CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
661 km from Peć to Peć, about 22 h 18 of riding. It goes by way of Lumi i gashit, Church of the Virgin of Leviša, Dlaboka Reka and back through Church of the Virgin of Leviša. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,500 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses Kosovo, Albania and North Macedonia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
The Patriarchate of Peć is a cluster of four churches under one red-tinged roof, tucked at the mouth of the Rugova gorge on the edge of the town of Peja in western Kosovo. It was the seat of the Serbian Orthodox archbishops from the thirteenth century, and the heart of the church for centuries, with the frescoed churches built and extended over generations. The effect inside is intimate, with low arches, dim light and walls covered in saints, and the nuns who live there today run a small shop with candles and icons. The place is part of the UNESCO listing of medieval monuments in Kosovo, from 2004, along with Dečani, Gračanica and the church of Our Lady of Ljeviš in Prizren.
Read the complete Medieval Monuments in Kosovo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Medieval Monuments in Kosovo is where the day begins. Next is Lumi i gashit.
Here the borders of Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania meet in the Prokletije, the Accursed Mountains, a rugged range of limestone peaks that rises above two thousand metres and is among the wildest country in the Balkans. The label uses the Albanian name for a stream, Lumi i Gashit, the river of Gashi, and the nearest places on the Montenegrin side are Plav and Gusinje, where Albanians and Bosniaks make up a large share of the population. Plav sits on a glacial lake, a cold, clear body of water ringed by high peaks, with a small mosque, an old Ottoman tower house and a quiet lakeshore promenade.
Read the complete Lumi i gashit write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Lumi i gashit comes up about 107 km into the recorded legs. Next is Church of the Virgin of Leviša.
In the middle of Prizren's old town, behind a wall and a fence, stands a brick-and-stone church whose bell tower rises above the rooftops. This is the Church of the Virgin of Leviša, Bogorodica Ljeviška in Serbian, one of the most important medieval monuments in the Balkans. It was rebuilt in the early fourteenth century under the Serbian king Milutin on the site of an older church, and its interior was covered with frescoes that are among the finest of their time.
Read the complete Church of the Virgin of Leviša write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 230 km into the recorded legs you reach Church of the Virgin of Leviša. Next is Dlaboka Reka.
Few borderlands in the Balkans feel as folded and unhurried as the country around Peshkopi, in the Dibra mountains of north-eastern Albania. Across the frontier the same people are Macedonia's Dlaboka Reka, the Deep River, and the double name tells you the story: a Slavic and Albanian valley land cut through by a political line that locals still cross for weddings and markets. The Black Drin runs through the region, the great peaks of the Korab range stand along the border, and Mount Korab itself, at 2,764 metres, is the highest in both Albania and North Macedonia.
Read the complete Dlaboka Reka write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Dlaboka Reka, about halfway. Next is back through Church of the Virgin of Leviša.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of the Virgin of Leviša write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Church of the Virgin of Leviša sits at 249 km, about halfway. Next is back through Lumi i gashit.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Lumi i gashit write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Lumi i gashit comes up about 554 km into the recorded legs. Next is Medieval Monuments in Kosovo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Medieval Monuments in Kosovo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Medieval Monuments in Kosovo closes the day.
Medieval Monuments in Kosovo → Lumi i gashit is 107 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lumi i gashit → Church of the Virgin of Leviša is 123 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Church of the Virgin of Leviša → Dlaboka Reka is 100 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Dlaboka Reka → back through Church of the Virgin of Leviša is 100 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Church of the Virgin of Leviša → back through Lumi i gashit is 124 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Lumi i gashit → Medieval Monuments in Kosovo is 107 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.