It’s almost been a month now since I crossed into Albania from Montenegro. Since the start of my tour, people had kept telling me that ‘As long as you stay in Norhtern and Central Europe it will all be OK. But once you roll into the Balkans, everything and everyone will go absolutely nuts!’.
From before I aready knew that people tend to take any given opportunity to exaggerate how dangerous and ‘crazy’ things are in places they generally have no personal experience of. But even still, I had been rolling through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro waiting for signs of this Balkan madness people kept referring to – without much success.
Probably somewhere in Montenegro I stopped thinking about this at all, as there obviously was not really any connection between these stories and reality. So more relaxed than ever I crossed into Albania, without even considering that things would be any different from the past few weeks through the Balkans.
But – they were.
I spent roughly one week in Albania. An intense week that involved lots of firsts and worsts. Povery, dirt, hopelessness and even violence was constantly present, and I many times had difficulty enjoying views and downhills in the same way I had been before. In hindsight though, it’s clear that many of the ‘bad’ parts of this week are very valuable experiences for my continuation East.
And already – less than one month later – I can look back at my time in Albania with a smile. Apart from being another country with beautiful landscapes and amazing people, it’s also the place were I aquired and got comfortable with a bunch of weird skills – like:
– Handling some pretty rough traffic both in and out of cities
– Fending of angry and aggressive mobs of dogs (with my feet and panniers still intact)
– Getting rid of rude and disrespectful truck drivers with a smile
– Avoiding potholes, enjoying great scenery and not get run over – all at the same time!
Don’t get me wrong though! Albania was awesome already while I was experiencing it. In so many ways, and because of so many wonderful people.
Here are a bunch of photos to give you some glimpses of my Albanian roller coaster ride!
My first night in Albania I met Mikel who welcomed me with homemade raki and a Shkodër city tour
Mikel’s house kind of became the meeting point of all tour cyclists passing through town
And I ended up having not just one, but four Swiss companions to Tirana
My fully loaded bike usually brings a lot of curiosity from people around. But cycling next to the rolling circus of Annaelle and Jonas, I was definitely no longer the center of attention
An early stop gave us lots of time for hanging out, reading maps and sharing stories from the road
With several stoves we took the opportunity to prepare a three course camp dinner
…And then suddenly I found myself in Tirana. With my mum and brother. Happy, happy, happy!
My mum’s idea of adventure. Head torch – sure. But queen sized hotel bed..?
Albanian structure?
And Albanian… Well, something.
Then finally. Came the countryside
And I got to do what I love the most. Peek into the lives of random – amazing – people for a night or two
This was definitely the most difficult and time consuing tent pitching I’ve ever experienced
But Mario came with it as a body guard so I was happy as could be!
Albania is absolutely beautiful. If you want it to be.
But you will have to ignore the trash and dirt that is always – always – present
When standing in the same spot you can either see this
Or turn around to see this…
Just kilometers before the border to Macedonia I ran into Sara from England – another female solo cyclist!
Possibly the coolest person I’ve ever met. One year ago she built her own bike – and rode it to Palestine. When she got there? Well. She simply wasn’t ready to stop just yet and is now pedaling her way back home.
That’s all for now. Keep your eyes open though. Another post – this one about my ride through Macedonia and Greece – is coming up shortly.
Cheers!