Albania Explorer Trip

The next morning, Jeeps with “fat rims” are already waiting to shuttle us into the mountains. Today we’re heading to the home trails of our guide Beni.
While pushing our enduro bikes, we encounter two German gold prospectors who are navigating the steep and rocky paths in their “Adiletten” sandals. They tell us about the treasures they’ve already found and their hopes of finding more here.
Is there really anything left to discover? Our guide says that the treasures that were once here have all been found. There are still old mines in the area, but they’re higher up the mountain. But we’re not here for the gold anyway—we’re here to bike!

So we cruise off on flowy trails, shred through golden-brown meadows and deep green forests, and the growing grins on our faces show just how much fun we’re having in no time at all.
By now, everyone has fully embraced the #explorertrip and is excited for the days ahead.

In the evening, we change locations and find ourselves having dinner in the lively city of Prizren, which surprises us with its hustle and bustle. Its 85,000 inhabitants seem to all be out and about in the alleys and streets at once.
For our guide Beni, Prizren is the most beautiful city in Kosovo – and not just because supposedly lilies bloom on every piece of land there at the right time. With its picturesque old town in Ottoman and Byzantine style, its massive fortress, and its many summer festivals, it truly has what it takes to captivate even foreign tourists.

We have dinner in the bustling city atmosphere at a spot by the river. Once again, we are served incredible amounts of food. Opulent dinners seem to be a tradition in the region.
Beni tells us about fun races with old tractor tire tubes that take place in Prizren in the spring, and we stroll through the lively buzz of the city. The last stop for Day 2 is the „Gatsby“, a cocktail bar that reminds us of Fitzgerald’s classic. There, at an unbelievable €4 per cocktail, we reflect on the dream day. In reference to the Hollywood movie, one might say: Cocktails & Dreams.

MUHIAAHIIAAAAAAA!!! … 5:00 a.m., sunrise, a loud scream echoes through the city. What happened?
I almost jump out of bed in shock until I realize that we are in a country where the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer. "Couldn't this happen a little later?" flashes through my mind. On the other hand, we are awake very early and can enjoy the day to the fullest on the trails around Prizren.

Passing houses with roofs made of old oil barrels, we cruise again across meadows and through forests, stopping at our guide's home.
He invites us in for coffee, homemade bread, and jams. The hospitality extended to us is almost unmatched. Among other things, blueberry juice is served, made from fruits painstakingly hand-picked and pressed. Just the thought of how much a bottle of pure blueberry juice like this would cost in our region, which is being generously shared here (since by the end of our visit the bottle is empty), leaves us amazed.

The second day begins just as early as the first, very, very early. However, we are immediately rewarded for getting up so early, as we head down towards Prizren over golden mountain ridges in the rising morning sun.
We start on a gravel path which, to our delight, provides plenty of surprises. On the left and right of the path, berms and wooden drops are built in here and there. Although some of these are a bit aged, they were still a lot of fun.

We continue through super flowy forest sections. At the end, we arrive at a castle that invites us to enjoy the breathtaking sunset over Prizren. Our first sundowner run – and it won't be the last.
With the incredible impressions from the trails, sunsets, delicious food, bustling city life, cocktails, and more, we fall into bed like stones. A tiring but eventful day comes to an end.

The next morning … They said it would be a long day. They said it would be fun. In hindsight, we will realize that this was hopelessly understated, and we lack the superlatives to express everything we experienced.
Today we cross the green border from Kosovo to Albania, our actual bike destination.
Passing cows wandering through towns and picturesque mountain villages we ride through, we are dropped off in no-man’s land at a curve of a mountain pass. Beni wants us to put on the protectors. While we’re still wondering where a trail could possibly start here, we suddenly find ourselves in the middle of it, riding out of a seemingly endless valley toward Albania.
The track has everything to make a biker’s heart beat faster. Along a river delta, where you can repeatedly cool off in small or large pools, we experience just about everything a mountain bike trail can offer, from flow to technical sections.
In a small village in the middle of the mountains, we refuel with an Albanian snack before we shoulder the bikes for the next few hours.

