May 18-19, 2019
I took a day off on the 18th in Himar to better start my journey to Vlora. Between the two cities there is a coast of a thousand meters that I anticipated with fear. In fact, I shortened my journey and stopped at Radhimo for reasons explained below.
One of the strangest things I've seen in Albania is the dordolecs. The first one I saw was a cub hanging by the neck near a house, which was rather gloomy. Afterwards I saw them in trucks, hanging from the windshield or in the front window, in dismal condition. It seems that this is a trick to distract the evil eye and therefore avoid curses. The dordolec functions as a scarecrow. The evil eye misses the intended target by being attracted to the incongruous object. A young man I consulted in Himar was of the opinion that the phenomenon occurs mainly in southern Albania and would be mainly related to Orthodox Christians…
Here's a map of my journey. You can see the yaw that makes up the mount.
And here are the pictures of Himar and my journey to Radhim.
Charming hotel in downtown Himar 
The waterfront promenade in Himar 
Dordolec to protect from the evil eye. 
We're obsessed with cowboys everywhere… 
Strawberry seller met after climbed more than 1 km. 
View from my balcony 
View from the top of the ugly coast that I defeated 
Graffiti at 900 metres 
Village near Dhurmi 
It could be me wherever i'm near the Mediterranean 
Blocks in Himar 
A bunker that looks like Mario Bros. mushrooms! 
Finally, the descent after climbing for more than three hours was anything but pleasant. The weather got bad and I felt like I was riding in a storm, fortunately free of rain. I rode at a dizzying speed virtually without pedaling with the constant fear of getting squeezed by the wind. Back in Radhim, I stopped at the all-inclusive hotel (Pastarella Summer Radhime) practically deserted and negotiated a night with breakfast for 30 Euro.
After my supper, I went out to do an inventory of the place and taking a picture of a small mandarin orchard I was questioned by the owner of the place who kindly offered to take a rakir, something I could not refuse. So we sat out at the table with his wife and daughter who served as translators. The girl in question is a kick boxing champion in Albania, apparently one of the first girls to practice the sport here with the encouragement of her father and the tolerance of her mother who does not like to see her daughter take blows. Albania is changing rapidly!
