Struga, Erske, Permet, Gjirokaster, Ksamil, Parga, Prebeza, Kryoneri, Patra, Paralia Probitsas, Kineta, Athens
It was a day off to have a look around the town of Struga on the shore of Lake Ohrid.
I checked out the beach. I wasn't sure what to expect given the name but it was fine.
The campsite was a fine but the caravan were well secured. It was like some kind of Soviet time warp.
Beer and chips.
There was some kind of folk festival on with people from Montenegro, Croatia and Poland there.
Maybe this is where all corn in Croatia ends up
The view after a climb out of Pogradec
I arrived in Korca during their yearly beer festival. I thought I would get somewhere to stay and drink at the festival but there as no accommodation available. I did find a suite at a hotel for 100 euro but I declined.
After taking a beer and evaluating my options I decided on a short taxi ride to Erske. This was my only time in a car in Albania and given the driving I was happy it when it was over.
The dinner I had in Erske was sensational. It was called a mixed plate and was $2.50. I have no idea what he green thing are.
From Erske it was onto Permet. It started flat and then there were hills.
This is a typical Albanian road. It goes from being a smooth surface to a cycling minefield in the space of 20m. This was the beginning of a long downhill that at times I was doing 8kph going down. I had to stop a number of times to let the brakes cool down.
The road sign is always an indication that there is some uphill to come.
Once again Albania delivered some great scenery, some climbs and some rough roads.
The view from the hotel in Permet. There are not many camping grounds in Albania but the hotels are cheap. The quoted price for a room is always 10-15 euro. This is odd as the currency used in Albania is the Lek. I explain I don't have euros as I am not from Europe and negotiations end with it costing around $10 a night.
Given the state of the roads there and the way the Albanians drive there are many roadside memorials for people who have died in traffic accidents. These were all over Albania.
Honey sellers in at a roadside stall on the ride from Peret to Gjirokaster.
There are some excellent roads in Albania. The highway to Gjirokaster was wide, smooth and fast. It was good to get back onto the tarmac.
Gjirokaster - Its old town is inscribed on the World Heritage List as "a rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman town, built by farmers of large estate (thanks wikipedia)
Looking up the street from the hotel.
I think the car is for sale but I cant be sure.
One strange Albanian passion was the car wash and these were everywhere. There was also the Albanian t-shirt roll up. For some reason when men get too hot they roll their t shirt up while wearing it to make it into a crop top. Its very strange and unique to Albania.
The climb out of Gjirokaster and the last major one in Albania. Just to 500m this time so about an hour. I don't know if they had a shortage of bollards but there was plenty of room to drive your car through if you so desired.
This is the seaside resort town of Sarandra
The undies/togs issue was always on display in Europe and the further south I went the worse it was. On the left here are some people in undies walking the street. The sea was around 3km away and just visible in the centre of the picture.
Instead of staying in Saranda I made my way to a campsite at Ksamil.
The campsite was right next to a nightclub on the left here. I was lucky enough to be able to listen to live Albanian folk music from the comfort of my tent. It went from 8.30pm until 3.30am. Very special.
There was a short ferry crossing after leaving Ksamil. I think this crossing was on the Top Gear Albania show.
Albanian road sign directing me to Greece.
The final small Albanian climb.
The tour de Albania was great. It had some incredibly tough days with big climbs and descents and high temperature's. The scenery was incredible and the people of Albania very friendly and welcoming hosts. The roads aren't great but the scenery more than made up for that.
Its only a matter of time before the tourist masses descend on Albania (like Croatia) and I am sure that it will change dramatically over the next few years. So if you are in the area then it is definitely worth a visit. It would be the perfect place for a week or two and ideally suited to drive around in a rental car or a stolen Mercedes.
So it was onto Greece.
It was a long day getting to Parga. It was hot and far more humid in Greece.
I found some shelter on a roadside and watched as group of goats went by.
The town of Patra. Here I had a day off, bought a map and worked out a route to Athens.
This is the tunnel at Prebeza. It goes under the sea and by going through the tunnel saved me a a day biking around a bay. As I approached there were signs saying no biking but I ignored them and carried on through.
This is the fragga cappuccino. Unique to Greece its iced coffee with sugar and is topped with whipped milk or whipped cream. These things are amazing and I would have at least 2 every day I was in Greece.
The next stop was Kyoneri as it was the next closest camp site (160km).
