sun was blazing down on us. We also hadn't really been expecting it as articles about the route hadn't mentioned it. We persevered and at the eventual summit we found a little village and one guy serving drinks, thank goodness. We ate our picnic lunch at his cafe as well, with some chickens nearby. After lunch the route was flat and became a bit shaded, so we reached 90km and the Hotel Stanica Ravno which is a converted railway station and it's beautiful. Great views of the mountains and they have their own wine cellar with local wines, which we enjoyed.

The view of the lake from near the top

Colourful shrubbery along the trail at the top of the mountain 

Hotel Stanica Ravno, another old station, this time converted

The dinner terrace at Hotel Stanica Ravno

Sights of note:

• A Hungarian man travelling on foot, pulling along a trailer which I assume he sleeps in along the way, we had a quick chat with him
• A tiny turtle on the road in front of me, I just missed him (Shanky missed him too)
• Another abandoned car in a bush
• A cactus
• Loads of plantations of this strange fruit, see photo below

The Hungarian man's trailer, with flags from many countries

Another abandoned car in a bush

The mysterious fruit

Classic photo of a Bosnian car and countryside