Benjë (Permet) to Gjirokastër (day 6)

Bridge across the Vjosë river

After the heat of yesterday we both agreed to do the shortened version of today’s ride, ie cycle 47 km to lunch and then join the transfer to Gjirokastër rather than ride the additional 20 km or so down a busy road to our destination. Good choice. However Paul, DD, Kurt and Jan who decided to cycle to the hotel said they enjoyed it and the views were good.

I wetted my cycle shirt, arm protectors and head before we started off to keep cool. Brilliant, like having my personal aircon with the breeze from our movement flowing over me cooling me down as it started to warm up. Repeated the same trick 3 times to good, albeit slightly smelly, effect. Didn’t help that the last ‘pool’ I used to dunk my shirt at our coffee stop was a bit stagnant and muddy – yuck. Why didn’t I just dunk it in the washroom sink where I then had to go and rinse the stale mud out?? Glad that I was able to get our washing done at the hotel we stayed in that evening rather than relying on handwashing our kit.

Back to our ride, today we we dropped further in altitude as we followed the Vjosë river down towards the coast. The valley broadened out significantly during the day but was still bounded by  high mountain ranges on either side. In places we caught glimpses of where the river had cut a gorge through the valley. At other times we were cycling further away from the river through farmland.

• Waving back to a  farmer with his sheep and goats as I rode past him and he caught my eye. People are very friendly
• Passing a farmer just after our coffee break as he walked towards us with his cart pulled by a donkey full of cut wood
• the Këlcyrë Gorge cut by the Vjosë river, beautiful rock formations
• A wedding party honking their horns as they drove past us, all waving and full of the joys of life
• Buying a bottle of preserved oranges in syrup (very tasty) from a stall vendor by our coffee stop. He pressed some very tasty cheese and bread on me and I wanted to contribute something back. Tried it at lunch as it was very nice.
• Learning about the third religion (Bektashi) for Albania, a (relaxed) branch of the Muslim faith as we stopped by a burial site  of one of their religious leaders
• Coffee spot once again was excellent. Cycled through a fairly busy market town, business is open here on Sundays and a fair number of people were out and about. So it was really nice to ride to a location out of town, on the far side of the river to a peaceful shady haven.

After lunch as I mentioned we decided to take the transfer to the hotel rather than cycle. Mike was feeling a little poorly so stayed in the hotel sorted his videos and wanted Liverpool win against a Burnley via a penalty in the last minute – which I got back to see.

Meanwhile I went out with the group and Armand to one of their restored stone town houses which make this area so special. It was very interesting to be shown around and for the purposes of the different rooms to be explained. Have written a different post on the town.

Poor Mike missed out on dinner as he crashed by 6.00. I don’t think it helped that we walked down from the old centre of the town to the modern town on the plains below to pick up some water and other supplies. The walk back up a very steep hill carrying a heavy bag exhausted Mikes limited reserves of energy. Even a beer at a nice cafe in the old part of town did not revitalise him!

I had an enjoyable evening with the group and glad to walk back with Paul and Mary avoiding the steepest cobbled section shortcut for a slightly gentler longer route. Paul was kind to lend me Lec 1,000 for my washing (a bargain) which was sitting in a bundle in reception as we came in.

See below for a video of our ride. Note to see the full controls click on the < control on the progress bar. This will allow you to watch the video full screen.