Wild Albania

We start for Albania with a full tank of gas, diesel and water. Here we have to turn the clocks back one hour (darn). The time here is the same as in Germany. At customs, the men want to take a look at our bus - probably to see if we have hidden refugees. They see our fire pit at the back of the bus and skeptically ask what it is. We explain with hand gestures that it is for campfires. They are impressed - we receive an enthusiastic 'Bravo bravo'. Then we are allowed to continue. Two kilometers later: police control on the road. They wave us off and want to know where we come from and where we are going. When I show him my travel guide of Albania and explain in English that we want to visit their country - and they even hear that we come from Germany, they are very enthusiastic and friendly. Okay, the start here in foreign Albania for us has already been successful.

We are in the middle of the mountains and first of all we need Albanian money (Leke 1 Euro - 125 Leke) and an internet card for the phone (ours only works within the EU). The friendly policeman told us that we have to go to Sarande for that. Okay - here we go! We drive along a river. It is full of trash and plastic. But all the people wave friendly and some look slightly amazed. Sarande is a modern, big (and hectic) city. New white high-rise buildings as far as the eye can see. The city seems to consist only of high-rise buildings. After a long search, we can't find a parking space - it's just too crowded here. We are slightly annoyed and give up. Then maybe tomorrow in a smaller town. Phew, we want to get out - to the beach - where it's lonely!! Our mobile navigation system (the big one doesn't work here in Albania) shows us the way out and towards the sea. We pass by a minaret. The muezzin calls to prayer. We feel foreign.

We leave the city and drive through a wild, original mountain landscape. We see goat herders, shepherds and cowherds everywhere in the mountains. Stray dogs lie around everywhere. We pass through remote villages. The people live very simply here in the middle of nowhere. Men sit in the street cafes - chatting and playing chess and backgammon.

Then we find a spot at the beach. Surrounded by old, somewhat shabby wooden huts. They are probably beach cafes in summer?! In the evening, shepherds drive hundreds of goats, sheep and cows past our bus. They ride on mini donkeys. We have a peaceful night.

The next morning, Kilian receives a message from his mobile provider. We used 60 euros for the phone use (about 30 minutes of navigation) yesterday!! Yikes - damn damn damn. Alright. We have a mission today. We need money and phone cards. Because without navigation here in Albania... no thanks!

Here we go on a disastrous road to Bunec. We see many donkeys working. Small donkeys that sway under the weight of being overloaded. It breaks my animal heart to see that. The coastal road winds extremely curvy along the slope. We see many old abandoned bunker installations. There are apparently thousands of them still left in Albania from the communist era.

In Bunec, we get everything we need. The people are friendly and want to know where we come from. We drive to the beach. Here, too, the entire beach is built up with restaurants and bars. The restaurant owners have turned camper desperation into a business and they rent out their meadows and parking spaces to tourists. These places are signposted as campsites - but usually only offer a cold shower and a hole in the ground as a toilet. Other services should not be expected here. We check in at Nashos Restaurant in Livadh. His son Pedras is very friendly and happy that the tourists are finally starting to come. We are the only guests and Pedras tells us that we are still in absolutely Greek territory here. All the people here are Greeks. Ahhhh, now we know that too. Unfortunately, it is raining the next day and we decide to move on. In order to continue towards Montenegro, we have to drive over the Llogara Pass. Steep switchbacks lead us further and further up the mountain. It offers a spectacular view of the Albanian Riviera. Turquoise sandy bays (of course built up) - nestled between otherwise mountainous terrain. Our plan was to stay up there. A restaurant at the top offers its garden as a campground. Unfortunately, it is freezing cold and a strong wind is blowing. We decide to drive back down - on the other side. Here, too, the pine trees are full of the (damn) poisonous processionary caterpillars. They seem to be slowly but steadily becoming a real plague.

Back down by the sea, we are struggling to find a nice spot. The beaches in Albania are all completely built up. After endless driving, we are now wishing we were back in 'our' beautiful Greece. Now we have to stay positive.

