We start heading down the mountain that took us so long to climb, enjoying the view but also being very very wary of the steep edge. That is not the side I want to fall down, as I will not be coming back up!
The mountain is steep, and we are (well, at least I am) tired, and hungry! Soon, we reach the very small town of Thethi. We meet some fellow Czech motorcyclists who are ahead of us. While Radek talks with his fellow Czechs I stop to take a quick video of the Thethi… the music makes the atmosphere complete! And was I surprised to see that Czechs have already marked part of the small sitting area!
We head to the restaurant to eat and order some meat to fill us up. As we are waiting for our food another group of Czech motorcyclists (one was a girl on a Transalp, right on!) heading in the other direction. Amazingly, one of them knew Radek as they went to Ukraine together! The world is still small, even in Albania. As we are standing there talking an Albanian police man comes to check our passports. No idea why, I suppose just checking who is coming through? After he approves us, we say goodbye to our friends who hope to make it to the other side of the mountain before night fall… We know that they have a long trip ahead of them!
We head back to our food and eat. I make a quick bathroom stop. The bathroom was so lovely in the restaurant I have to take a picture! It even had a shower! 🙂
Little did I know that would be one of the nicer toilets I would see in the next few days.
We continue on our way, the shadow of the mountain making it seem a lot later than it really was. A fork in the road causes us a bit of confusion, but Radek soon finds the correct route.
The area here is very flat, with a lot of abandoned houses which I find fascinating…
In this area the hardest terrain is the bridges… I’m nervous, but with Radek cheering me on I make it without a problem.
We soon come to a break in the shadow of the mountain, arriving at another fork in the road… however this time it is much easier to tell which route not to take.
After awhile of riding we begin to get a better view of the mountains we just traversed.
The shadow is welcoming compared to the hot sun we were riding in earlier, and while the road climbs and drops it is nothing as steep as earlier in the day.
The part that scares me the most are the stream crossings, as everyone knows water is slippery!
However, Radek shows me how it is done and I nervously follow him without a problem!
We continue on our way with a few streams here or there. There are many abandoned houses, and we pass by only one village that has people actually living there. I personally don’t know how they do it, what they do there, but there was a small shop and a few cars parked outside so they must get out of the town some how…
I wanted to stop there for the night, but the boys were nervous and we decide to go further on to find a nice camping spot. After about 20 minutes riding we reach a nice bridge crossing over the stream we had been following for some time.
And there is what looks like a great bathing spot!
We all wash our sweaty, stinky clothes, hang them up to dry (following Mrazik’s lead), and jump into the freezing water to bathe.
Afterwards I take a quick walk around our camping area before it gets dark, noticing that we are sleeping right next to a grave!
There is another abandoned house not to far away which I explore. I imagine this house must have been something great in its day!
But someone must have been working here recently, as the grass was cut and stalked not too long ago.
Soon it becomes dark and we start to hear some gun shots in the distance! I become a bit nervous but am so exhausted I quickly fall asleep without another thought about it… tomorrow will be another long day off road…