Upon arriving at our accommodation, the courtyard already smells of freshly baked bread, and the host greets us with a cold beer. What more could one possibly want than the hospitality offered here, whether it comes from nature or the people who live within it?
The host, a music teacher in the mountain village, gives a musical performance after we’ve replenished our energy with the Albanian dinner prepared by the hostess. And, of course, the local schnapps is not to be missed, served to us in generous quantities and continuously topped up.
Thus, there’s a double reason for joy: breakfast in the garden – eggs with a runny yolk and golden butter. Afterwards, we are even allowed a glimpse into the Albanian living room. People are always prepared for spontaneous visits there and ensure their guests are well taken care of. And because there’s a strong sense of community, this hospitality is mutual.

Directly from the house, we dive into a technically challenging, rocky trail that only lets us go when we reach our shuttle. On this trip, not a single meter of trail sections is wasted!
The shuttle takes us to our next and final accommodation, located in the heart of Albania in Peshkopi. Staying at a hotel, we find the owner a bit peculiar. We later figure out the reason for this ourselves. For now, we are warmly welcomed by him and one of his bodyguards. Then, a special treat awaits us on our #explorertrip.

With 4x4 vehicles, we head into the mountains of Albania to ride trails that were built as part of an EU project (Cross Border Cooperation Program) to further develop the area for tourism.
The vehicles, if one can even call them that, consist merely of four wheels, an engine, and some metal holding everything together. Everything else has either been removed or custom-built. Nevertheless, the police greet us with friendly waves as we pass by in an open jeep without lights, with exposed electronics, removed seats, and a cut-off roof, sitting on the cargo – our bikes. Apparently, these vehicles symbolize the lived reality in Albania. Shrugging, we accept the situation and let ourselves be taken into the mountains.

As the sun is already setting, we start biking in cross-country style towards our accommodation.
“It’ll be a chill day,” they said; “it’ll be fun,” they said. “Only ten minutes to go,” they said … Someone must have miscalculated the planning. When, after hours, we find ourselves standing in pitch-black darkness in the middle of Albania and Beni asks us if we all have our headlamps with us, all we can do is respond with a frown, as this hadn’t been mentioned in the morning. Like a navigation system, Beni guides us purposefully through the dark night to our hotel in Peshkopi, even without headlamps.
An incredible day with lasting memories comes to an end as we sit on plastic chairs in front of the hotel with a drink, while the hotel’s manager watches us suspiciously from the upper floors. We’ll find out soon enough what that’s about.

Our last day has dawned. It starts again with a 4x4 shuttle into the mountains. We seem to have already gotten used to the condition of the vehicles, as no one is surprised anymore by these means of transport.
Our final adventure takes us over seemingly endless mountain ridges, flowing traverses, and into ancient stone villages. Past locals who wonder who is coming through and how we managed to stay in the saddle on this "very, very dangerous" trail, where even their horses have trouble moving forward … Once again, the admiration is palpable on both sides.

We enjoy one last Albanian meal in Rabdisht before biking back to our accommodation. The truly final ride takes us through a valley where the dust is kicked up one last time. We leave behind only a cloud of dust—a fleeting trace, just like our time in this country.

It is only on this last evening that we realize our host might have connections to circles unknown to us; perhaps that’s also why he needs a bodyguard. What exactly is in their man bags, which they always carry with them, remains undisclosed, and why there is a picture of a mafia member with our host hanging in the reception area also goes unanswered, leaving plenty of room for speculation.
Since we get along well, our host has the one-way street leading to his hotel, which runs straight through the pedestrian zone, closed off for our departure, allowing us to leave "his" city against the flow of traffic. It seems we have met the man who calls the shots in Peshkopi.

The journey home turns into an almost endless trip due to border wait times and the motivation of the border officers. Especially at the EU external border, we spend a very long time in traffic and will only return to our home in Tyrol after what feels like an endless 28 hours.

Overwhelmed by the impressions, everyone processes the experiences in their own way. We are united by the fact that, upon crossing the border into Austria, we are confronted with the general dissatisfaction evident in the news. However, thanks to our recent experiences, we can recognize how privileged we are to live in a country with all its opportunities and freedoms. Freedoms that are denied to the people of Albania and Kosovo. Yet, people there seem to be just as content with the little they have and are even willing to share it with strangers. All we can do is wish every reader the chance to have these experiences, either there or in another part of the world. And until then, to be certain of this: We are doing well in Austria, and we should be thankful for it.