The 5th stage, from a tour through Albania, takes you south, from the Korab-Koritnik Nature Park towards Lurë National Park. During the ride you climb a number of mountain peaks, via largely unpaved roads. It is unknown what the quality of the road network is on this route. This is because a large part of the route runs on unpaved roads. In some cases, the Albanian government will already have asphalted roads. In other cases, the dirt trails may be in better or worse condition depending on weather conditions. For this reason, it is wise to only drive this ride – and most of this tour – if you have experience driving on unpaved roads.

Hopefully you had a good night's sleep at Stani i Hoxhes. The absolute silence and darkness in this area certainly contributed to this. Now just check everything: is all the stuff on the motorcycle? Do you have tools, extra fuel and picnic supplies at hand? Then it's time to leave.

Today promises to be an exciting day. Most of the route is unpaved, which always provides surprises. What is the quality of the road? Are some parts perhaps impassable? These surprises make driving unpaved routes always a fun challenge.
The same goes for today. You first drive a short distance through the Korab-Koritnik Nature Park. This nature park was established as a refuge for protected animal species. The park is part of the European Green Belt. This corridor was created after the fall of the wall and follows the contours of the Iron Curtain. This corridor was set up under the patronage of Gorbachev, with the aim of forming a network of nature reserves and protecting the inhabitants of these areas (flora and fauna).

The first 35 kilometers of your route you drive through this nature park. You ascend quite quickly to an altitude of about 1800 meters and with an abundance of unpaved hairpin bends you eventually arrive, after about an hour and a half, in the valley near Kolesjan and Bicaj. Here you can fill up with fuel, give yourself the necessary fuel at the local bar and also do some shopping, because you will encounter few to no restaurants along the way.

With a good pit stop in hand, the descent begins to the valley where the Zwarte Drin flows. This river has a length of 149 kilometers and originates in Lake Ohrid, in North Macedonia. The river mainly has an important function for agriculture. Along the way you can stop several times to take beautiful photos of this – at times – wild river. You also cross the river occasionally. The wooden bridges sometimes look rickety. But if all goes well, they can also carry heavy jeeps and other 4x4 cars. So does your engine. Either way, it makes for adventurous action shots!
The river also has an abundance of Ohrid trout. This type of salmon (!) is very tasty. Towards the end of your ride you can also enjoy this: you can take a break at Bar Kaffe Fish House. The restaurant has a lovely terrace where you can enjoy freshly caught and freshly grilled fish.

With a full belly you start the last part of your route. The final can still be a challenging one. Some parts are rocky, others muddy. All attention is needed to arrive at your final destination.
Once in Fushë Lurë, it is time to put our feet up and look back on a beautiful day, hopefully with some (strong) stories to go along with it.

If you have the time and energy, it is worth taking a day hike in the Lurë National Park. This area was given protected status in 1966 to protect specific animal and plant species in the area. Unfortunately, after the fall of the wall, approximately 50% of the park was illegally deforested. In recent decades, work has again been done on nature restoration. Discuss with the hotel owner how to walk safely through the area: bears, wolves and lynx live in this area. And then visit one of the 14 icy lakes in these mountains.