There is a lot of construction going on. Albania is definitely experiencing an upswing. Tourism is being heavily relied on here. Hotels, holiday resorts, restaurants - even entire holiday villages are being built. (They should take care of the roads... they are a disaster). There is room for debate about the architecture here. If you like living blocks and mass processing - then you are in the right place.

We arrive in Vlora. It is also only made up of high-rise buildings. We drive through the city speechless. Admittedly, the promenade is beautiful with hundreds of palm trees - BUT - the rest is high-rise building after high-rise building. Let's get out of here.

We find a nice parking space on the internet in an inland river. Okay - here we go. Our navigation system leads us into the mountains to a slum city?! OH my God!! Abandoned shacks, garbage everywhere you look. Half-starved dogs lie on the roadside, dirty children play in the garbage. The poorest of the poor live here under catastrophic conditions. Then suddenly, right on the outskirts of town, our navigation system says: You have reached your destination!! Huh??!! Am I going crazy here? No - on the other side of the wide river. Well great - thanks Google Maps - we can't possibly stay here. And the next opportunity to cross the river is down by the sea. Slowly but surely, frustration is building in us. Back again - on a super bad bumpy gravel road at about 30 km/h. Fires are burning everywhere near the city. Trash and car tires are being burned. It smells horrible. Our navigation system is completely recalculating. It keeps leading us into streets that end in nowhere. Dear Albania - you're really getting on our nerves!!

Eventually, we decide to visit the "Apollini" archaeological site. Maybe we can stay overnight in the parking lot? In the evening, we arrive - tired and stressed. But the place is great. A large meadow below the site. We decide to stay - it will be dark soon... and you don't want to drive on these roads here at night. We are surrounded by stray dogs. I give them food and they are friendly - even to our furry companions. Then a security guard from the archaeological site approaches us. I am already thinking - please don't - please don't chase us away. But no - he is friendly and asks us to drive up to the museum with him. We would be safer there than here. Suuuper - thank you very much (were we unsure here??... we start to ponder). But tonight we are under security surveillance. He asks for two beers - yes gladly - you can have them. We go to sleep really exhausted and have a quiet night.

In the morning, the first tour buses arrive. We decide to move our bus back to the public parking lot, have breakfast, and then visit the (Greek) archaeological site. When we are parked down there, our pack of dogs is already there. They look at me inquiringly for breakfast? Yes gladly - no problem. An Albanian beggar comes up to us. The dogs chase him away with snarling teeth - grinning - that has something good too... to have such a large pack. We visit the archaeological site, which is really great - for two hours we feel like we are in Greece again (sigh).

We drive to Fier. Hmmm... we don't really like it here either. The city is so dirty. We try the beach. But it's an industrial area - along the entire beach. The water is frothy and dirty. No - we don't want to stay here either. We continue on. We try our luck in the inland. We find a camping site near Tirana in my travel guide. When we arrive - we are satisfied. A really clean place with brand new showers. AND: Hot water :) We stay here for a few days because it will rain a lot in the next few days. And since almost all the campsites in Albania are on sand - we stand here safe and clean on a gravel pitch. I go for a hot and loooong shower - what a luxury. The nice young owner gives us a welcome raki. Albania is exciting and wild... we will let the next few days sink in and are curious to see what else awaits us here in Albania :)

In the morning, we urgently need to take the dogs out. It is still raining and after a few steps, we have big clumps of mud on our hiking shoes. The dogs also look like sh... yes, camping is great - most of the time!! After the walk (we do it three times a day) we have to give our 8 pairs of dog paws - no, 2 whole dogs, 2 pairs of hiking shoes, and two pairs of hiking pants a thorough cleaning... we look so bad. Whew, strong nerves are needed.

We decide to skip Tirana (so far we haven't liked the cities at all) and prefer to drive further into the mountains. It is still raining and we pack up our things despite that. Everything is gray in gray - including our mood. It's my grandpa's birthday today - I think of home. Happy birthday dear grandpa - I'm looking forward to seeing you again. But we're still here and we decide to stay positive. So many people raved about Albania to us - somewhere there must be the great Albania to be found - we try our luck high up in the mountains. Here we go!

