The border was a bit different from the previous ones and there were no signs. The line of cars was huge but everyone told me to move forward and go straight to the beginning. A few kilometres before crossing, you could already feel the change of country. Suddenly there were lots of people selling everything from fish to fruit to packets of cigarettes on the street. The people were very friendly and were honking to greet me and asking me where I was from. You could tell I had crossed into Albania because you could see mosques again.
In Shkodër I was hosted by Jozef. We rode around the city centre with the bikes and everyone was amazed when we passed by. It’s a city with a lot of students and it shows. When I got home and went to the shower, I was a little bit surprised by the layout of the shower. I’ll have to get used to it because in Turkey it will probably be like that too.
Afterwards we went for a few beers and chatted about Albania and its cultures. Jozef feels himself to be an Illyrian, a pagan people who inhabited the Balkans before the Greeks and Romans arrived. The sun and snakes were symbols of the Illyrian people that can still be found in northern Albania today. The language used in northern Albania and other neighbouring countries is quite different from the standard Albanian, Tosk, which was imposed by Hoxha’s communist regime. This language, Gheg, is not official in Albania but it’s still spoken and there’s a lot of literature in this language. Another example of the problems suffered by minority languages. It was very interesting and we still have a lot to talk about.
The next day I went out quite early and took the opportunity to take a photo of one of the many stray dogs that approached me while I was having breakfast. Albania is full and in the cities they usually carry a chip.
I was also surprised that in the city of Shkodër there are a lot of people who use bicycles in their daily life, as Jozef had already told me.
I was supposed to sleep in the city of Laç, but Jozef told me that it was a bit dangerous, so I changed my mind and headed for the coast towards Shengjin, near Lëzhë. There, Gjergj Kastrioti (Skanderbeg), a military man and aristocrat who fought against the Ottoman Empire and is considered an Albanian national hero, is buried. The next day I cycled to Tirana. On the way, in a corner lost in the small Albanian villages, I met Jeanne and Thibaut, who were returning from their trip through Europe after having arrived in Greece. They were the first cyclists I met and I was very happy to spend some time with them.
On the Albanian coast I took the opportunity to get a room for a couple of nights at a good price and eat a lot of cheap fish, something that is not so evident in other countries.
With my batteries recharged and my stomach full, I continued on to Tirana. I had a long day ahead of me with a very bad road (like most roads in Albania) and because of this I broke another pannier hook due to the bumps and had to cycle unbalanced all day.
I passed through Laç, the city that Jozef had told me to avoid, although during the day it’s no problem. It is, however, a completely abandoned old industrial town with lots of shacks and people living in very precarious conditions.
On the way to Tirana, however, the views of the mountains were spectacular and accompanied me all day on the boring plain.
Arriving in Tirana I saw everything on the roadside. From military planes to huge trucks carrying Italian tanks and ostriches and other animals caged for no reason at all.
Entering Tirana from the north, I had to cross a footbridge over the river, which gave me a bad feeling, but will serve as experience for the future.
It has to be said that the country has a big problem with waste management and that it’s very dirty everywhere. The people are very friendly, but they are always smiling and greeting me, I missed this support. The little kids chased me with their bikes and asked me in English where I was from and what I was doing there. In Tirana I went to all the bike shops to ask if they had the pannier hooks, but it’s impossible to find these things in Albania. I had to use the last spare I had and pray that it would last until Thessaloniki in Greece.
I stayed three nights in Tirana to plan for the coming weeks and to sample the local cuisine, such as grilled lamb.
I also took the opportunity to visit the city and see how people live. It isn’t a particularly beautiful city, but it’s quite lively and reminded me of Berlin in some areas, such as the Blloku neighbourhood, which used to be reserved for the residences of the officials of Hoxha’s communist regime and where it was forbidden to enter, and which is now full of alternative cafés and bars.
In Albania, markets are as important as in the Middle East and you can find everything. From spices and nuts to food of all kinds.
To shoes of all kinds and probably even missing.
To bicycles with state-of-the-art components.
That can be seen in service and in their full splendour on the streets of Tirana.
It’s also common to find people playing music in the streets, especially from the Romani community.
The contrasts in Tirana are quite evident. On the one hand there is a bridge sponsored and paid for by Vodafone.
On the other hand, electrical installations are more typical of India than of a European country.
It was also interesting to see murals of the traditional costumes of various historical regions of Albania such as: Janinës (where Ioannina was the capital now in Greece), Shkodrës (where Shkodër was the capital), Kosovës (where first Pristina, Kosovo, was the capital and then Skopje, Macedonia) and Manastirit (where Bitola was the capital now in Macedonia).
And also of the Albanians who had to flee with the arrival of the Ottoman Empire and who went to Italy, specifically to Calabria, Sicily and Puglia, (the Arbëreshë) and to southern Greece, specifically to the Peloponnese, (the Arvanites). Jozef made me discover a beautiful song about the Arbëreshë community. He also made me discover more traditional Albanian music like this one. Where you can clearly see the importance of the clarinet as an instrument.
Another mural illustrated the territory that the Albanians claim as their own. This territory stretches from northern Montenegro to northern Greece.
In the middle of the city there are still bunkers that were built during the communist era, which I will talk about later.
After all these inputs for the senses and discovering a bit more about Albania, I headed towards the mountains to disconnect a bit towards the mythical Ohrid Lake, which forms the border between the current Albania and Macedonia. It was quite a climb but the views were worth it.
Luckily the road to Elbasan had very little traffic and was in very good condition for Albania.
At the top I shared the view with some of the pioneers of cycling in Albania.
After the long and beautiful descent I arrived in Elbasan, walled and quite beautiful. There I had booked a cheap room for a night. I was met by Silvi’s father, who spoke no English at all, but we still understood each other perfectly.
The next day I got up very early because I wanted to get to Ohrid and get ahead of the rain for the next 3 days. It was almost 100 km and more than 1200 metres of elevation gain. The tarmac was terrible and there was a lot of traffic, as it was the only road up the narrow valley. The contrasts of the Albanian countryside soon made their presence felt. On the one hand, limousines.
And on the other hand, horses as a means of transport.
The sheer number of bunkers, reminiscent of the country’s communist past, was also quite shocking. Enver Hoxha, the country’s supreme leader, had nearly 750,000 bunkers built all over the country, making it the country with the most bunkers in the world. By wasting money and resources on them, the country’s development in terms of roads and many other infrastructures was slowed down, and this is still evident today.
Most of which are abandoned.
On the way to Lake Ohrid I kept coming across symbols reminiscent of the country’s communist past.
It’s also curious how many rather austere washing stations can be found in Albania.
And the number of abandoned industrial complexes. At least this one had been decorated with ladybugs and was a bit more beautiful than the rest.
After a long climb I managed to catch sight of Lake Ohrid and this meant that I was closer to my goal. It’s the lake that impressed me the most and the views were spectacular. The fact that it’s 700 metres above sea level makes it even more impressive.
It was time to push on and cross the border quickly and reach the city of Ohrid before sunset. Temperatures were dropping below freezing and the rain was not long in coming. They were quite surprised to see me up there with my bike, but they didn’t ask too many questions and let me pass.
I spent only one week in Albania and I would’ve wanted to stay for longer. I wanted to know more about the country and its cultures and to discover the northern mountains, especially Theth and Valbona. I liked the Albanian people very much and I’ll definitely come back in the future.
