Day 25-28: Albania

We entered Albania at 7 o’clock in the morning. Ben wanted to hit the road as fast as possible. The first kilometres showed us a really beautiful landscape: huge mountains, rough cliffs and lakes in the valleys. 50km before Tirana, we stopped o split up. Ben wanted to rush through Albania and Greece to have more time for Turkey. And my priorities were just the other way round.

I drove up in the north to Teth National Park. The road got worse when I left the highway but in the Nation Park, they build brand new serpentines. Up on the pass, the road ended and a gravel path with rough stones continued. 

Compared to Bosnia, this was way more difficult. 16km took me more than an hour, but it was fun. The great view on the mountains compensated for the exhausting drive. Finally I arrived in Teth. The town is really small. Pigs and sheeps ran free along the road and it felt like time stands still in this peaceful valley. 

When I tried to drive a little further, the road ended in a mass of rocks. It looked like the river just expanded its bed as wide as the valley. 

I returned to the rough road and made my way to arrive in Tirana. My timing was perfect: 5PM, rush hour. The driving discipline got way worse. On each crossroad and each entrance to a roundabout, a police officer was needed to organise the chaos. Fortunately, I made it into the city centre without an accident. It took me only 2 hours :D

Tirana is a pretty modern city. In the evening, many bars and cafes are illuminated in all colours to gather attention. At daytime, the wide roads and alleys are quite impressive. And the number of building sites too… they build new buildings everywhere.

Leaving Tirana was way easier and faster. The highways are for free and in good shape. I visited Appolonia, an old Greek and Roman city at sunset. 

In the dark, I drove to Vlore. It is a really rich and modern city. In summer, there are a lot of tourists in the countless number of apartment buildings but in December, I could hardly find an open sea food restaurant. At “Ristorante San Giorgio Al Porto”, I found a place with delicious fish and good wine.

After a night near a pier, I followed the coastal road. The hills south of Vlore are a beautiful contrast to the caribbean-like cyan blue water. And they hide some wasted bunkers which are quite spooky. 

Finally, I arrived at Gjipe Beach, a unique place: A deep canyon leads from the mountains to the sea, opening for a beautiful beach enclosed by cliffs. And the temperature was even warm enough to jump in the sea on my completely private beach! 

 

I believed that you could only reach the beach by foot but got proofed wrong when I arrived. A big truck stood in the canyon and I found a “path” wide enough to drive. Following the path was already difficult by foot. It was way worse than Bosnia and Teth National Park. The rocks showed scratches of bottomed cars. Up on the hill, I found a wrecked Land Cruiser, rotting as a silent warning. Stupid me thought I should give it a try:

In 30 minutes, I made the 3km down to the beach. With all the happiness and adrenalin rush, I wanted to get the best spot as parking place… and digged in my car at the beach. This made me miss the sunset while I tried to bring my car back on solid ground. 

I found a small hut, alike Robinson-Crusoe-style with drinking water next to it. Behind the hut was a garden with many citrus fruits and olive trees. Ienjoyed my personal paradise for one evening. 

In the morning, I left the canyon and drove south to the Greece border. Before leaving Albania, I spend my last Albanian Leks on a car wash: 400Lek~3€. That’s pretty fair for vacuuming, prewash with water, shampoo, cleaning with water and rubbing dry by hand :)

All in all, Albania was a great adventure. In the future, the beautiful nature here will most likely make me return to these places.