We arrive at a huge (fairly new) reservoir in the mountains. It winds through many mountains and is really huge. A very friendly Albanian family has set up a campsite here. The showers are just being finished when we arrive - yippee. And the place is really impressive. It can't get any more idyllic than this. Meadow, lake, mountains - what a sight. We stay for five days and even get neighbors (before, we were alone on the site). A nice young Berlin family arrives. We get to know Caro, Martin with sons Mads and Fiete. They are very nice and we spend a few nice days together. We also set up our boat and Martin and Caro have an inflatable boat with them as well. Then we go on a trip over the great lake. High mountains rise above us. For Lucy, this is the second time she has been in a boat and like an old pro, she gets in and off we go.... what a cool pup :)

In between, we drove to Shkoder for shopping. The city is big. The muezzin calls to prayer on every corner. But everyone is very, very friendly and helpful.

In the evening, we go to eat at the restaurant. We order chicken with a fierce appetite. When the food arrives, we are truly amazed. An entire crispy chicken with rosemary potatoes (yum yum). After two minutes, the anticipation is over. There was nothing on that damn thing. And the little bit of meat was so tough... you couldn't eat it. The many stray cats and a half-blind dog crawling around our table were very happy about it.

After five days, it is time to continue our journey. We continue into the mountains. Up to Koman - to the ferry. We want to take the ferry all the way up into the mountains to the Valbona Valley. Ticket bought for 56 euros and also for a night on a campsite - because today's ferry is gone. Tomorrow morning at nine we'll start. We check in at the campsite near the ferry and Germans arrive at noon. We get to know the forever-young Bavarian couple Armin and Edith. The two of them have also traveled a lot and there is much to tell. In the evening, another 4 motorhomes arrive! Huh?? They don't all want to take the ferry, do they? It's quite a small one and they all don't fit on there. We decide to stand at the ferry first thing in the morning with Armin and Edith. And then what? Well!! Armin and Edith were first - and we?? the last (long-term traveler dummies club). But then? The ferry conductor waves everyone back. And who drives onto the ferry first (backwards)? US :):) (broad grin).

And what comes next, defies any description. Loading the ferry in Albanian. All motorhomes have to reverse onto it, which is already a feat when driving in. But somehow, it doesn't fit. So motorhomes go over, motorhomes come out again, other motorhomes go in... looking helpless... making phone calls... discussing... it's madness!! The only ones who don't have to go back down are us - so we also watch with a grin on our faces. When finally everyone is on board, a car is added. Yes, he also has a ticket and wants to get on... motorhomes come out again... car goes in... what a spectacle. Right next to us, another larger ferry is being loaded. It is also crammed full, so that the last motorhome is sticking out at the back. The rear axle is not on the boat, but on the ramp. They wouldn't do that, would they??? Oh yes... in Albania they would. Many small boats around us are also heavily loaded. People, food, building materials... everything the mountain people need is packed on board... and off they go towards the mountains.

After 1.5 hours, all motorhomes and cars are on board. There is hardly a hand's breadth between the cars. We spend the journey on the sun deck. The wind is icy cold up here in the mountains. But we don't want to miss this sight. We drive for 3 hours through deep canyons and gorges. The cliffs tower above us and the water is turquoise blue. We see lonely houses and farms over and over again... in the middle of the deep mountains. These houses can only be reached via a donkey path (we see many of them). Well, you have to be born into it to be able to live like that. The people mostly live as subsistence farmers. Donkeys plow fields, everyone has their vegetable garden. After over three hours, the spectacle is over and freezing cold, we drive off the small ferry. On we go to the Valbona Valley. On a great mountain road, always along the Valbona River, we go higher and higher. And then we are in the village of Valbona. A sleepy mountain village... at the end of the world. Huge bare rock walls rise on both sides. We park right at the end of the valley in the riverbed. It's actually still a bit crowded here, there are several other campers (mostly Germans). Even Ravensburgers are here (the world is small). We also get to know Martin and Aeme from Innsbruck (who are actually from Cologne). They are here for hiking too. We walk to the end of the valley to the waterfall. In the middle of nowhere, an old Albanian woman has built a sugar-sweet little bar on wooden stilts. We stop there and enjoy the view of the snowy mountains.

