Checkpoint 2: The Contra Dam
I stepped out of the air conditioned bubble of the train into what turned out to be 29°C heat - and a swift check of the forecast revealed it would rise a couple more degrees yet. Somehow I had imagined cooler climes in the Alps!
I had at least come prepared, with sunscreen, a hat and even a tiny USB rechargeable fan. The bus stop offered some shade too, and as hoped a bus - actually a convoy of two - arrived after a short wait.
The ride up to the dam seemed implausible in vehicles of this size, a series of tight switchbacks, some rendered blind by tunnels. But it only took 10 minutes - far preferable to an hour’s uphill hike - to reach the dam.
This is home to two terrifying opportunities: Europe’s highest bungee jump, at 220m; and artificial rock climbing routes used by Red Bull for their Dual Ascent competitions. I might have fractionally more chance with the latter, but honestly just leaning over the edge for photos was thrill enough.
I walked the length of the dam and back, and attempted to find the exact framing of the shot from Goldeneye that had lead me here in the first place. There’s some information panels, but not in languages I can read; some impressively clean free toilets; and a gift shop where I purchased a much-needed ice cream. Clearly it would usually be a struggle to fill an hour and a half here before the first bus back down; but to set off on foot wouldn’t get me to the station much quicker (and far sweatier).
However, I had anticipated other racers being similarly bottlenecked and thus worn the bright red “Albanian Connection” branded t-shirt in the hopes of meeting some of them. Sure enough, I was spotted by a solo participant almost immediately, and later two couples arrived by taxi. I spent a while chatting with the four of them before we took the bus back to the station together. It was fascinating hearing their experiences thus far and their onward plans - they had opted for routes I hadn’t even considered in all my analysis earlier.
The rules of the game allowed for just getting to Tenero station to claim the checkpoint, but you can’t even see the dam from there, so I’m glad I made it to the location proper - and by public transport too.