Hi, Kim. You’re in Djirokaster! Such an exceptional place. If you’re not dropping through Delvine, you must be taking th SH99 through Bistrica? It looks like that would be an improvement alright, as long as the traffic isn’t bad. SH99 looks paved from the satellite view, and the climbing is easier too. There’s just the one long climb instead of a series of three to grind you down. Hopefully it won’t be too hot.

Other than what’s written in the post though, I don’t remember anything specific. I’ll be interested to hear about your experience when we meet up. It’s a fast changing country and is probably a lot changed since we were there five years ago.

Hi Scott and Rachel, First of all, this is Kim, Rachel and Patricks's cat/housesitter and it looks like our paths will be crossing in Boise the first week of August. Second, thanks for these blogs as I've referenced yours a number of times.

I leaving Gjirokaster tomorrow and A) I know not to take the route through Devine that you took, and B) I know to add a few miles to miss the last hill into Saranda. Got any other tips for me on this stretch of road? I'm not a strong hill climber so kind of dreading tomorrow. Although, it looks like I am approaching and will have more of a descent than you guys had. Anyways, I look forward to meeting you both!

This really was an exceptional day. We were so lucky to have had this experience. Our whole experience of riding through southern Albania was exceptional too though. I really hope we can return someday.

Thought I’d check out you’re Logara pass day after your ‘vote’ on the best pass ever thread. Looks incredible and once again you are doing a fine job of determining where our next tour will be! Ionian coast is continuing to rise to the top of the list.
Days like you had here are truly magical. Thank you for sharing it.

Thanks!

You’d better keep it up! You two have got the best journal going. Just the right balance of adventure, humor, and evocative photography.

Wasn’t northern Greece amazing though? What a surprise it was for us. I really hope we can make it back to this region again. Thanks for following along again.

As far as journaling goes, I’m sure I’ll keep doing this. It’s personally rewarding for me, and so much of the experience would be lost to me if I didn’t record it. I just need to work in breaks from time to time somehow when I’m starting to feel burned out.

Best of luck on your continuing recovery, Em. Hopefully you’ll get a confirmed diagnosis before long so you’ll know better what you’re dealing with. So much about getting through life is about managing expectations, isn’t it - coming to terms with your constraints and making the best of them.

Take care,
Scott

Thanks for taking us along and committing to the time and effort to write it up. I really, really liked northern Greece, though you have gorgeous photos and wonderful experiences documented for the whole trip. The guys and I won't know what to do with ourselves without our armchair travelling. We'll understand if you cut down on journal writing days though. I never wanted to spend that sort of time while I was on the road - just making up daily notes was enough - so I respect anyone who can write while they ride.

Czech, Czech.

Very nice job with the journal and videos. To be honest, I'm.keeping up with ours because of the admonishment from you and Bruce.

I look forward to following you in the Canadian Rockies, one of my favorite places.

Ahh, the Czechs. My people.

Great trip - great journal! Thank you for taking the time to shoot, write and post. We all really appreciate your efforts and are all a lot more educated about that part of the world because of it. Beautiful!

Chicken! (Just kidding. I'd be crawling over that thing like an infant, whimpering the whole way).

On the whole,they weren’t really bad - and better than we were afraid of, biking this far into summer. We had four or five really hot days in Corfu and when we arrived in Albania, but the last 10 days cooled off significantly, with thunderstorms almost every day. We’d have been pretty unhappy if the heat had persisted.

Hahaha!!!! (Scott! This is Zeus! Get a bike with an electronic pedal assist and a throttle...and watch where you leave that blasted bottle opener....That is all....)