Day 10 365 km (total 3597 km)
9 hours in the saddle today & feeling it! I am now in Meteora, Greece with its stunning scenery ....
But more of that later.
First I just want to return to last night's hotel (the Drini Hotel in Durres, Albania). If you ever find yourself in the area it is well worth staying there, great service with really clean, tidy & comfortable rooms. The small team looked after me extremely well with a cold beer on arrival, a tasty meal, fantastic cappuccinos & even a small bottle of brandy as a gift on departure!
My room decor was unusual, (in a nice way) and included character bedside lamps ...
.... a nice change from the usual town or landscape paintings often found in hotels
... and even these two jolly chaps!
I forgot to ask what they were, but ended up calling them Sarge & Griff (in-joke!) A pink Koala would have made a matching trio, but the Aussie one is currently answering to the name Xanny, so perhaps the painting would be more appropriate (another in-joke).
Anyway a great small hotel in Durres, Albania.
An early start was called for so we were on the road by 0800, Alan & I would ride into Greece together but then split for a few days, hopefully catching up again in Turkey.
The road south out of Durres was nothing special, characterised mainly by the sheer number of petrol stations (mostly small & void of customers) & police road checks (who never once bothered us).
Further south the lanscape opened up and became more interesting, but I couldnt help feeling we weren't doing justice to Albania and that there would likely be many many 'gems' waiting to be discovered - the perils of a tight schedule unfortunately.
On the reccomendadtion of the hotel owner, we headed down a particular road through a picturesque area in search of a brunch stop. Not sure if this was the place he meant, but it was lovely food & full of character.
I asked for Lamb ... Which was exactly what I got ...
Very tasty & ripped straight off this
It was a nice pleasant ride along rural, though somewhat pot holed, roads after Brunch
You have to keep your wits about you though, take a look at the picture above ....
- that red car started to reverse out into the road
- there is a sharp right hand bend
- the signs warn of a narrowing road and danger of rock falls
- there is a dog walking along my side of the road
Just after that picture was taken, a car came round the bend cutting the corner onto my side of the road ... Breath in!
Anyway, all went smoothly, until we came upon the Greek border ...
Despite Q jumping most of the line, we were nevertheless left to roast in the hot sun for a long time, beginning to feel like that lamb I had just eaten!
Once in Greece, the landscape suddenly seemed to become greener & we were treated to some great high speed sweeping bends through the mountains, that is untill it started to throw it down - which probably explains the relative greenness!
We jumped briefly onto the toll road, which was an amazing constuction of alternating tunnels blasting through mountains and huge bridges covering the valley's - I wonder if this is where all the Greek money went? - very impressive engineering though.
Alan continued on to Thessalonika & I left the toll road to head for my next stop Kastraki, to see Meteora.
The road to there was fantastic - reminded me of some of the roads in Mae Hong Son province in Thailand.
Kept me fully entertained ..... right up until I came across this, which signified the next destination was close
Oops, not that one, this one, opposite
With a great view out of the bedroom window ... in a lovely village location
The main reason for coming here, apart from the cool scenery, was to see one or more of the monestaries perched on top of the sandstone pillars. Its too late to go today, but I hope to fit on in first thing, on my way to the next stop near the Turkish border.
In the meantime, here is a bit of background curtousy of my antipodean research girl Xanny! .....
'The Metéora (Greek: Μετέωρα, pronounced [mɛˈtɛoɾɐ], lit. "middle of the sky", "suspended in the air" or "in the heavens above" ) is one of the largest and most important complexes of Greek Orthodox monasteries in Greece, The six monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece. . The Metéora is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
At the end of the 14th century, the Byzantine Empire's 800-year reign over northern Greece was being increasingly threatened by Turkish raiders who wanted control over the fertile plain of Thessaly. The hermit monks, seeking a retreat from the expanding Turkish occupation, found the inaccessible rock pillars of Meteora to be an ideal refuge. More than 20 monasteries were built, beginning in the 14th century. Six remain today
Until the 17th century, the primary means of conveying goods and people from these eyries was by means of baskets and ropes.'
I'll try & get a picture in the morning ... Night!
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