After three days, we head back to civilization. But the road is endless and the route is truly spectacular. A road can't get curvier than this. Always along the steep slope. There are no guardrails or the like next to the road - it goes several hundred meters down. We pass many plaques commemorating people who had accidents. This road is not without danger and we drive very carefully and slowly. A road couldn't be more breathtaking and exciting.

After four hours, we are tired and decide to drive into a side valley and sleep. We find a meadow near a small village. We park the car - and the owner comes right away. But he is friendly and with hand gestures we explain that we just want to spend the night. No problem at all - the Albanians are hospitable!! And we get to know Daniel a little later. He speaks some bad English and a few minutes later we are already taken to the nearby bar. They invite us to beer. Paying is out of the question. Back at the bus (I'm already looking forward to bed) the homemade red wine is brought out. Friends join us and so we sit together in peace - in the middle of nowhere - and drink homemade red wine (big headache-ouch the next day). Late at night - we finally lie in bed - there is another knock on the door!! We get to know Pjetri. He speaks a little German and invites us to his house tomorrow morning. Actually, we are already invited to Jonny and Daniel's...hmmmmm?! We politely decline... we want to continue... we feel rude and bad... but if we accept all the invitations here in Albania... we won't be able to move on.

Even the remaining 80km are spectacular. We drive through endless pine forests. Here, too, millions of nests of the pine processionary caterpillar. All the trees are infested and many are already dying. The droppings are like poison and the caterpillars eat the rest. Some attempts have already been made with controlled burning. But there are so many here - they would have to burn down the entire forest. For us with the dogs, taking a break is out of the question here. So we drive straight through to Shkoder and check in at Albania's most beautiful campsite there.

And yesss :) It is stunningly beautiful here. Armin and Edith are here too - we are very happy to meet the two again. The showers are spotlessly clean. Each parking space has a drinking water connection (we haven't had that anywhere in Europe so far). There are beach umbrellas, hammocks, and lounge chairs at the beach. AND: There are washing machines!! What more does our traveling heart need. We relax, wash, and enjoy three days at this great place. The restaurant offers very cheap food. It's Easter and we treat ourselves to TWICE (grinning) a delicious meal. The first wood-fired pizza in a year!! It goes down like oil... and for 3.50 euros....

We are already near the border with Montenegro, but we decide that before we leave Albania, we will drive up to the Vermosh Valley once again. Here, too, the road is said to offer spectacular views. And yesss - that wasn't an exaggeration. At the halfway point, we pick up two German hitchhikers from Leipzig. The students are walking in Albania and Montenegro. Respect!! Especially up here in the mountains - it's freezing cold. They ride along with us all the way up to Vermosh. Unfortunately, it's really in the middle of nowhere and we decide to drive a little way back down to sleep. The two stay up there - and spend the night in a tent!! (scream). It sleeted at night. We are lying in the bus with the heater on and are once again very thankful for having our good old "Knut" (snuggle snuggle).

Then the time has come. We drive across the border into Montenegro. Goodbye exciting Albania

Conclusion: I have thought for a long time about what my conclusion for Albania should look like. We have never had such "difficulties" starting out in any other country like in Albania. We didn't like the cities and the coast at all. The amount of trash was almost unbearable. BUT: up high - far away from civilization - we found beautiful, spectacular, wild Albania. The people are poor - but sooo friendly and open like nowhere else. You feel welcome and absolutely safe. In addition, Albania is really cheap. The roads are mostly a disaster.... you can only make very leisurely progress. But the journey is the destination - and we could well imagine that our journey will someday take us back to Albania :)... now we are looking forward to Montenegro and are very curious to see what awaits us there!!