Powered on by freddo cappuccinos I arrived at 7.45pm and it was pretty much dark when I got there. It was a great ride along the coastal section but the final hour was spent hugging the side of the motorway as darkness fell. I had covered the 160km in 8 hours 36 minutes (bike time) so it was a new distance record but it was a tough day. There were 3 x 250m climbs (30 minutes each) and some rolling hills in between.
Dinner after my 160k effort. A few days later I realised that Greece is in a different time zone to the rest of Europe and that I had actually arrived at 8.45pm - no wonder it was dark.
Unfortunately the campsite had been closed a year earlier so I was directed to a beach not far from the restaurant. It was a good spot and I could see the lights of Parar in the distance but once again it was the curse of the nightclub. This time it was Greek songs and house music for me to listen to in the tent until 4am.
After an early start it was a big climb then down to the bridge at Patra. I took the free ferry across a I didn't fancy the bike lane on the bridge.
It was 40km to Patra and I broke the 500km/week barrier in the hills for the first time. I was happy but exhausted. I left Zagreb nearly a month earlier and I had been biking 6 days a week since. It had been hills/mountains and heat since then and after 160km the day before I needed a break.
So it was 2 nights in a hotel in Patra and then make a plan on how to get to Athens.
After looking at the Internet and GPS I couldn't find a route that would get me there in time and avoid the hills. So I went to a bike shop and talked with a guy there. I found there was an old highway (A08 - bikes allowed) that ran parallel to the new highway (A8 - no bikes). I don't know if I was happy or sad about this. I did really want to bike into Athens but I was so tired that a bus sounded like a good idea. In the end it wasn't a difficult decision. I must go on - biking with the 3 french had taught me that. So it was back onto the bike for the final 3 day stretch into Athens.
It was so good to be back on a flat road. There was a bit of traffic but it was a good ride along the coast.
The campsite at Paralia Porobitas.
The main square in Corinthos.
The Corinth canal
Volcano Land. Apparently it has something to do with dogs.
It had been a long time since I last had milk so I was very excited to find a supermarket and get some.
At times the A08 was a motorway and others just a coastal road.
The final day into Athens was a odd experience. For months I had wondered what it would be like to ride into Athens and when it finally arrived it was a mixture of emotions.
I was happy that I had finished the journey from London to Athens but at the same time I knew it was only the end of the European tour and that there was far more to come.
I did laugh and smile a lot and thought about how far I had come, the good times, the difficult times and the people I meet along the way - in particular the 3 french.
The main feeling though was just of relief that it was over.
It had been an incredibly tough 3 months and I just wanted it to stop. I needed it to stop as mentally and physically I was done. Its a funny thing to get to the end of a journey by bike. Unlike the events I have done at home there is no finish line, there is no medal and to the other people you see you are just a guy on a bike. A guy who looks dirty, tired, has a bike tan and a big smile.
Athens! 4947km, 88 days, 11 countries, 3 amazing french, 2 punctures and 1 epic journey.
European Tour Awards
Its been nearly two weeks since I finished the European tour and one of the things I thought about a lot in the last week on the bike was highlights and lowlights of my journey.
So here they are.......
Best drink
The frappe cappuccino (Greece) Its cold, sweet, creamy coffee and they are sensational. It so good I usually have one then order another.
Worst drink
Beer & Cola (Germany) This unfortunate mix of liquids is availble everywhere in Germany. Amazingly people drink it and its even on menus in restraunts. Its simply awful but fell free to try it for yourself.
Best Beer
Germany. Each town had a different beer and they were all very good. The schwartz beer is a similar colour to what we have in New Zealand but a whole lot better.
Worst Beer
France. For a country that makes the best wine you think they would put some effort into making a decent beer. Kronenburg is the only beer that was widely available. Even Albania had more that one type of beer.
Best Wine
France of course.
Worst Wine
Albania. Think of a $5 bottle of bad supermarket red wine then imagine it tasting twice as bad. That's Albanian wine.
Best Roads
Switzerland. They have a massive network of bike paths. I say bike paths but they were mostly 2 laned roads set aside for biking. I would love to have stayed longer but its far too expensive.
Worst Roads
Albania. It could go from a good sealed road to something that was a cycling minefield in the space of 20m.The downhills on some of the roads was terrifying and going downhill at 10kph with the brakes on while weaving across the road isnt fun. Plenty of times I had to stop just to let the brakes cool down.
