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Look what we found…

Ok, so we had to return it.

But, more importantly we got to catch up and stay with an old friend, Mishca while in Prague.

Tris decided to have a wee snooze this afternoon, much like an old man would. I chose to man-up and do something more cultural and go see something that sounded interesting; the Church of Bones.

My ride out there was amazing, probably the best ride of the trip. And when I got there a bus full of playboy Bunnies had just arrived. Honest, I’ve even got a photo.

At least that is what I told sleeping Pretty.

The ride was actually boring, hot but luckily not that long. Thankfully the Ossuary was not crowded with tourists so I could easily wander around and look at my leisure. And it was bizarre.

Some half blind nutter priest started the idea of decorating the church with the remains of those buried in an over crowded cemetery. He, along with others of course, made practically every decoration out of bones; from a large candelabra, a coat of arms, writing on the wall, to huge vase like things at the entrance. I checked around but couldn’t find a bone lava lamp, which was a little bit disappointing.

It was a morbid experience but still fascinating. It is rather strange to think that these stunning artistic creations were once living and breathing people. I can’t help but be intrigued as I analysed their remains.

Due to documentation issues, we decided not to stay in Albania longer than we should. We spent a night in a tiny village, Vau Dejes, near the northern border, staying with a amazing young man called Corey Rice. He had been there 4 months out of a 2 year stint as a Peace Corps volunteer, but had integrated himself into the community amazingly (“Your bikes won’t get stolen because you are staying with me”). He showed us around the area he lived in, being driven everywhere by his local taxi driver friend, and explained to us the politics of the land, the life of the local people, and showed us the contrast between the rich and poor. It was an eye opening experience and definitely a highlight for both of us. We got to appreciate Albania as a beautiful country, but were also saddened by the treatment of people and animals. One particularly upsetting sight was when we were taken to a local restaurant that had a wolf and three bears locked up in tiny cages for their guests to enjoy. It was depressing and heart wrenching to see them caged in such a way.

In the morning we packed up our gear and were on the road by 9 as we had a long way to go. Our Sat Navs said our trip was going to take about 6 hours, but that wasn’t too daunting.

The first leg of the journey took us into the capital, Terina, so we could try get some fuel using a credit card rather than having to get cash out. We stopped at several petrol stations that clearly displayed Visa signs, yet each time were told they only took cash. We gave in and got cash. After refueling we decided to head to the coast as our Sat Navs said it was only another 4.5 hours to the border that way. I’m never trusting a Sat Nav again (well, I will but not in Albania).

The term “road” in Albania should be taken quite loosely. There were times when it suddenly stopped and turned into a gravel path, or was so full of potholes it could just have well have been an off-road experience. But, it was a challenge and quite fun for that reason, forcing us to keep very attentive on where we were going. We saw some fascinating sights on the way, including a cow being freshly slaughtered (it was still kicking), some amazing coastal roads and captivating views. But, they just wouldn’t end.

(view along the southern Albania coast)

Albania is a bit of a black hole for our Sat Nav it seems. No wonder it said it would only take 4ish hours, as it basically drew straight lines along the coast, where the road actually hugged every tight corner. Our 4 hours extended into 9 hours. As we got very close to the border the road diverged and we got a bit stumped trying to interpret from the Sat Nav which road to take as it didn’t follow either (straight lines again). As luck would have it, a car pulled up and out jumped a nice chap who offered to show us how to get to the border by having us follow him. Turns out he lived in Clapham Common.

So we followed him, sometimes driving a little bit faster than we would have considering it was now pitch black – oh, except for the light produced by the forest fire that was on our left, burning the hillside by the road – and the roads were very windy. Eventually we got to the border – “Motorsickle documents and green card.” Sorry buddy, but we are out of here. Hello Greece!

After being on the road for 12+ hours, we ended up getting a room in a cheap hotel in Ionnina, Greece. The hotel owner was having a wee party as it turns out, so despite being road weary, we joined in with them, guzzling down much needed beer and pizza.

Tris is not very impressed with the local talent here in Kavala, Greece.

View across Vilac

I’m not the dumbest guy in the world but I certainly felt like it when Tris and I decided to go visit the local historic castle in Villac, Austria.

The road up there was incredibly steep, so being the lazy arses we are, we road up on our bikes. To be even mre lazy, we skipped all the sensible flat parking bays further from the castle, and road straight to the parking directly at the entrance. The problem we faced was the angle of the road and parking bays was quite steep.

Tris made a first attempt to park and almost took out an old lady. While he corrected himself, I managed to successfully face up hill and then reverse my bike into the parking bay. I was quite chuffed with myself… I made it look easy.

The problem I next faced was getting my bike on my stand. The stand was on the uphill side and when I extended it my bike was completely upright. I decided to test if it was balanced by taking my right foot off the ground.

I started to fall down hill to the right.

No worries, I thought, I’ll just put my foot down again. But by now it was too late. The weight of my fully laden bike was too much and my foot was slipping. For several seconds I managed to stop Donkey from slamming into the ground but she kept on falling further over, and I couldn’t hold the weight on my one precariously placed foot. Eventually I just had to let go and she hit the ground while I went flying into the red car next to me.

Dumb arse.

My time at the gym wasn’t enough. I struggled to get Donkey even a few inches up off the ground, and still faced the issues of some simple maths; angles, weight, and me.

A man who sensibly parked further down the hill passed and immediately jumped to help. Tris, after sensibly parking at the flatter bit further up, eventually came back down and put his shoulder into it as well. After a short while all three of us managed to get Donkey upright and held her there long enough for me to get back on her and started (she flooded).

I parked further up, and we settled down to enjoy the amazing view at the café inside the castle walls, ordering a well earned coca-cola to settle the nerves.