Five Hours and Countless Potholes…

Day 17: Tushemisht (AL) – Bllice (AL)

We leave the beautiful campsite «Arbi» as early as 05:30, not because we can’t sleep, but because we have a long drive ahead. We decided to take a «white-marked» road that winds over hill and dale across three mountain passes. In the village of Qukes we ask a police officer whether this road is suitable for our rally cars. He says it’s difficult to drive and barely manageable. So — into the adventure!

Already at the edge of Qukes the tarmac ends and a gravel track begins, one that will accompany us for the next five hours. Only at walking pace and with extreme driving skill can we dodge the potholes on the rough track. After the 999th pothole we stop counting, because they never end and we need to concentrate on the road. Our rally cars keep bottoming out and the undercarriage scrapes hard. Apart from ALEXA, which had her side sill dented in and the underbody cladding torn off by a particularly heavy impact, nothing was damaged, thankfully. With a bit of wire we were able to reattach the cladding.

The landscape is simply breathtaking — very comparable to driving a mountain pass in Switzerland, just not on asphalt. The colours of the earth constantly shift from brown to red, and we even encounter green earth.

When we finally have a «proper» road under our wheels again after the five-hour odyssey across the passes, we chance upon Suela and her husband by the roadside. Suela runs various aid projects in Albania under the label «Vizion O.J.F.» on behalf of International Project Aid (IPA) in Zurich. Together we drive to the school in Bllice. We had already visited this school on our last rally in 2016, and now we deliver aid supplies once again — school backpacks, sports balls, soft toys, etc. — much to the children’s delight.

A tour led by the headmaster shows us what was achieved with our last financial donation, such as the new toilet facilities. We get the chance to visit every classroom from kindergarten through to grade 10. The more than 170 children are looked after by 15 teachers. Afterwards we gather in front of the rally cars and the school for a group photo.

Back in the next larger town, Peshkopie, hunger takes over and we notice that in this lively city Covid is barely a topic. Suela has invited us to attend a conference taking place this very weekend at a hotel high above Peshkopie. We enjoy a stunning view and the hotel is freshly built — so fresh that in our rooms the electrician still needs to finish mounting the last light fixtures before we, as the first guests, can move in. Let’s hope we sleep soundly despite the smell of fresh paint.

Brief summary:

Day seventeen keeps us well and truly awake for five hours over hill and dale and three mountain passes. Despite pothole after pothole we enjoy the breathtaking scenery across this high mountain terrain. Snow still lies on the surrounding peaks. The visit to the school in Bllice and delivering the aid supplies is a wonderful moment, and the children’s beaming eyes say it all. Suela’s invitation to the conference honours us and we’re glad to be there.

Your Judo goes Orient – Team

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