Albania

The next morning I first take some time off at the beach. I’m there before 9 and stayed until almost noon, thinking that the sun wouldn’t be that hard at that time… wrong thinking, the UV is do high that I get burned… Temperatures are so high again that I can’t force myself anymore to put all my gear on and I decide to drive in shorts and t-shirt. What a great feeling! It’s still hot hot hot but it’s already a bit more bearable now without the bike pants and protectionvest. Some more views from Montenegro:

I still have time today so I take a detour to Albania through a small mountain road before arriving in Shkoder at around 1630. At the 4 star hotel, I get in the lobby and I’m thinking, this is way above my budget, but I’ll ask the price anyway. It’s 1500Lek, which is about 11€ for a night. Hell yeah! A 4 star hotel and guarded parking for 11€, let’s do it! I should have known that there would be a catch… It’s the Russian style; once you get out the elevator on your floor it goes from 4 stars to one. I don’t really care as the bike is safe and I have a bed. I meet in the lobby with some soon to be new friends: a French guy, a Polish, a Swiss, a Liechtensteiner and an Asutrian Girl. We go together to the Rozafa castle by taxi. We first ask an Albanian in the street what it would cost, so the cabdriver can’t cheat us. We get at the castle and get some great views and the entrance fee is only 1,5€ pp.

Sabrina tells us that she’s going to take a boat trip the next day from Komani to Fierze, it should be something great that last for 3 hours and goes all along mountains. We all decide to go with her, since we haven’t really planned anything and so the happy bunch stays together for another few hours. As I am the only one with transportation, I can stay half an hour longer in bed and drive myself to the ferry. They take a minibus which leaves at 6 in the morning, as the ferry leaves at 9. What you also need to know is that I don’t use the GPS anymore and I don’t have a really good detailed map of Albania. So I need to stop and ask directions in every village. The road really suck big time to get there and I just arrive five minutes before departure. They never thought that I would come so everybody is cheerful. When I see the “ferry” I realize that it’s not a ferry but a boat. Now it makes sense why the people all along the road told me ‘no moto’… the ferry is actually a BUS that has been transformed and welded to a boat. It’s unbelievably cool! I’ve never ever seen or heard or read about anything like this. I swear that it’s a bus that they transformed into a busboat. This is the inside:

So I start wondering about the bike, start thinking that I have to go back and the whole shitroad has been for nothing. But then the Albanian guy tells me “no problem” and after some money discussion they take the GSA on board…

This is just incredible! And the busboat ride even more, I don’t regret it for a single minute! I am so glad that tourists haven’t found out about this yet, it would spoil everything! To give you an idea, the normal Albanian price for the ‘ride’ is around 3€ for the 3 hours on board. I paid 20€ for me and the bike and the work to get the bike on and off the busboat. I am sorry to overwhelm you guys with some pictures now, but this has truly been a highlight in my life!

Getting on or off is always a interesting time and you have to know where the “busboat stop” is…

After this there’s a really cool offroad piste to get back to the ‘main’ road as they are building a road to the ferry at this time. It’s only half an hour or so through the mountains to Kosovo. No problems at the border where I purchase insurance for the bike as EU insurances are not covering Kosovo since they are still at war with Serbia… But the Bordercommander is a nice Lieutenant and we get a pic together:

I get to Prishtina taking some detours and I manage to find a bed for 15€ so I decide to go for a walk in the city in the evening to grab some food, I end up eating a kind of kebapmenuthing for 2€… it’s perfect and the price is even more perfect! When I walk back to my sleeping place I hear some really loud Albanian music coming out of a door and I can’t resist to take a sneak-peak… It’s a wedding party! So I am fascinated by this and keep looking and taking a quick picture when a guy comes out and I ask him if it is actually a wedding. We start talking and before I know it I’m inside, sitting at a table drinking and eating and enjoying the music with them! Around midnight I decide that this day has been so fulfilling and with so much excitement that I really need to get going as it’s still half an hour walk to the guest house…