ALBANIA 🇦🇱 to MONTENEGRO 🇲🇪 - Australia to Scotland by road - Episode 97

In the last episode you would’ve seen we’d taken the easy road to Theth as the report looked less than desirable. As picturesque, smooth, and easy the road in was, it wasn’t as authentic as an experience we would’ve liked, so, as the weather didn’t appear to be arriving, we reassessed our forward schedule, accepted the risk of potentially losing a day, and decided to tackle the unsealed road out. I’d done some additional reading that also indicated the unsealed track out had a solid base so if it rained it shouldn’t fall apart like the mountain roads we’d taken earlier in the South. Leaving our incredible river side camp spot we turned left and followed the river further down the valley passing through numerous homesteads and small villages. Along the track many abandoned homes and small villages were seemingly left to ruin, an obvious affect of the access restrictions to the area. On the otherwise narrow steep track that hugged the cliff, the populated areas appeared to be dotted at any opportunity which was relatively flat and open. Passing opportunities on these cliff sections is limited and usually require a long reverse by one of the parties, or a very tight pass if possible. As the valley narrowed to another gorge the road eventually reached its lowest point before passing over the river and climbing the opposing wall. The river from this narrow section down is popular for its crystal waters and offer boat cruises from the opposite direction to guesthouses only accessible by boat. We’re here out of season though so there’s not much activity to be seen.

The weather holds out as we make our way out of the valley and into the next. Compared to the Theth valley this valley is huge and as we climb over the pass we can see far off in the distance a thin line at the base which is the road on the way out . The surface is extremely bumpy and the going is very slow, the scenery is good though and the weather is holding so no complaints. Each valley we’ve visited in this area, whether the one with the swimming hole, the Theth valley, or now this one, all appear to come to a point where they narrow into a gorge with steep cliffs which are either impassable or, like in this case, have a road cut into the face. The usual problem with these narrow cliff roads is opposing traffic, on our journey out though it was onward traffic. To make matters worse this traffic was rigid slow moving logging trucks who seemed to have no rear view mirrors. This meant it was a long wait, a long time on the horn, and several possible passing points before they realised we were there and gave way. Coupled with the lack of rear view mirrors is a lack of mud flaps, this adds another layer of difficulty as it’s a gamble of close enough to get their attention to let them know you want to pass, though not too close you’ll end up with a rock to the windscreen. Attempting to overtake these trucks without them knowing you’re there could easily end in catastrophe. And so we wait. After about 4 slow hours we finally passed through one final village and as if floating away on a cloud we glided onto the tarmac again. Now past the narrow gorge section of this valley we head back to Shkoda where we know we can easily stay for the night. We grab some beers from a small convenience store to sooth the rattled bones where, although he couldn’t speak English, the storekeep was kind enough to stop Jolie from accidentally buying non-alcoholic beer! Our previous lakeside camp spot was great and the locals friendly though to avoid potentially having them think this was now ‘a thing’ we headed slightly south and found another nice quiet spot.

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