Qerret to Sveti Stefan
We've looped back just south of Durres by now and are readying for the next part of the trip.
When the good times are good in the world of Motorcycling, all is well with the world. Whistling a happy tune, the hat on the side of the head, greeting the birds, "hello birds" and the trees, "hello trees" and the flowers, all of that old bizzo.
But I can't say today is one of those vintage days. Last night was bad, itching for a lot of the night. Not much sleep. Doing the running man in bed is a pretty stupid thing to do as well, it may not be actually you scratching yourself, but you're doing the same pretty much. Dimwit. The stuff is all over my chest now and from ten yards, stripped to the waist I look like I'm wearing a pink tank top with little red poppies on it.
I phoned the insurance company last night about seeing a doctor. Their advice was to find a doctor. Sound, not unexpected I suppose but they had no suggestion of who or where, no list or guidance. See a doctor, get a bill, send it on. Fair enough I suppose. My local friends here said not to worry about bothering with all of that. A good pharmacist here should be able to help. So we wheel on in to the local town of Kavajë early in the morning to see what we can see.
I can't say I'm impressed with the location so much in terms of a cutting edge medical sense. I sort of neglected to get the Pharmacy in to the picture. Its just to the right of where this photo was taken. I did get you a café full of sweaty blokes playing checkers though.
But first impressions sometimes don't work out as anticipated. Inside the pharmacy it is very modern and seems vast with huge floor to ceiling cupboards full of all manner of pills, potions and jolop. I'm presented by my Albanian chum to the young attractive and helpful lady behind the counter who looks over top of her glasses at my lovely decorative features. My local guide says that I'm English, I get that much and she instantly turns to my known language set with a very charming American accent.
"This to me looks to me like an allergy" she says. "Have you been exposed to anything different, anything new of late?" I can't think of anything, I'm stumped.
She disappears into the labyrinth of shelves and comes back with a box, in it lies a small tube. "Use this twice a day for one week and stay away from sunlight for thirty minutes after you put it on". It was hardly any money at all. Is that a good sign? Hmm. But inspection of the tube shows that it is manufactured by Bayer & Bayer so I'm back in the hands of those Germans. Another reassurance- we like this.
Back to base for application of the new goo, half an hour of hibernation and then packing for the off. Goodbyes are said, I'm a bit sad to be moving on after what seems like a brief stop.
On the road the traffic is busy, aggressive and annoying. I prepare the pillion for bumps and knocks by tapping her twice on the knee where something can't be avoided to give her forewarning. I have a bit of an evasive change of direction to avoid where the metal joining had disappeared from one lane of a flyover leaving a bit of a gap. Ah, life on the road.
I feel a little more nervous with a pillion and my duty to my passenger makes me feel a little vulnerable. Within the rambling mind it occurs to me that the Albanian driving style is a cross between Mr Magoo and Kimi Raikkonen. So I have given the local drivers the nickname of 'Magookkonens'
Bored on the road, kids? Why not amuse yourself with a game or three.
***
Shqiperia Motobingo
(Albanian Motorist Bingo)
Insane overtake .................................................................................... 1 point
Insane overtake by black pointy sinister looking car ........................... 2 points
Vehicle with no lights at all, not a one, trundling along at night .......... 2 points
Car traveling on your side of motorway heading in wrong direction .... 4 points
Heavy section of roadworks marked out with one sign and one cone .. 5 points
Cow in road ............................................................................................. 6 points
Cow on motorway ................................................................................... 8 points
Use of indicators .................................................................................... 8 points
Some sort of motor accident ................................................................. 10 points
Actually being run off of the road ......................................................... 12 points
Use of indicators leading to an actual genuine manoeuvre ................. 18 points
"Hours of fun for all of the petrified family"
***
A proper road sign, that. A sense of far to go that's for sure.
But for now we're just a cow in the road away from the border with Montenegro.
Another easy crossing and we’re free of the Magookkonens and I'm happy to admit that today it is a just a little bit of a relief.
Life on the road is a little more relaxed now and a little further along the coast now we deviate in to have a stop off in Kotor.
We stop on the front outside the walls of the old town. It’s an excellent place to pull up; there are a couple of pavement cafes and a large tree lined area next to the road with plenty of space where you can pop the bike. There are plenty bikes parked up here and the many cruise passengers wander back and forth along the front.
A local GSA..
Interesting message for the local authorities.
A brief pop in behind the walls. I return a dropped wallet to an American who is a touch disorientated and confused at what I am actually trying to do.
Plenty of cruise tourists underfoot.
A coffee and an Ice Cream later we're back on the road, this time along the South Western shore of Kotor Bay, tailing a clapped out Yugo making some very iffy noises.
There are boats a plenty out there.
Some little as well as some big
Happy cyclists, I daresay cheered by the flatter parts of this remarkably rocky landscape.
The long shoreline is inhabited all the way around. Going is slow on the narrow road but quite lovely- definitely a recommended bimble
Just heading to the endge of the bay and the weather change is noticable and welcome. We get a couple of spots of rain and then clear skies ahead.
Nipping across on the ferry again, a five minute leg stretch for two earth Euros.
There's no need to rush today and the Ice Cream back in Kotor seems to have extinguished the desire to cover many more miles. So Sveti Stefan looks appealing from a distance so we find a place and call today's job a good un.
Dinner and liquid refreshment is good. Just a hundred yards away from the hotel. Service is very pleasant and the chap seems genuinely shocked to get a tip.
I've become some sort of cat magnet.
A wander back. It seems Montenegro has a slightly different attitude to aesthetics than Albania; cue this unfinished building disguise.
The Island old town of Sveti Stefan in the foreground now off limits to paying punters as is a resort hotel. Not that I fancied walking down particularly tonight anyway.
First use of Television on this holiday. Montenegro is a fairly 'out there' kind of place, let's see what the televisual fayre has to offer. In fact, the TV has hundreds of channels of stuff. A lot of it seems to be aimed at horny Persians, quite bizzarely, including 'Sexy Arab' channel. Just fancy that.
Young lady decides to watch 'Russian folk Music Television' and demonstrate her language capabilities by translating the songs for me which I don't request. All the same it has a certain novelty value.
We have an internet connection and later she asks me about Fingerbobs which I'd talked to her earlier over dinner. I tell her. Her eyes widen and then narrow. "You are odd".
Well you were going to find out sooner or later.
Beer of the Day: Nickisco Dark. A very agreeable Dark Lager.