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…
Bohemian Paradise: 3 must see places
The Bohemian Paradise in Czechia (the Czech Republic) is a place where you become a child again. Or feel like Indiana Jones. You can find rocks of bizarre shape, labyrinths of moss-covered cliffs, lakes and waterfalls in a relatively compact area. And if that’s not enough, history lovers can admire old castles and everyone will…
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…
Swimming in River Vjosa and meeting Paul, the sheep
It’s an easy day without any steep sections and the road is very good quality between Gjirokaster and Permet. We meet a proud coffee merchant and swim with local boys and girls in the River Vjosa. Then after a nap in Permet’s central park we find the worst equipped campsite ever. But Paul and Marika,…
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…
Wine and water
Day 3: Relaxing in Smerski Karkovci Let me start with the evening before. As there was no water in the camping area and we didn’t fancy taking a shower under the windows of the ranger’s house, we had to somehow get enough water near our tent. Luckily, I had brought a waterproof bag with us…
Long straights and scorching sun
Day 2: Ada – Sremski Karlovci Distance: 90 km Total distance: 160 km We knew we had to wake up early if we wanted to ride in more pleasant weather but we’ll have to improve on that. We set off only at 8 after packing everything and having breakfast. The Turkish coffee from last summer…