Day 116 SOLO BIKEPACKING ADVENTURE Cycling Around the World – Montenegro & Kosovo

Hello, my name is Susan and I’m a 62 year old woman that retired and I sold my house and I’m traveling the world on my bicycle. I hope you will join me for my adventure. Thank you. Good morning. I uh am headed toward the Kosovo Montenegra border which is a pretty good climb up and then once I get on the descent then I will uh hit the border crossing. So, uh, I don’t know how well you can see the mountains, but I think it snowed a little bit overnight up there where I’m going. Um, there are cars on the road, so I’m assuming it’s clear and that the border crossing is open. Um, little piles of snow down here from when it snowed like four or five days ago. Um, but I don’t there’s no fresh snow down here. Just I think it just rained a bit. It’s kind of wet, bit cold. I am I thoroughly enjoyed Montenegra, the people, the views. But I am looking forward to Kosovo where I’ll descend down the mountain range and then have some flat riding for a couple of days. So, uh yeah. Um I’ll I’ll keep you with me to show you the snow up here. Then I will turn the camera off. until I’m closer to the border. It’s a Sunday morning, so traffic’s not too bad, which I’m relieved by cuz it has been bad the last couple of days. So, all right. Probably the last 50 or 60 miles, I’ve seen a lot of uh small mosques. Here’s one teeny tiny for this neighborhood. It’s uh a mix I think of Orthodox Christian and Islam. Uh so I have heard the call to worship a few times, but I’ve yet to get it on the camera. Maybe I will soon. It’s cold. May need to put my puffy back on. I think I’m getting close to the top than a mile. All right. I think this is the Montenegra border. Check-in customs. Looks like I’ve got a little bit of a weight behind a car and a truck. Maybe a couple of cars. And there’s cars waiting the other way. Woohoo. All right, I’m out of Montenegra and into no man’s land. which can last a mile or two. So, uh, still going up for a little bit. I thought from the map that I would be on the downhill side, but maybe it’s the downhill side before the Kosovo Customs and Border Check. Um, anyhow, that went smoothly. He did not stamp my passport, but I guess that’s okay. Uh, he did something electronic. So, okay, I’ll check in when I get close to Kosovo. I’m still in no man’s land, but I made it to the top of the climb. And I see a few structures down here. So maybe that’s customs and border control for Kuza. We’ll see. Maybe not. These are the cursed mountains. I don’t know that I’ve said that before. They’re gorgeous. Same mountains that are in Albania where I was hiking earlier in the year before I started cycling. Oh man, this is just beautiful. Here we are at the customs for Kosovo. I do believe in border control. Yes. I don’t think I need to go there. They don’t say bicycles anywhere. All right. Okay. I’m in Kosovo. And uh they are so happy to see an American. It was really cool. Uh all smiles and got a stamp and uh they wished me a happy trip. And now I get to continue going downhill and get out of the mountains. It is gorgeous here. I’m out of the snow. Bring them home. Let’s get a little boy. Hello. Solo woman on a bike. All right. Well, it’s the end of the day and I’ve got a hotel room here in Dinus Kosovo. Dinus is how it’s said. And uh yeah, this is what €27 gets you. Got a nice bed. Got a view of the city there. And I assume you could see that. And then uh nice shower. And looks like we got some soap and some shampoo. Um so yeah, this is my uh home for the night. Uh, I probably could have camped, but you know when you start seeing signs warning about landmines, which were further away from here, but still it kind of makes you not want to camp. But my first day in Kosovo has been awesome. I’ve met so many nice people. one of the first I guess the second place I stopped to get a snack. Um, Shik Shiki was there and uh with his friends and he bought me my drink and my snack and uh I’ll put a picture of those guys in here, but just had a really good time talking to them. He uh lives part of the year in New York and uh so I saw another car with a US tag on it and this time New York. It’s just so unusual. U but really throughout the day every time I stopped or just going through neighborhoods, people were very nice and uh yeah excited, you know, when I stopped and talked, they were excited that I was an American. So, uh, very, very nice. So, now I have to decide tomorrow whether I’m going to go into the capital city, Prestina, I think it is. Um, or whether I’m going to head south. Um, I think that I’m probably about 60 miles, all relatively flat, maybe just one climb away from being able to go into North Macedonia. So, there’s a part of me that kind of wants to make some miles while I’ve got some flat terrain. So, uh we’ll see. I’ll make a decision tonight on my route for tomorrow. Um and I’ll check in then. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N.