Balkans_2018...You Only Live Once!

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
EVERYONE has to load arse-about....


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Made it by a poofteenth!!
:whistle::doh:


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Lake Komani....a 3hr. cruise up the Drin river and Drin gorge to Fierze at the other end.


ENJOY!!




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Sad!!! An all too common sight all over Northern Albania....rubbish and junk spoiling the most pristine environments!!

Tourism is the main cause... it's also the trigger for getting things cleaned up and shaking the environmental awareness.
"Clean up your house, or we'll move elsewhere".

Australia could learn a lesson from that as well!!






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Life along the lake-shore...via zoom-lens.



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Drifting towards the Gorge....and back-country.



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Boof-head-Rock?



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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
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I'm glad I listened to Hans and checked this out long before the start of the trip...this certainbly is a highlight.
And we haven't even seen the roads back to Shkoder yet!! :slobb



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One of nature's little surprises...


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Some impressive road-building towards Fierze...


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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Back on the road....and it's onto part two of the day.

First north to Bayram Curri for fuel and lunch....via some weirdo-roundabout which might/ might not be such....and Pete sailing straight through the middle across all markings.
TWICE!! :killingme
Well, screw that, if they can't make up their mind.... :upyrs:

It's a neat and clean little town barely 10 mins south of the Kosovo border, in which there seems to be a strict line between Cafe's (serving drinks only) and restaurants
(serving food and drink, but no coffee)


The little town is surprisingly clean and well-kept, quite different to most other places we came through so far :chug:
The road from Fierze along the river seems a quick and sweepy affair....beware the odd, very crude whoopsie, though!!
The kind that wants to take the bike for a 4ft jump across the road while trying to ram your bum-cheeks between your ears....and all at once.


In the wings.....one hell of an afternoon!! :wot:

Komani Ferry/ Fierze -> Bajram Curri -> Shkoder https://goo.gl/kMsqJo


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Immediately south of the new-ish dam and Hydro-Power station the SH22 single-laner climbs spectacularly
up the hillside and awaits with some surprisingly good asphalt.

Staying weary and alert for sure...but none of that constantly-on-edge
riding where even a micro-second lapse almost guarantees disaster.

Still, without any roadmarkings, posts, signs or armco and a 1000ft drop into a sea of rocks immediately beyond the edge
it certainly pays to not get sloppy.

The Belgian lady on her 700GS seems to be mortally intimidated, slowly wobbling across all of the road...all of the time.


SHOWTIME!!
:gday:



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Yumm, yumm !!! NOTE: NO TRAFFIC!!



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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
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Live by your wits....decapitation by local wire-installers are always a possibility.
Andrew signalling Goodie with a warning....



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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Famous Rog having a ball...



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...and who wouldn't at the sight of THAT? :woot:



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...STUNNED!!...This is simply too beautiful to just keep riding PAST. :glu:glu



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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
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Shadows getting long as unwilling bodies are peeled from the comfy chairs at the cafe in Fushe Arrez for the last stage back to base....


Yo, that's where we came from...and how wrong can a name be??

:D

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Cruising down the hillsides towards Shkoder and into the glistening confluence of the rivers Drin and Bojana (which makes the border to Montenegro).




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This way around I find the backroad-shortcut I missed in the morning and we just slip into home-base under a blood-red sunset...



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...what a gem of a day!!! :glu:glu:glu:glu


Thanks Hans for the initial Komani-heads-up all those months ago :bow:


Lake Shkodra Resort https://goo.gl/W71Tde
 

omi

Getting the hang of it
hi pete and team. !!!!!
why am i not 30 years younger ?? i would do this trip today. phantastic how long , long careful planing turns into this beautiful reality. lets you forget all the holes and broken surfaces on the roads . i can't wait for more . my heart is with you. omi
 

Zuckerbaron

Tour Pro
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Great find!! :chug:
(ok, dinner was a lake of molten cheese whatever the dish...but the beer was cold!) :killingme




Luckily there was no harm to Goodie!!
That place looks nice for the fact that it was a not planned stopover.
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Luckily there was no harm to Goodie!!
That place looks nice for the fact that it was a not planned stopover.


Yo, no idea how she walked away from that one without a a scratch.
The 650 looked like it had been through WW3.:doh:

And the "Luch" was a lucky find...what a beautiful, little resort up there in that saddle.
:clap:
 
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