Athens and Back Season 2 - Trip Report

[kevm]

Day 11 Korfos to Ioannina

After a very enjoyable but sometimes chaotic family holiday I'm on the road again. Greece is a wonderful place and even better when you have family/locals that can show you around (and translate menus). We spent about a week at a small coastal town a couple of hours from Athens called Korfos - a few tavernas, shops and docking for yachts and not much else. It wasn't exactly peaceful with three little girls aged 3, 6 and 7 (two of whom don't speak English) but great fun. I rode off into the sunshine late this morning and left the other three adults with kids, suitcases, hire cars, the airport and Ryanair to deal with.

It was a steady ride; about an hour cross country and another three on the motorway to my first stop at Ioannina (fyi pronounced yaneena. It's a medium sized city on a lake with a nice old town. I chose here partly because it's on the way to where I want to go and also because it's big enough to to have mobile phone shops. Annoyingly I've managed to destroy another phone, this time by jumping in the sea with it in my swimming shorts pocket. I'll try and get it fixed tomorrow but I'm not optimistic as saltwater and electronics don't normally mix well. If not I'll just buy another; it's not a disaster as I don't have expensive phones. I do have a backup phone, the one I use as a GPS, but it's old and clunky and the camera's broken.

Tomorrow I plan to try and find Greece's highest paved pass (Baros Pass) which is nearby and then head north towards Albania.

 

[Udders]

An excellent outing so far.

 

[Hairnet600]

not jealous in any way

kalimera

 

[kevm]

Day 12 Ioannina to Saranda (Albania) 162 miles

Definitely one of the highlights.

The hotel had a noon checkout so I had a wander round town after breakfast. I prefer seeing places in the morning as I'm not much of a night owl. I had a delicious home made pastry and Greek coffee mid morning at one of the many small, independent bakers, served by a smiling, smart, enthusiastic worker on proper plates. Of course not a patch on the greasy Greggs pie in a paper bag or pint sized paper cup of weak Costa coffee with an industrial cardboard croissant.

I left town about midday and headed for Mparos Pass. It's the highest paved pass in Greece at 1905m and it was spectacular, if a little scary. The road surface was mostly tarmac but there were a few gravel sections and a lot of fallen rocks. It was very narrow and steep and some of the bends were almost full lock u-turns. There were also a lot of cows on the road who were not much inclined to get out of the way. I also had a slightly alarming encounter with a herd of goats. The first I knew about it was when a large dog lunged at me, barking, from the side of the road. I then saw the goats, and two of them jumped up started barking at me too. So I now had three dogs chasing me whilst in the middle a herd of goats. It sorted itself out in the end; the dogs just wanted to chase me away, not attack me.

The other thing about Mparos is how empty it was. I saw, both ways, in total, only about 10 cars.

After the pass it was back past Ioannina and on towards the Albanian border. More nice roads, wider and less steep and a little more traffic. The border itself was easy, as they all have been. Passport, V5 and insurance and off you go.

I'm now in Saranda, which is a seaside town on the 'Albanian Riviera'. It's quite lively with lots of student types, clubs, etc. I'll see what it's like in the morning as I got here just before dark.

Not sure about tomorrow; there is a nice coastal road that starts here so I'll probably have a go at that in the morning. I need to head north as I've changed my plans; I've ditched getting the ferry to Italy and am going to go north through Croatia instead.

 

[kevm]

not jealous in any way

kalimera

It's mirëmëngjes now! And different money again.

 

[kevm]

Day 13 Saranda to Shkoder 220 miles

Quite a hard day and a come down from yesterday's high. The much anticipated Adriatic coast road, whilst a good road with great views, was very busy. And even before I got there, getting out of Saranda was a slow traffic sweaty nightmare. Not quite enough space between the traffic for a 1200 boxer engine meant I was crawling along at walking pace most of the time. The coast road itself was better but there were just too many cars and trucks to really enjoy it.

I then took the main dual carriageway north, which was again very busy at times and with a terrible road surface. The inside lane in particular was awful, with ripples, large cracks and even the occasional pothole. The outside lane was better but had some very fast and impatient drivers. I was glad when it turned single carriageway after Tirana, still busy at first but a bit more relaxing.

Central/north east Albania is very different from the south; a lot less developed and more run down. Groups of people hanging about, stalls selling stuff, people pushing handcarts. There was none of that in the 'Riviera'. Mind you, some Albanians see working in a UK car wash or for Deliveroo as a good career move so not really surprising.

I therefore wasn't expecting much at my next stop, Shkoder. I couldn't have been more wrong; it's a lovely little city with a thriving old town, loads of tourists, a cathedral, mosque and a lake (although I haven't seen that yet).

I'm heading north tomorrow but only after a quick jaunt up Thore Pass, which is supposed to be one of the best roads in these parts. After that I plan to get as far into Montenegro as I can, maybe as far as Croatia. A couple of pics of Shkoder and today's route.

 

[kevm]

Day 14 Shkoder to Cavtat (Croatia) 212 miles

What a day!

I started just after 9am, after a huuge breakfast that was part of my 32 Euro B&B. The brown round things are traditional deep fried pancakes. The woman who made them was sitting at the next table so I felt I had to eat most of them. I didn't need lunch.

Shkoder had another side to it; a much poorer, more run down one. As I rode through the outskirts there were people selling stuff on the pavement and lots of people just handing about.

