Albania

Wednesday 26th July 2013

The border crossing into Albania went smoothly and we followed the coastal road around the lake.

We had been told that the roads in Albania were pretty bad and this road was dreadful. Our top speed was about 37 kilometes per hour. There were many road works and the motorhome had a good shake up over the many bumps and holes. Luckily this was the worst section we encountered in all of Albania. When we turned to drive up into the mountains the surface was as smooth as any we had travelled on.

Coming down the mountain and before entering a town we noticed hoses with water gushing into the air. There were people manning the hoses and beckoning us to come to their spot as these were the local car washes. Albania is the car wash centre of the world with one on almost every corner , well almost. They are called “Lavazh” and they can be a single hose with a bucket to a very sophisticated modern car wash.

As the motorhome was dirty we pulled in to get a wash. Having no Albanian money,  we negotiated for 5 euro’s [he would have taken a t-shirt as well] so with hose, detergent, bucket and broom he proceeded to clean the entire motorhome and did a great job. We proceeded to the next town to get some local money as there was a sign saying ATM and an arrow. In sign language I asked a man if he knew where it was. Without delay he set off with me in tow and walked through the backstreets to the ATM where the machine spat out our Albanian money.

We headed to Tirane, the capital of Albania where we though there was a campsite, but driving on a new freeway took us up nearly to the centre and then stopped with no signs or directions. Confused we followed a truck that took us to a narrow street full of potholes which led to another main road which was on our maps and out of the city. The traffic was very busy and each stop light there were gypsies trying to sell us sun shades or with babies in tow, beg for money. We were glad to get out of the city and gave up on trying to get to the campsite as the way back would have been difficult. We drove out of the city and towards the beach where we though another campsite was, this also proved a dead-end as on the beach there was plenty of places to park and stay overnight it was very windy and all we could do was to be holed up in the motorhome. After a drink and some chocolate we decided we might as very go on to the next campsite on our list, which we knew did exist.

Back to the main road and in the direction north we saw a sign which said Nord Park Hotel and Camping. We made a quick U turn and were glad we did as the site was behind a hotel with a great swimming pool. As we set up we saw a wicked van and the occupants spoke English, they were from Australia. We spent the evening with Brodie and Kirstie sharing stories and glad of some company.

The pool was great and we were given a key to one of the hotel rooms to have a shower – luxury. The next morning we said our farewells and headed off to Camping Albania which is in a village called Barbullush in northern Albania.

We reached to campsite which is run by Dutch people and decided to stay for two days as we had been on the road for a week. Time to catch up on washing, reading and doing nothing. We did go for a bike ride to the village and did a bit of shopping. On the last night we went to the campground restaurant joined by and English man and a Dutch couple. The meal was excellent and the campground had good facilities.

We left the next morning heading off to the border of Montenegro another country we have not been before.

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