Tour de (Western) Balkans 2023

Bye bye to Albania and another fast border crossing into Montenegro at Sukobin south of lake Skadar (a shared booth for passport control, superslick). Alma in the lovely hostel in Albania had recommended going to Stari Bar, so after a bit of umming and ahhing we decide not to follow the lake road but head to Bar instead.

First impression of Montenegro – so GREEN, so many TREES. We find a lovely road through karst landscape dotted with green green pasture land and have a lovely lunch there. We cycle over the brow of the hill to great views of the sea, again. The roads are fine.

Stari Bar is a massive old town, perched high on the hill, destroyed through the usual double forces of war and earthquakes. It makes for a lovely wander around. Some bits have been rebuilt (two Orthodox churches) but much is just rubble and walls covered with wild flowers and ivy. The hammam was the highlight, which is still pretty intact. Round the back, through the undergrowth, you can see where the fires were lit for it. It might be hell on earth in the summer covered with a million tourists, but much like most of our trip so far it feels reasonably empty so we have a good old explore. But the clock is ticking to get back on the bike as more climbing ahead.

We leave town past a funeral procession with a young man carrying a heavy wooden cross in front of the hearse and start up on a classic climb from the Adriatic to 800m with steady gradients and stunning views on a quiet road. Lots of good camping spots on the way up. The views and descent the other side even better, with rows and rows of fading blue mountains. It all looks a lot like home except the mountains are pointier and there are a lot more of them. You suddenly get the sense of just how mountainous this country is.

After a slightly fruitless and tired search for campspot in Virpazar we find a nice room in a farmhouse along the unbelievably beautiful lake Skadar. Pasta on the stove on the terrace.

The next day is a day of climbing and staggering views. We start the day with second breakfast under the trees in Virpazar and a good coffee, a nice spot busy with tourist boats gearing up for the season. Water all around.

Then it’s up and out of Virpazar, dotted farmsteads selling homemade cheese, not very much litter (all things comparative), a train spotted, a hippy chick with dreads half way up the hill with her shopping bag.

The wild flowers are amazing – so many more than Albania (Jon wonders whether this is a measure of over grazing in Albania) and the butterflies are just staggering. So many and so many different ones, orange and white, small blue, black with a white trim, brown and red, green and yellow.

We have a lovely quick swim at the bottom of the hill near a bridge after scrambling through an old fence around a sports ground, ducking the brambles, into chilly and clear water. Then we climb up again and it’s a long goodbye to lake Skadar as we catch glimpses of it again and again and again.

We take the old road that parallels the modern busy road up the top of the hill towards Cetinje and it’s suitably potholed, landslid and airy with amazing views down to the flat valley bed. Somewhere along here we see Yann, cycle tourist #9 from Normandie, going round the world. Nice man.

Everywhere is karst. This makes the landscape really unpredictable as rivers don’t really exist – lots of sunken valleys fully enclosed on all sides as the rock is permeable. We start seeing sink holes everywhere and learn a new word, polje, that describes these flat pockets of fertile looking land.

Cetinje is broadstreeted in a fin de siècle kind of way and has a mellow, lazy feel to it. We spot a pekara (bakery) and go and eat First Lunch under the trees near the old monastery. Lots of middle aged tourists in what was the old capital. We do cycle-by tourism and then that is us back on our way.

Karst country then goes into overdrive and you only realise once you’re out of the town that Cetinje is in a massive polje. We go through a barren karst plateau and then up and up a hairpin road that the newer tunnel had made redundant. It’s v windy and cold by this stage and over the brow of the hill booooom! There’s the sea again. I won’t lie the final push to the top of the Kotor hairpin bends nearly doed me in.

After chatting to a supercool German dude (cycle tourist #11) with his skateboard on the back of his bike (he deems us old school with an appreciative nod, which we both find immensely flattering, his granny brought him up well), find a lovely spot to camp in a well secluded, terraced field and have a lovely night there. It’s still windy but we’re over the brow of the hill so we aren’t too buffeted by it. The views going down the many hairpins (I lost count there are so many) the next morning are pretty special. The brake pads fare ok.

Kotor is worth the fuss, though it definitely feels like we are now firmly on the tourist trail and after breakfast overlooking the water and a smokey café for coffee and a meander, we head to Perast along the water and there are cyclists left right and centre. Well, there’s Jason from Australia #14) and two lasses day trippers whom we keep crossing several times and two non identified (#12 and #13). The road is busy but ok though I swear a few times. Jon finds some good mini detours via villages for the first half but soon we’re in Perast (smaller and also v touristy) looking out at a perfect view.

We stuff our faces with burek and other goodies that the fastest cashier in the Western Balkans serves us from a local shop (when I comment on this admiringly, she answers “you should see me in June”). Perast is small compact and gives you a good sense of what these villages must have been like but again it must be hell on earth in high tourist season.

We swim. It’s REALLY cold. It’s more of a wash than a swim if I’m honest. We don’t stay in long and we wear our full cycling kit for it, but it’s sunny and we have a long day ahead…