How I decided to go to this village.
A sedentary lifestyle is by no means the best thing in the life of a remote worker. That’s why it is important to warm up once in a while.
It so happened that I needed to go to Shkodër because I couldn’t find the medicines I needed in Montenegro. To avoid wasting time, I threw my bike in the car, hoping to ride somewhere interesting.
I initially wanted to ride to the point of geohashing. But, upon arrival, I found I could not pass. That’s why I opened the map and started flipping through my points of interest. One of them was the coastal village of Shiroka, on the border with Montenegro.
Rationalizing that it would be a good idea to ride there at sunset, I raced toward the right location.
I turned right towards the checkpoint at the fork where I usually went left when leaving Shkoder. After a minute of driving, I came to a slum with a lot of gypsies. I thought I’d have to turn around and leave. But, after another kilometer, the landscape began to normalize. Suddenly, a footpath appeared on the right. (In Montenegro, I had forgotten what a sidewalk was.) In the distance, there was a lake.
When I got to the village itself, I realized that I’d better park somewhere else. Everything here was full of cars, and parking starts at 2 euros. I turned around and headed for the cemetery I had noticed on the way here. There was enough free space to park for free (coordinates – 42.05565985700833, 19.467744460739038).
Cycling report
I retrieved my touring bike from the trunk and put a bottle of mineral water into my backpack. Locking up the car and on my way, I pedaled away!
Driving along the lake on a flat road is fabulous. No elevation changes… You can easily ride 100 km or more without any special physical preparation.
The first thing that caught my eye was an unfinished cafe building (42.05650772889564, 19.46719081389819). The place was supposed to be luxurious and offer a beautiful view of the lake. But something didn’t work out. Now it is a concrete box, part of which is used as a public toilet.
The view from the site is pretty amazing, so I had to take a few photos.
A little farther away, on my left side, there was a stone wall that looked like a castle wall. But I had never seen any mention of it before. I took a photo to find out more about it later. Google Maps calls it a residential complex. But, in the Balkans, to believe that is to lack respect for oneself.
UPD. At home, I found out that this place was not on the old topographical maps either. It turned out to be a very atmospheric, old-fashioned hotel called “RUSTICO.”
Next stop – another abandoned place on the lake. Developers planned to build a hotel here, based on the comments. But, as is common in these countries, they did not finish it. Now the place is a skeleton on an island. Earlier, it was free. But now, some citizens are charging for passage.
The island itself is not simple either. I’ll tell you about it next time. Now I want to draw your attention to this photo. Do you see the sunken boat? It is so typical here that I didn’t pay much attention to it and only thought about how to fit it into the frame. At home, I found out I was looking at a sunken Austro-Hungarian boat. It has been here for over a hundred years.
I’m going to Shiroka. It is very crowded for a small village on the outskirts of the country. People stroll along the promenade and spend time in cafés. Cats and dogs scurry underfoot. They look much less intimidating here than in Montenegro.
I didn’t have much time to look at the embankment; I left it for a leisurely walk with my girlfriend. I noticed a strange concrete structure. It seemed to cut into the lake near the pier where tourist boats leave.
After taking a break for about five minutes, I pedaled onward. I wanted to reach the former checkpoint on the border with Montenegro, which is now used as a cowshed.
There is no curb or bicycle lane here, so you have to move on a one-lane asphalt road. But there are practically no cars here, even on a weekday evening. The ride is pleasant, cool from the water.
To my right is Lake Skadar. To the left are gorgeous mountain peaks. Driving along, I can’t stop turning my head in all directions. I want to capture these moments not only in photos but also in my memories.
By that time, however, the sun had already set, and dusk was fast approaching. I decided not to drive the last kilometer. My past, wandering at night in the mountains of Ukraine and Montenegro, taught me to avoid risks. It would be an interesting location for next time.
So what’s the checkpoint?
А интересна она тем, что в ближайшие годы здесь планируют открыть ещё один пограничный пункт пропуска между Черногорией и Албанией Чкла — Зогай. Соглашение было подписано в 2018 году1. .
В 2021 году представители обеих сторон отчитались, что строительство идёт по плану2. .
A satellite view shows a good-quality road on the Montenegrin side. This is not the case in Albania, where it is still a dirt path with wild bushes.
I hope this border crossing will be completed as soon as possible. It will greatly ease tourist travel around and along Lake Skadar (both for motorists and cyclists).
Trip results
I went for a very easy bike ride to stretch my bones. I rode about 11.6 km, gaining 22 meters of altitude. You can see the route below if you’re interested.
- Janković, S. (2018, August 25). Preuski Granični Prelazi Između Crne Gore I Albanije. Radio Slobodna Evropa. https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/granica-prelazi-crna-gora-albanija/29451600.html [↩]
- Lekovic, I. (2021, July 2). Razgovarali O graničnim Prelazima Sukobin-Murićani I CKLA-Zogaj. BARinfo. https://barinfo.me/razgovarali-o-prosirenju-granicnog-prelaza-sukobin-muricani/ [↩]
