The embracement of a detour entails the discovery of beautiful panoramas.

Some people asked us if we were heading back home.

The answer is definitely NO! but YES! we made some little detour to the bay of Kotor, finishing our Cycling route ‘Dwars door de Balkan’ with some magnificent landscapes. The photos are only a faint representation of the beauty we encountered (corresponding photos to be found @photocorner day 17/05 until 22/05).

It’s impressive how fast people and landscapes change after border crossing.

As we passed the Albanian border, we bumped into a group of people who were making a video of girls in Albanian traditional clothing. With broad smiles they invited me to make a photo of us together.

Albania greeted us with very spontaneous laughing and enthusiastic waving from young and old, shepherds on their way to their fields, a lot of Albanian cyclists (what a contrast with Montenegro) on all kind of – quite beaten and often a little rusty - bicycles, …

Our day ended finding an ecosocial farm near to Shkoder (https://www.ecosocialfarm.com/) – a place of harmony where they give shelter to cyclists. Next to that, this beautiful project aims to increase social inclusion and provide space for social economic integration for people with low contracting capacities. Together they set up all different projects: cooking and birthday events, an organic garden, a solar built energy system, … They host travelers (you pay a free amount between 3 and 10 euros to support the project) and give them a place to reload their batteries.

We got a cosy room, could use the kitchen and had interesting talks with this mixture of volunteers and cyclists. It all really felt like a home. A memorable encounter!

A perfect place to prepare our next challenge… the Peaks of the Balkans. See the next post!

Written 22-05-2022