My first stop of the day was Theth, which is in the Albanian alps. It was about two hours away and the last hour and a half was just breathtaking; high, jagged peaks and huge sheer cliffs. The road was really good (although there were a few potholes to catch you out). It was very narrow, which was a good thing, because cars had to slow right down to pass, which provided plenty of overtaking opportunities. In fact it would have been very frustrating in a car because there was absolutely no chance to overtake. Theth was a collection of hotels, cafes and adventure centres and not much else. It was strange because the roads in the town were all dirt/gravel. There were a few other bikes, nearly all GS or equivalents so my Sunday pub poser looked a bit out of place!

Theth is the end of the (tarmac) road so I did the whole ride the other way and then headed over the border into Montenegro. Some really nice roads again out of Albania and the last part of Montenegro is (again) stunning, with mountains and sea meeting. I'd already been to Montenegro on the outward journey so decided to press on to Croatia. I'm now in a small town just short of Dubrovnic, where I arrived just before a spectacular thunderstorm and a deluge of rain.

Tomorrow is going to be all about distance and I hope to get to, or close to, Slovenia. I know Croatia is nice but I was there earlier this year on a fly drive with Mrs M. So it'll be my usual distance day of three tanks of fuel and minimal stopping. I'll do something a bit more interesting in Slovenia I think.

 

[kevm]

Day 15 Cavtat to Novo Mesto (Slovenia) 378 miles

A long but quite easy day. It started off dry but then got a bit (actually very) wet. The first part on the road along the Adriatic coast was nice; sea and cliffs, small towns. It was quite busy but not unpleasant. After I got on the motorway it really chucked it down for over an hour. IT stopped eventually and got quite sunny and warm. The motorway was quite nice; quiet with lots of bridges and tunnels. It was the longest toll section I've even been on; it must have been over 200 miles. It was only 13 Euro though. The last hour was a nice run through rural Slovenia; very nice and very green.

Not much more to say apart from that I'm in a room above a pub in a small town near Lubjliana which I haven't seen yet (the town not the room) but will have a look tomorrow.

What I do tomorrow is weather dependent. If it's good I'm off up the mountains again between her and Austria, if not so good I'm going to find somewhere nice in southern Germany. It's touch and go at the moment.

 

[kevm]

Novo Mesto to Taufkirchen (Germany) 364 miles

This was the longest in time if not distance and the only day I finished in the dark.

I decided to do the mountains as the weather was OK and I'm glad I did. There is a road called the Vrsic Pass between Slovenia and Austria and I headed for that after breakfast. The roads to get there were super - nice, smooth, open roads with lots of bends and little traffic. The pass itself is very steep and twisty and each hairpin is numbered (1-50). A few other bikes and also quite a lot of cyclists. Not enough to get in the way though. The surface was much better on my way up than down; my down side was quite rough and a lot of the hairpins were cobbled. Don't know why, maybe a different council? (it's all in Slovenia).

After that it was motorway again, first Austria, then Germany. In Austrian service stations you have to pay to pee (70c) but get it off any of the very expensive stuff in the shop. In Germany the pee is free but the petrol is very expensive. In fact petrol in the UK is mostly cheaper than in Europe.

I'm feeling the cold now; it's at least 10 degrees less than it was a few days ago.

I'm planning to be home on Sunday so tomorrow will be another motorway day. I'll see if I can get to Belgium, which will give me a nice easy run to Calais on Sunday morning.

 

[kevm]

Day 16 Taufkirchen to Leige (Belgium) 425 miles

Phew, a long day. A bit dull tbh, just hours of autobahn, surprisingly congested and with a lot of roadworks. Just a steady plod at around 80, staying out of the outside lane unless I needed to venture into it. It was dry but I'm definitely feeling the cold now.

I had planned to be about 3 hours from Calais so here I am in Liege (or just outside it). I booked the hotel from my last petrol stop; Liege was quite expensive but I found somewhere that looked OK on Booking.com. It is OK, in fact it's very nice but it's definitely not an ordinary hotel. Come to think of it. the receptionist wasn't like the ones in the other hotels... I've copied the blurb from their website below. That's my room; one of the basic ones. I haven't seen (or heard!) any of the other guests - yet.

I couldn't be arsed going out for dinner so I thought I'd pop to a supermarket. I left it too late for any of the local ones (close at 8) so I had to ride the 3 miles or so into town. Cue the 3rd thunderstorm of my trip and I got absolutely soaked as I just wore jeans.

As I said a 3 hour dash to Calais to catch the 13:24 to Folkstone. With getting an hour back I should be home late afternoon.

 

[kevm]

Day 17 Liege to home 302 miles

I checked out of my love hotel about 9am. As she promised, the same lady came to check the room before I left and as I was getting kitted up outside she rushed downstairs with the used bedding/towels. Maybe someone had booked the 10-12 slot? BTW the rooms there were available in two hour slots, a whole day (11-5) or a night (6-10).

Not a lot more to say; Belgium, bit of France, le Tunnel and home. There were a few bikes on the train; the most non-GS ones I'd seen on the whole trip.

After a total of nearly 4 weeks away (the middle 10 days with no riding) it's nice to be home.

 

[Big Geordi]

Wow!! Go on yourself fella crackin pics and write up

 

[kevm]

Here are some stats for the trip:

Days on the road 17
Miles travelled 4826
Most miles in a day 425
Fuel used (approx) 85 gallons
Oil used (approx) 1.5 litres
Countries visited 12 (France, Italy, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Greece, Albania, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Belgium)

BTW Greece is an absolutely brilliant place for motorcycling. The roads are good and very quiet. Some of the scenery is simply stunning. Ancona in Italy is about 1000 miles from Calais and you can get a ferry directly to Igoumenitsa in Greece, which is near some really nice bits.