Tough Tirane
Trip Start
Mar 04, 2008
1
12
36
Trip End
Oct 06, 2008
Where I stayed
Tirana Backpackers Hostel
Tirana, Tirana, Albania
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The road to Alabania began as a well-graded, dual lane (with actual lane markings), wide shouldered masterpiece of federally funded Greek engineering. We made such good time that, although late in the day, we decided (or rather, Ainaz succumbed to my urgings) to push on and cross the border that evening. As we delved deeper into the Hellanic frontier, the shoulders turned to gravel. Then mud. The route twisted and turned with no sense of ultimate direction. Countless spur roads branched off every 50 yards. Before long we were traveling on a little used dual-track. Mud pits, deep as the knees, slowed our progress considerably. The grade steepened, bringing us out of the sodden lowlands and up onto the rocky precipices of the mountains. Rivers were forded, cliffs were scaled. Our dual-track was now a goat track. The sun was setting. Hideous bugs of gargantuan proportions were emerging from the shadows. Faint of head and heart, we had made the decision to turn back when a woolen shepard came into view. We greeted him cautiously, as we have heard strange tales of these mountain men. Through his unintelligible grunts and whistles, we managed to decipher that we were, in fact, on the Albanian side of the frontier. We had made it! He pointed out a well worn path to us that had previously gone unnoticed. This would eventually lead us, past a McDonalds and a Greek duty free en route, to the Albanian border post.
The canyonlands of Albania have been beautiful beyond anything we had expected. Much of our time, however, has been spent traveling along the on-and-off coastal highway, from the modern tourist centre of Sarande to the port city of Durres. Albania is currently in the early stages of entering the European Union. Consequently, millions of Leke are being pored into their transportation infrastructure. We seem to have caught them at a bad time on their remodeling schedule. Pretty much all of the coastal road south of Vlore was under construction. All active, all at the same time. We scarcely saw any pavement at all during our first two full days in the country, unless it had been torn up and tossed over the cliffside. Grades were ridiculous, traction was poor and delays were frequent (although often welcome).
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hick-up in the internet connection here in Tirane lastnight... here's the rest of the entry, but we have to rush off to catch our train so we'll post more photos later.
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When the pavement began again, the change was drastic.
Rutted gravel to first-class highway. Unfortunately, the road also climbed from
sea level to over 1000 m over the course of seven switchbacks spanning a total
of about 10 km. We were spared a good part of this agony, when a good natured
Italian by the name of Andrea stopped for a chat then offered to cram ourselves,
our bikes and our gear all into his rented Kia hatchback. On top of the pass,
Andrea dropped us off to enjoy the downhill and we soon left behind the hot and
humid coastline and entered the dark pine forest hidden behind the coastal
mountains. We met up with Andrea again in a few kilometres at
a roadside restaurant for a promised chat and a glass of wine. Andrea
orgainizes tours for adventurous souls, looking for an escape from the mundane
week-long all-inclusive. He is currently researching for a motorcycle tour
across Albania.
From Vlore north to Tirane, the terrain has
been much easier on us although not nearly as beautiful. Them's are the
trade-offs, I suppose. We are looking to catch a train for 100 km or so to get
us within striking distance of the Montenegran border tomorrow. We'll see how
well that idea pans out. Trains don't seem to run on any kind of schedule
around here.
Bye for now,
A+R
Comments
call me biza,
i am just worrying about you....i know you are just fine ...but i need to hear your voice :x call me joon-e del :(