A winter trek in the High Tatras
Medium to hard winter hike in the High Tatras Starting point: Palenica Białczańska (car park) Destination: Szpyglasowy Wierch, High Tatras (2172 m) Total distance: ~20 km Net duration: 7-8 h (highly dependent on the weather and your fitness) (The map shows our second day when we hiked up Szpyglasowy Wierch from the mountain refuge and…
Atlas trek, Part 2
The M’Goun Massif is part of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, North-West Africa. Its highest peaks are well over 3000m (Mount M’Goun is over 4000m). These days many of the small villages are connected with good quality paved roads but if you want to discover the higher regions, you’ll have to follow old mule tracks.…
Uludag trek in 3 days
Three days in the Uludag Mountains in West Turkey, Part 1/2 From raspberry fields through pine forests to the top of the Uludag, where you can find snow in July Walking trip, medium hard Where: Uludag Mountains, West Turkey Transport: you can reach the trail head by taxi from Bursa Return trip: by metro after…
Across the mountains to Korce, Albania
Balkans Cycling Trip, day 41 15 August 2017: Gërmenj – Korçë What seems a piece of cake on the map turns out to be a challenging day with several mountains to climb. We approach Korce with aching bodies and disintegrating gear… Distance: 75 km Total distance: 1885 km Optimistic plans One more delicious breakfast by…
Pinched grapes and a clumsy thief
Balkans Cycling Trip, days 39-40 13-14 August 2017: Permët- Gërmenj Out of two options, we choose the shorter and more difficult one, but it is more interesting and quieter for sure. This day offers probably the most beautiful landscapes of the whole trip as we leave the Vjosa valley and reach Leskovik. We ride past…
Greek atmosphere in the Vjosa Valley
Balkans Cycling Trip, Day 37 11 August 2017: Ksamil – Gjirokaster Thanks to the delicious ice coffees, we set off to cross the mountains full of energy. There are some hard parts to cope with but we reach the pass quite easily, despite the smoke from the forest fires. The second part of the day…
Forest fire and Albania’s worst road
Balkans cycling trip, Day 23 We get back the asphalt road for most of the day so we can concentrate on the picturesque scenery. At least until we notice the smoke of the forest fire. It drives up the mountain quickly and we spend the rest of the day struggling with the crumbling gravel road…
Goats and bridges
Day 16 (21 July): Shengjin – Ulez Distance: 50 km Total distance: 917 km The last night in Shengjin I checked the map and our route once again and I noticed that the road we wanted to take was not just very low category (meaning that it could easily be a gravel road) but it…
Hairpin bends and helpful priests
Day 13 (18 July): Vermosh – Shkoder Distance: 89 km Total distance: 782 km After a wuthering day of doing practically nothing, we were all ready to cross the mountains although we knew it wouldn’t be an easy ride. Two passes were ahead of us. The first one, 1355 m over sea level, seemed to…
High wind and crossroads
Balkans Cycling Trip, Day 12 As the new day starts the weather changes for the better. It’s still cold and windy but at least it doesn’t rain. We cross borders again and decide to leave the difficult mountain part for tomorrow. Instead, we take a detour to see Vermosh, the destination of intrepid hikers (and…