We left our fancy digs on Lake Ohrid and headed towards the Kosovo border eventually staying in a highly recommended Hostel in a small town, circumstances were against us as myne host was nowhere to be seen , we arrived at 2 and he finally appeared at 5! We then walked to a Pizza place for beer and pizza surprisingly! On the way back we said hello to a woman sitting outside a shop , we asked if she sold beer so we ended up staying there for an hour talking with her about this and that, Chick Murray joke, I don't know much about that or this! She was actually the schoolteacher at the local school and we got some history but Fiona and I later agreed there was much more this and that that was held back.
Fiona bought a bottle of the local hooch a kind of Rakiga we had no whisky so that had to do for a nightcap, very pleasant it was too.
To be honest despite the issues it was an ok place. The following day we rode to the Kosovo border, 10 euros each for 15 days. After the border for 10 miles the road was atrocious, I was thinking, " jesus why did we bother" but eventually it turned into a UK type road ( not bad but not great either) we rode into Pirzren And found our hotel with the help of a local who actually showed us a video of exactly how to get there!
I need to say Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo people have been incredibly friendly and helpful, the cafes, restaurants and bars have been cheap and all the toilets immaculate. What happened in the UK?
Out for a beer and food later we met a couple of guys from England doing a long tour , Steve and Alex on a couple of Hondas. Later on they joined us for several beers , Alex showed me his Norton and AJS tattoo, how funny is that, I spent a while trying to persuade him to rejoin the dark side!
Meanwhile there seemed to be a bike rally on as more than 100 bikers rode by ( again and again ) A great night in good company.
Sunday we rode out of Kosovo ( the cheapest of the Balkan states) and headed back over the border to Albania finding a nice roadside hotel near Bajran Cuŕri , once again a gem of a find sited by the side of a river and popular with the locals, photos tell a better story. Smoking is very much a thing here, strange to have an ashtray put down in front of you as soon a you sit down. I've never been a smoker but what right does the government have to tell us what we can and can't do?
Monday we left for a short run to Kukes , short mileage wise but over spectacular mountains which equated to 3 hours in the saddle. After a lunch stop it started to get dark and eventually in rained a bit but we arrived almost dry as the thunder and lightning got going.
Transpires Kukes was full of UK registered cars, i suspect many of them being the Albanians who appear in our newspapers, the town itself looks stunning as you descend into it , the town itself isn't much to look at but we landed lucky by staying in the best hotel in Alabania so far, a family run hotel, very modern and the owners family couldnt do enough to help you. It was my birthday the day after so we had a bit of a party and the next day the daughter of the owner who so runs a fan̈tastic bakery knocked a bit from the bill saying the last.2 beers are on us. Super nice people, a gem, well worth a visit, the mountains surrounding are pretty spectacular and despite the bad press they trying to build up tourism, a big shout out the Baz'hur Boutique Hotel.
The ride through the hills was a a partial back track of the previous day but then heading for Kosovo, Just before the border we saw a coo, not unexpected and quite common on these roads but it seemed a bit pissed off and had a wee charge at me as I rode past, Fi was a bit freaked out so waited until it calmed down before she drove past it. A memory from William Topaz Mcgonnigal famous poem " upon the hill there stood a coo, it's not there noo, it must have shifted" new meaning " Upon the road there stood a coo, it's still there noo, for gods sake get moving we have miles to do"
And so back into Peje Kosovo to another family run hotel, one of the owners has a bike but he had never heard of Norton, staying another night to try to educate him