Worst Traffic
Croatia The coastal road was just too busy to bike. It was like trying to bike on the Auckland motorway during peak hour with no space on the side of the road. Terrifying.
Funniest moment
8am in a town somewhere in Germany with the 3 french. Margeaux and I are stretching getting ready for the 100k to do that day and we hear the sound of a bottle lid coming off. We both looked around and Vincent has opened a beer. We look at him and he just says "I am on vacation, I take a beer". Much laughter followed.
Best Day
Koman - Valbone. It started with a ferry ride and raki and after a long climb ended in a spetecular valley surrounded by mountains.
Toughest Day
Toughest Day
Kukes - Peshkopi, Albania. It was hot, there were mountains and I averaged 10.1 kph.
Lowest point
2 days after I left the 3 french I was sitting at the base of a hill in Austria that was 1000m. I sat for an hour thinking that I cant do this, what am I doing here, how can I go on. I climbed the hill.
Random New Zealand moment
Hoentegen, Germany. Im buyng stuff for a BBQ and Brooke Fraser comes on singing "Theres something in the water" I stood there thinking whats in the water Brooke - I was to go swimming in the Rhine later that day.
Random Gear Failure
The Ortleib pannier is supposed to be indestructable. I had just arrived in Seebenstein and was sitting in a park thinking I needed somewhere to stay. I had decided to camp in the park and was just about to leave when the pannier fell apart. The 3 screws that hold it togeather fell apart at the same time. It took me an hour to put back togeather by which time it was dark so I ended up staying at a Convent just across the road. Of course I had to have the 8 euro breakfast too - how do you say no to a nun.
Random Near Miss
I was getting off a bus in Croatia and had my bags in the middle of a car park. I see a man who appears drunk drive up and park near by. I move the bike and one of the bags onto the grass out of the way when I hear a scrapping sound. I didn't have to look, I knew this idiot had driven over my bags. I go over to the car and 1 of the panniers is trapped between the rear of the front wheel and the car. The other 2 are just about to go under under the back wheel. I drag them away we give each other the thumbs up and a he drives off. There was noting else I could do. If he had gone 1m further all my gear would have been crushed.
Random T-Shirt
Lot of people have t-shirts that say something. I was going up a hill after leaving Dubrovnic. It was hot, there was traffic, I was tired and the t-shirt said "why choose this". It made me think.
Worst Drivers
Montenegro. I was only there for 3 days but it was the closest I have come to being knocked off my bike. Drivers would turn corners directly in front of me meaning I take the corner as well or be knocked off. This happened every day I was there. I was also the only place I got to watch a car race on a highway. It was a VW Polo up against a Mercedes sedan. The polo took the lead by overtaking on a blind corner in the wrong lane. After that I lost sight of them but I could hear the race continued further.
Most Widely Travelled
The Germans are the most widely travelled people, they were simply everywhere . In cars, vans, motorbikes, motorhomes, they are all over Europe on holiday. They were also the loudest people, and the ones most likley to talk to you wearing only underwear.
Best Place to Cycle
France. There were people on bicycles everywhere. There were many bike paths, clear direction signs and cars gave you at least 2m when they were going by. It was fantastic.
Worst Place to Cycle
Croatia. Its just not made for biking, especially the coast. It was a real shame as the scenery and hills would have made for some fantastic riding.
Friendliest Country for biking
France. Everyone you went past on a bike said bonjour. They were always interested in where you were going and where you had come from. It was a great place to bike around.
Least Friendly Country for biking
Germany. Maybe cultural thing where you dont acknowledge the presence of anyone else but I rode past hundreds of other cyclists, waved or said hello and got no response.
Undies/Togs Moment
It was in Austria where a man was biking along the road wearing nothing but a pair of speedos. I dont know where the water was but there must have been a pool or something within 15kms. Just after the speedo biking man disappeared there was a Camel walking along the road. It was very strange.
Country I want to move to
France. The people, the scenery, the food, the wine and the joie de vivre made it the only place on my European tour I want to live in. Its also the only place I saw rugby grounds. French passport holders please contact me so we can arrange a marriage.
So thats the end of the European Tour. Its now Cairo (where I am currently at) and then to Cape Town. Its taken far longer to write this up than I expected. The internet here is not good and I needed a week to get my head around what to write.
Hope you have enjoyed reading about the European tour and now the African Adventure awaits.
Thanks everyone who I have meet and who has helped and supported me along the way. I may be out there on the bike but knowing that there are people supporting makes it easier.
Kyle
