April 25, 2023
Day 69: Durres to Elbasan
Long, Long, Long Flat Hill
"I should have shaved," Patrick says as we are fighting a headwind, Rachel replies, "Are the whiskers slowing you down?"
It storms and rains most of the night, but this morning the wind has dropped and the rain moved on. We head downstairs for breakfast at 7:30, only to be told it does not start until 8. We just settle for coffee and eat our filled doughnuts that we brought from Italy. The waitress gives us some cookies and orange juice.
Our bikes have been parked in the lobby and after bringing all our bags down the elevator we load up and head out. The first 35km or so is not so pleasant as we follow the frontage roads next to the busy main highway. There is a string of hotels, resorts and restaurants spread out along the coast. Traffic on the frontage road is light and we are given plenty of space.
We stop at a gas station café for another shot of caffeine after about 15km, then for our first Byrek at about 42km. Byrek is made out of a thin flaky dough (usually filo) filled with meat, onions, cheese, spinach, or potatoes. These pastries are mostly linked with the areas of the old Ottoman Empire. The kidney bean filling is also popular, especially during the winter. Our byrek today is not quite that fancy, only some cream cheese filling for 40 lek ($0.40) It gets us down the road.
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The route from Durres to Elbasan makes a big curve, first south then to the east. We start with a headwind but it later changes to cross, and then even a tailwind into Elbasan. With the nostalgia of a hostel experience with Scott and Rachael, we have reservations for a room at a backpackers hostel just on the other side of town, hoping to meet other travelers or cyclists. The disadvantage is that we are outside the city center, which means walking back for dinner. We make up for this by buying some beer and chips in town.
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The place is a nice hostel with a garden, a friendly host and tomorrow morning a breakfast, all this for 13 euros a night for two. We need to get into the budget travel mode again after all the splurging in Italy.
As we sit at the communal area another cyclist arrives, he is from Germany and has also been cycling through Morocco, except he cycled pretty much all the way across the Iberian Peninsula, down Italy. He left Durres this morning too, and from here he first goes to Greece and then back home in Berlin. There are also two Dutch backpackers and an oriental girl.
We walk back toward the city and find a Greek Restaurant open and have a Stella draft beer. Finding a restaurant open after 5pm instead of after 7 or 8pm will fit our usual cycling pattern.
Today's ride: 81 km (50 miles)
Total: 2,437 km (1,513 miles)
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