May 5, 2023
Day 79: Peje to Rozaje
Out of the Taxi Too Soon
“That looks like the saddle,” Patrick says and continues “do you remember Ray’s summit? Are you going to stop and fix a pot of tea?” Referring to when we met in New Zealand outside Nelson 30 years ago. We’ve not had accurate information today about the distance between Kosovo immigration and Montenegro and where the high point is located between has been difficult to figure out.
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We will all be on the road today. Susan and Chuck plan to move on as well as us continuing north toward Holland. We are packed and set off after a group photo we say our goodbyes and thank you’s.
Patrick has a plan for the day. “First strategy is to go to the bus station and see if we can get a ride from a taxi that typically congregate there. The second strategy is to ride the 10 flat kilometers to the next town and see if we can arrange a ride there. The third option is to start climbing the hill and try to hitchhike a ride along the road.” The third strategy proves later to not be a viable option as traffic is very light to non-existent. Riding the whole climb doesn’t seem a good option, it would be almost 1500 meters of up, just a little too much for us in a day.
“Let’s circle the bus station,” Patrick navigates us to the side where taxis are parked. “Do you speak English?” a no head shake and then a question from the taxi driver “German?” Speaking German, Patrick negotiates a fare of $40 to the Kosovo Border with a taxi that has a roof rack.
At the Kosovo immigration post, the taxi driver seems uncertain why we would want to get out here. He holds up his hand and says 5km. We convince him, yes we will stop here. We are under the impression that the Montenegro border is 2km and then the high point of the pass only 3km beyond that. Wrong!
The very friendly woman at the immigration post indicates with her hand that the road is still going up and then says giving us our passports back “10km.” And it was, 10km of climbing to the high point that still has snow. The Montenegro border post is 3km after the high point. The grade is sometimes manageable at about 7% and sometimes just a little too steep for us to ride, so we walk. It is slow going and we regret getting off the taxi, but on the other hand at least we are working for it and are experiencing these mountains. Eventually the pass summit comes in view and we put some extra layers on for the downhill. About 3km down is the Montenegro border post with a bunch of freezing border guards.
As we wait at the immigration post, a fox walks through and on top of the garbage dumpster, then goes and sits by a car, the guard tells us there are black bears around. Montenegro still stamps passports. We set off downhill through a forest. For the first time in a long time, we see a traffic sign with a picture of a deer leaping. Maybe we will be lucky to see some wildlife besides giant snails.
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And wow, can't believe you guys pedaled in the snow!
11 months ago
The downhill is fantastic and at 8km there is a restaurant we cannot resist. We have omelets and coffee, almost as good as a second American breakfast. We talk with the owner who tells us his brother is in Chicago and plays professional soccer. He says his brother is the captain of the US team, but we cannot find anything about that.
The downhill is continuous, then through nice looking Rozaje to the Aldi Hotel on the edge of town. All our stuff gets hauled up to the third floor, the bikes in a parking garage downstairs. There is a grocery store just down the street for refreshments. We arrive at noon and can take the afternoon to catch up on internet stuff.
Today's ride: 33 km (20 miles)
Total: 2,782 km (1,728 miles)
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