From Cerrik to Korce

this part of the trip was very tough. till Gramsh the road was ok, but after this town we had no asphalt at all. potholes , old roman streets, or gravelled roads were permanently there. many hills and most of the rain.it was exhausting but the landscape was gorgeous. suddenly a car came around the corner and I noticed a German car registration nummer..It was Günther, Martina and Walter from hobo offroad aus Ebersberg which is only 40km to Munich. the frame if their car had a serious defect but it was great to
meet them. in the evening we did oir first wild camping in the middle of nowwhere. first we looked for some water. I have a Katadyn water filter so we can drink water from everywhere. Astrid is our Manager for food and she prepared a delicious meal. our tents were close to the road and suddenly two guys came to us asking in Albanian language where we come from and we had a small talk and I was a little bit careful but no problems at all. we started the next day at
9 a.m and we had the same conditions
as the day before. Due the fact
that we have no shocks at our bikes we have to drive very slowly through the potholes. average speed for thos day was only 6 km/h. we met Norbert and Martina from Frankfurt in their Landrover Defender. they were very astonished to see us. we had a funny meeting and they gave us two bananas. hope we keep in touch. the weather was better but we were very groggy. we found a beautiful site for
camping close to the river Devoll. we
washed ourselves in the river and
this was great. pure life! after some noodles we went to sleep. Astrid met
some fishermen and they told her that the bad road ends in 7 km. in the morning I felt not very well. a tribute
to the days before. we cycled
very slowly and we first we did
not noticed that there was asphalt again. after 50 km with very bad
road this was like christmas and easter together:-). we cycled through Maliq
and we were really shocked. a
big factory was totally destroyed. after the dictatory under Hodzca the Albanians destroyed their own factories because they had to work there as slaves. on the one hand you can understand this but they had
no alternatives and this is the
reason why this country is just poor and the unemployment rate is very high. we arrived in Korce and decided
to take a hotel. we had meat
and pizza in a restaurant the owner helped us to find a good and not
expensive hotel. a relaxing situation after two and a half days heavy cycling.

from Durres to Cerrik

22.05. start to Cerrik. rain and rain. as we arrived in a small suburb we asked a man sitting in front of his house for a guesthouse. nothing at all here. the man, Edward spokes English fluently. he is a carpenter and worked for seven years in London. now he has his own small business and builts his beautiful house together with his brother in law. they are one of the well of Albanians
we had a funny small talk and he invited us to stay the night. no way to refuse this excellent offer. we had a delicious dinner with the whole family and very good discussions . after a big breakfast in the morning we startet to Korce. statistics:63,5km , 3h 32, avs 18 total 2041

from Shikaj to Durres

in the morning first I had a defect tube. we started one hour later than planned to Durres. in Durres we had a pizza and met Alfred who lived for several years in Munich. after the pizza suddenly i felt very sick. we continued our trip on the highway but I felt worde and worse. We stopped for a few minutes a taxisbus stopped and a man contacted us. it was Florin. he lived for two years in Braunschweig and he noticed my bavarian flag. he will open his bunker cafe (bunker from 1980) and he invited us for a coffee and we joined him close to the beach. I was feeling continouisly bad so we asked for a apartement. i was ill for three days then Astrid was ill. but no reason to be sad. Florin told us so many details about Albania, it was amazing!
I really do not know why Albania has a so bad reputation ... only very friendly and helpful people.

from Shkodaer to Shijak

a really tough trip with 113 km heavy rain and an average speed with 20,4 km/h. we cycled on the main road leading to Tirana. in comparison to the days before we felt being fast as an arrow. no mountains no hills and the wind was our friend, too. it was not very interesting. to Kruje we had to take the highway we asked a policeman and he confirmed it. through Kruje it was very funny.manny people waved us the cars we using the sirene. but we are always happy if we can leave a city asap. we decided not to do camping so we find a cheap room close to Shijak. we had a delicious dinner and a very friendly discussion with the owner of the hotel and his friends in a mixture of Italian English and French. after five beers it was time to go to bed.

from Dobri Voda to Shkodaer

from our beautiful hotel we started at 10 with much headwind .during the night it had rained and the weatherforcast was not good . it was quite cold. we pass Ulcinj a well known wine region in Montenegro and it began raining strongly. the road was not very hilly and our rain equipmwnt is really good. we cycled through a beautiful canyon. before Vladimir we had some spaghettis in a very new shoppimg center. never expected such a big store in this region. some motorbikers from Italy had lunch too. it was still raining cats and dogs . we came to Vladimir and at a gaz station we noticed some motorbikers from Austria having some coffee. they came from albania and warned us off the bad
road to the border. now some flash of lightnings supported the rain. the road was really bad . we arrived at the border and the police of Albania was extremly friendly. on our way mamy people waved us. in Shkodaer we decided not to do wildcamping it was to late and so we grabbed some Lek from the bankomat and took a room in a hotel, having the promise from rhe owner that our bikes are safe. in bigger cities it is always the same; thieves are all over the world. the dinner on the evening with traditional fish was very delicious . for the next day we will have rain too.....

Simona and Ratko from Munich

I have a small flag from Bavaria on my
bicycle. suddenly a car stopped in Bar and Simona and Ratko contacted us while we were looking for a guesthouse. both are living in Munich and Ratko is from Montenegro. they offered us a room at his sisters hoise but we already booked an apartememt because it was quite late. but we have seen them again. we had coffee cake and "brotzeit" with them and it
was so great ! thanks you for your invitation !!!! and again Mark came along.... he joined us at Simona and Ratko .... small small world :-))

trip to Bar/Montenegro

we startet our trip quite early in the morning to cycle with cooler temperatures but it became
very hot and many mountains had to be climbed. we met Mark again and he stopped his trip in Sveti Stefan, a high class hotel. he knows the manager due
to his job. we climbed one mountain to the other and were really groggy. in the evening we had good luck and found an apartement at the seaside. really beautiful and due to my big
problems with my back we stayed one day longer.

Mark from London

I met him by accident in Dubrovnik. he wants to cycle to Hongkong and we will see us several times again by accident.....

camping close to Budva

now after 1600 km alone Astrid and me are cycling together. we met many Russian cyclists and after 95 km we found a camping site what was in no good condition. no showers no toilets but many moskitos. good to have Autan.... . on the camping site there came two Russians with bike, too. we had a glas of wine together and it was very funny.

arrival in Dubrovnik

after 40 km I arrived in Dubrovnik. there were many climbs.first I met
Manfred Hubert and Robert from Villach Austria and half an hour later Robert and Bartek from Poland. they had the same trailer as me. I found my apartememt very easy. in the evening I met Astrid and her friend Thomas from Austria. Astrid and I will now cycle together to Asia.Dubrovnik is really gorgeous. very old and so interesting. I had a guided tour and in the afternoon we met us for the cablecar to go to the summit . great view over the city !

from Mala Duba to Banici

95 km with many mountains, permanent wind from the frontside and much traffic I arrived in Banici a very small village 40 km from Dubrovnik. the border to Bosnia Herzegovina was also to pass. I am really groggy because it was a tough trip. streets are sometimes very dangerous apart from the trucks and buses, they are often milled in directiob to travel and for bikers really nonfun. i met Thomas the motobiker from Bamberg. have a save trip !!

from Split to Mala Duba

now Sunday it was the day to start from Split to Dubrovnik. it is Sunday and no trucks will overtake me too close. the coast line is very beautiful and people are very friendly. i met Daniel the motobiker from Munich and Dimitri the cyclist from France . in the evening I looked for a warm shower and the friendly couple Cancar,(with her niece Tanja) who worked for 40 Years in Germany offered me room. was great to met them.

now in Split

the last few days were as well as boring as exciting. the region from Plitvicka Lakes to Sinj has very low population and most if the people are quite poor. many houses are still destroyed from war in 1991. people look at me as an alien but they are very friendly when I contact them. I met a young woman walking from Split to Sinj for a religious purpose. we had a very good discussion and the told
me her story which was not very
amusing. great to meet her. my trip to Split was quite dangerous due to the fact I took the A1 built 15km as a highway. what a horror trip ! arriving Split a women from the market offerd me a beautiful apartment close to the city centre. I did a little bit my
laundry and then I visited the histroc city . Great !!!!

on the road to Zadar

after this beautiful np Plitvica it is time to travel again. On the 11th of May I would like to be in Dubrovnik.it is amazing how low the population on this region is.

Plitvica lakes

really beautiful . great nature !