I needed an early start today because I wanted to catch the 1pm ferry from Fierze to Koman along the lake. There’s only one ferry per day, so I needed to make it on time.
I was away by 8am which was a shame because they included breakfast at the hotel but it only started at 8am. I had plenty of time, so I didn’t rush. The valley was beautiful and a bit rustic. I passed a guy with a horse and cart, then spotted a bakery. Albanian is the official language here, so I recognised the name – furrë buke.
Nobody was serving and one of the previous customers went and got the owner. He insisted that I be served before him too. I got a cheese pastry and went next door to the coffee shop. As I walked in, each of the dozen people there, said hello. I just love how people greet each other in these parts of Europe.
It was uphill to the border post, and on the way, I met Lukas from Germany. He had just crossed into Kosovo and was riding to Istanbul to meet up with his girlfriend. Like me, he’s sick of hills and doesn’t plan his trip in too much detail, preferring to see what happens as the day progresses. We talked for nearly half an hour until I realised, I still had an uphill and more than thirty kms to go, to make the 1pm ferry. He also told me about some Australians I might see at the ferry.
I rode up the hill to the border and was processed out of Kosovo then continued to what I thought was going to be the Albanian border post.
There were cows wandering around it, so I assume that the one border post did both countries’ formalities.
I enjoyed the downhill, but was nearly taken out by a lazy driver on the wrong side of the road. He even beeped me as he flew by just centimetres away. Everyone else was really good. I suspect he was on his phone or lighting a cigarette – dangerously distracted, but simply pathetic.
I crossed a small river that had a hotel, with sun lounges and umbrellas neatly arranged on the shore. On the other side of the bridge was a park and benches. One guy was getting out of his car when he saw me, and asked about my trip and wished me all the best in Albania.
From there, it was pretty easy for the last 15kms to the ferry except for a couple of showers that interrupted things. Iade it with plenty of time and had time to grab a sandwich at the cafe at the “wharf”. It was doing a roaring trade.
As I walked into the cafe I realised that the Koman Lake ferry must be on some backpacker route and I was surprised that there were so many people there. I also met a Swiss cycling couple and Tom and Sophie from Aus and NZ.
The ferry operators crammed in people and vehicles so there was hardly any room left over, then it started chugging its way to Koman. The trip down the lake was pretty special with steep mountains alongside the pristine lake. Well, it looked pristine until we came to a section of a few hundred metres of floating garbage. The ferry turned its engines off and glided through the worst of it. It was disgusting and I was amazed at how an environment like this, in the morning ddle of nowhere and with so few inhabitants, could be so full of rubbish.
Tom and Sophie are doing a fantastic trip which is way more “out there” then mine. They’re really impressive people. We camped at the same campsite in Koman and had dinner together while we talked about our experiences.
