2Bikepackerz: Albania I. – The two headed black eagle

8-13th September 2016 – 221km

We had so much fun on the land of the two-headed-black-eagle (it’s on their flag), that one article is not enough to tell all the stories about the wonderful landscape, and incredible warm-hearted people. Most people (incl. us before the trip) know nothing about Albania, but now we just want another chance to visit it again.

After we had passed the border and entered the first village, we saw several people on scooters and Linh told me happily: “Wow, I know these bikes, these are the same types as in Vietnam!” I also found several similarities between the two countries, and I was flabbergasted: I didn’t know that there is such a different country which is this close to Hungary!

We arrived to Shkoder, where the traffic was a chaos itself: cars, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians on both sides of the road, going in every direction – this was exciting! And my favourite snack, byrek (burek), is available, and it is sold in the funny named shop: Byrektore!

Near Shkoder

The modern city centre of Shkoder

Market, street market everywhere

We were curious about the price of watermelon, so we stopped at the national road and asked. