Megan Melcher
Six days from Istanbul, we took our first rest day in Thessaloniki to catch up on sleep, email, and socialize with fellow travellers. The next day, we were back on our bikes heading towards Macedonia. With freshly rested legs and two nights sleep in a bed, we were ready to tackle what Kellen referred to as a "pretty difficult couple of days." We had a lot of climbing ahead and I tried not to let the daunting elevation map get in my head. I'm not sure whether it was my rejuvenated quads, the gorgeous scenery, or my attempts at having an 80s dance party on my bike, but the hills seemed much more manageable this time around. Dare I say, I actually enjoyed them.
While traveling in Macedonia, we created some new riding games to spice things up on the road. International “caution” signs are labeled simply with an exclamation point, and we decided that a scream or exclamation was required for each of these signs we passed. The punishment for missing was a shirtless kilometer with as many waves, thumbs-up, and laughs you can get from passing cars (don’t worry, I was still allowed to wear a sports-bra). Despite many "Woohoos!!", "Go Blues!!", "Scotty Doesn't Know!!", and Albanian exclamations, we each found ourselves with a couple kilometers to work on our tans and generate laughter from the others.
Six days from Istanbul, we took our first rest day in Thessaloniki to catch up on sleep, email, and socialize with fellow travellers. The next day, we were back on our bikes heading towards Macedonia. With freshly rested legs and two nights sleep in a bed, we were ready to tackle what Kellen referred to as a "pretty difficult couple of days." We had a lot of climbing ahead and I tried not to let the daunting elevation map get in my head. I'm not sure whether it was my rejuvenated quads, the gorgeous scenery, or my attempts at having an 80s dance party on my bike, but the hills seemed much more manageable this time around. Dare I say, I actually enjoyed them.
While traveling in Macedonia, we created some new riding games to spice things up on the road. International “caution” signs are labeled simply with an exclamation point, and we decided that a scream or exclamation was required for each of these signs we passed. The punishment for missing was a shirtless kilometer with as many waves, thumbs-up, and laughs you can get from passing cars (don’t worry, I was still allowed to wear a sports-bra). Despite many "Woohoos!!", "Go Blues!!", "Scotty Doesn't Know!!", and Albanian exclamations, we each found ourselves with a couple kilometers to work on our tans and generate laughter from the others.
Pay attention to the signs!
Megan was sharp on this one
The language barrier has continued in full force through Macedonia and Albania and it has caused us to think a little more creatively. It is fairly easy to identify the most unsuccessful ways of communicating: repeating the same word over and over, raising our voice, and watching the locals spell out words in the air. In contrast, we have become experts at charades and have learned that squawking like a chicken and flapping your arms is in fact an effective way to order lunch.
After our brief 27-hour crossing of Macedonia, we rolled into Albania. In the first town, we were scoping out a spot to eat and asked a couple standing outside a restaurant if we could look at menu. In a matter of seconds, Bill was speaking with somebody on the restaurant owner's cell phone. Over the course of a few phone calls with several of their English speaking friends and relatives, not only had we ordered a traditional Albanian dinner, but we had also secured a camping spot in their back yard for the evening.
After our brief 27-hour crossing of Macedonia, we rolled into Albania. In the first town, we were scoping out a spot to eat and asked a couple standing outside a restaurant if we could look at menu. In a matter of seconds, Bill was speaking with somebody on the restaurant owner's cell phone. Over the course of a few phone calls with several of their English speaking friends and relatives, not only had we ordered a traditional Albanian dinner, but we had also secured a camping spot in their back yard for the evening.
"Hi, I'd like a table for three"
The “lost in translation” fun continued into the next morning when the old woman running the restaurant was looking through my bag trying to make sense of my foreign products. Through another game of charades I tried to explain to her the benefits of sunscreen, but by this time she had found our tub of anti-chafing cycling gel (or as we know it, “butt cream”) and was already applying it to her feet. As she began to feel the tingling sensation on her heels, she gave me a friendly smack to the face and walked inside. The three of us were on the ground in laughter.
Breakfast with "butt cream lady"
Following a delicious breakfast with “butt cream lady” and her husband, we made our way towards our biggest mountain yet. On the way, we stopped for a quick lunch in a city called Elbasan and received a rather thorough Albanian lesson from the proprietor Lule and his family. I have been very impressed with Kellen's ability to pick up certain local words and phrases after spending only a few hours in the country. He had mentioned to me the importance of learning a few simple phrases such as "hello", "how are you?", and "thank you!" to warm up to the people we meet. It has already become apparent how some people really do appreciate the effort we make to learn the local language, including Lule, who was happy to be our Albanian-English dictionary for the hour. Before leaving, we took a quick snapshot outside the shop. Lule promptly told Kellen to "Facebook him," and we assured him that the photo would be posted and tagged appropriately.
Facebook Friend Request: Lule
Our second rain storm came at a rather opportune time. As we began climbing the mountain pass standing between us and the capital Tirane, we were hit with steady rainfall. It was actually a nice change from the beating sun and it gave our farmer’s tans an afternoon off. Looking up from the base of the mountain I thought, "Oh, there is no way this road actually goes alllll the way to the top. I'm sure it just curves around to the other side at some point." I was wrong. It went all the way to the top. About 3 hours later and after several generous fruit donations from the roadside vendors, we reached the top of the pass and were treated to the most breathtaking scenery of the trip.
Singing in the rain
Single rainbow all the way! What does it meannnn?
I now understand why Kellen “loves riding up mountains.” We rode 30km along a ridge with beautiful deep valleys on both sides before descending into Tirane. It was gorgeous.
Conquering mountains
Riding along the ridge
Gorgeous scenery
Our last night in Albania we stopped in a small town called Shkoder to pick up groceries for dinner. When we stopped to ask for directions to a market we were passed over to an 8 year old boy who would walk us to the store. This boy was eating what looked to me like a delicious popsicle and so I asked him where he got it. Before I knew it was buying popsicles for what seemed like Shkoder’s entire under-10 boys soccer team that had come out of nowhere. It was these boys turn to play charades, pointing out the “local drunk” and trying every trick they knew to get me to laugh. (It worked). I was only saved by Kellen and Bill exiting the market and getting us moving again to find a campsite.
Popsicles for everyone!
Albania has been my favorite country so far because of the fun interactions with the people. At one point I passed a group of kids on the side of the road and was proud to earn four high-fives in a row. Then I realized I had only sparked everyone’s excitement, and Kellen and Bill were able to pass with seven and eight high-fives, respectively. These type of interactions are a wonderful experience and I hope they continue in Montenegro and Croatia.
More beautiful Albania
Three amigos
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