A short film from summer 2023, when a couple of friends and I cycled around southern Albania.
We bikepacked our way from Sarande, to Gjirokaster, then to Lukove, Dhermi and Ksamil.
The area is known as the Albanian Riviera.
Filmed using:
DJI Mini Drone
Iphone 11pro
GoPro Hero8
Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark iii
Albania we will promise blue Seas beautiful weather and an abundance of beers over a 10-day trip around the South an area known as the Albanian Riviera we got all that and more after a short flight from the UK to kfu we we rebuilt our bikes and set sail
On the fast ferry to the Albanian Port Town of Sande our first day was a steady 60 km ride up and over the mountains towards the ancient town of Joc cter VI the Blue Sky pools at the recommendation of the people’s Uncle would you like to say anything so um been a good trip so far we done 11.9 8 km to about 60 so far been that four times per kilm so you do the M on that we’re about to have some chicken Robin’s about to have an espresso which always causes Danger My middle Name we weren’t really sure what to expect as cyclists there I wish we could have filmed the looks that we got from many of the local people as we cycle past them the Mountain Road was long and winding cars that were passing from behind often gave us a honk of their
Horn to make us aware of their Presence Shiro cter an ancient Town built into the mountain side the birthplace of Ena haxa has been touched by the byzantines the Ottomans and the Albanian Communist party we had a day of rest so what better way to spend it than a bunker built by the Communist Party during the
Club War when the locals found out about it and it could only hold 200 people they smashed up the Interior our second day cycling saw us go back on ourselves up and over the mountains once more past to rande and then down the beautiful Coastal road towards Lova we’d never cycled in this kind of heat before and we’d often have to find spots of shade for a chance to cool down
On the Journey N We nearly got killed car overtook and on a hair pin and there was cars coming the other way and my reaction was to Stop Lov to Dury brought the toughest ride so far with one of the longest and most difficult climbs we’ve ever done over a relatively short 50 km we were fueled by two things the thought of Basking on the beach in the late evening glow of the Albanian summer and last night’s Pizza My He Okay One thing you notice as you cycle around is the number of half finished buildings it looks like people have taking a punt on Prosperity that never really arrived Albania suffered a financial crash in the ’90s when it became clear thousands had invested in Schemes the final day of cycling we were going back on ourselves once more and traveling from dery toil at just under 85 km it was the longest day of the Trip N passes by would’ often hear us whooping with theight whenever the sea came into view and we were hit by a cool breeze those little moments of Relief we spend the last couple of days relaxing there and they on to C few eating drinking and playing cards it’s satisfying when you can see how far you’ve traveled in the day often on travel films you’ll hear people talk about the lessons they’ve learned about themselves along the
Journey for me the lesson is simply to do more of This