Escape from Albania

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After 2 days recharging the batteries in Sveti Stefan ( the beach was fantastic and the swimming pool at the apartment even better) we headed off in search of Ostrog Monastery – man, the road to that place was pretty bad with large potholes, very narrow and kamikazi drivers coming at you - its a monastery built high up a cliffside.
We thought the road up to Lovcen Nat park was high and winding but at least that was built as a road. This track was made for donkeys! It was just a bit of bitumen layered on the dirt and only wide enough in most places for only one vehicle. We constantly had cars trying to drive us off the edge … not a good look when you are only on 2 wheels! Hairpin bends one after the other all the way up, and Warwick needed the entire road to be able to turn. There is a small monastery where most of the buses park – thank goodness we didn't meet one of those on the trip up! Many people walk from the lower monastery the final 2km uphill … might have been safer but in the heat we decided to ride anyway, and in fact this part of the road was better as it has only recently been added and was built for cars, so a bit wider and in better condition. I was very glad we had the Honda – I'm not at all sure the Harley would have made it. The monastery itself if set right into the rocks and it is a mystery how it was ever constructed. So we did the obligatory walk through and climbed up to the top – but it is quite small and didn't take too long – then the winding trip back down the mountain again.

Next stop Albania. Finding the border crossing was the next mission - as we wove along a narrow broken single lane road alongside a swamp, I said this couldn't be the main road from the capital city of Montenagro to the border! Until we came across a semi-trailer trying to do a 3 point turn around a hairpin bend - yes it is! The formalities at the border took about an hour and we feel we were quite lucky to get through as we don't have the correct green card for insurance – long story - however we kind of bluffed our way through with lots of smiles, and we are from NZ kinda stuff, and the guy eventually gave up and waved us through.

Albania … where to begin? “It's a dump” seems to be the theme. We drove to Tirane on the first night, about 150km from the border. During that time we saw at least 50 car wrecking places with broken down wrecks piled on top of each other. Rubbish is piled up beside the road EVERYWHERE. And if it is not household rubbish, it is commercial rubbish. And if not commericial rubbish then building rubbish. The whole country is strewn with rubbish everywhere you look. The rubbish problem has apparently only started since the late 1990s after communist rule finished. Prior to that the country was litter free and recycling was a priority.

And to add to the eyesore is the large number of concrete structures that started life as a building but have never been completed. They are concrete shells – not one or two. Hundreds of them. In every town. Are they waiting for a tourist boom? It aint never going to happen!!

But worst of all is the drivers! We thought they were bad in Montenegro but they are worse here. The roads are narrow and broken bitumen and potholes everywhere, so not good on a bike anyway. However the drivers here overtake into oncoming traffic and blind corners. And they overtake just for the sake of overtaking! They have no concept of the 2 second rule … Warwick will often hang back slightly behind a slow truck or bus waiting for a safe place to pass – and someone from behind will just zoom up despite the oncoming traffic and then just expect to slip into the “gap”. Indicating and pulling over to stop – why would you bother to do that? You just stop in the middle of the road - you can pick up vegetables, drop off a passenger , or say hello to a motorist passing the other way! Police are everywhere – but this doesn't seem to improve the driving habits. We think mostly they are just checking papers, but the police stand beside the road holding a small sign that just looks like a lollypop and wave drivers to stop … and they do! In the middle of the road! Other road hazards to be aware of are donkeys, cows, dogs, goats, sheep and chooks. But mostly cows just wandering along the road,

Cars – let's talk about cars. Most of them are Mercedes – about 90%. Lonely Planet says that most of these old diesel Mercedes were stolen from Europe. While under communist rule car ownership required a permit from the govt so not many people owned vehicles. Therefore it is only recently that the majority of the population have been able to own and drive a car – and driving standards are non-existent. All the cars have dings and dents in them, and many are patched up with bog .. lots of bog!

Another odd feature dotted all over the countryside are these little concrete bunkers. There are 10s of thousands of these things which look like mushrooms - installed from 1950-1985 during the communist rule and they are almost indestructable -and therefore are just left where they were originally built. Another eyesore for Albania.

Good points? Well, not many unfortunately. We travelled a considerable distance inland today to see some old ruins that were supposed to be the highlight of any trip to Albania and heritage listed by UNESCO. Yeah … more ruins. Not very exciting. There are also supposed to be some wonderful beaches along the southern coast. Windy, rocky, murky water - not very enticing. There are some nice farming areas inland, and some spectacular high rocky cliff faces. Man, we have climbed some high passes. Makes a trip to the Wairarapa look like a walk in the park. But other than that … not much to recommend it. Except for last nights hotel! We were exhausted after a long day of very difficult driving and stopped at the first hotel Warwick found in Tirane. We just wanted to stop and get off the road!! It was exceptional. Lovely room – superb service, and the best meal we have had in about 3 weeks! We think we were the only guests there! Tonight's accommodation and meal not quite living up to the standard – but I'm not complaining. Back to camping tomorrow!

Last stop before we left Albania this morning was a trip to Gjirokastra - a stone city set high up in the mountains (yes another mountain pass!). A gloomy dark castle, but actually worth the visit. The ceiling vaults were extremely high and amazing arches built all through. On display throughout the castle were cannons and artillery from WW2 and that was quite interesting. So – one point for Albania!

There has been a large number of bikers all the way from Germany to southern Croatia, all loaded up the same as us, and enjoying touring like us. But no bikers in Montenegro or Albania. Strange that!! The rental car companies will not insure vehicles to travel through either of these two countries and there is a reason for that ….! The driving has been treacherous, but thanks to Warwick's skill and constant vigilance we are leaving Albania safely. Next time (if there's a next time) we will be taking a ferry from Dubrovnik !!!!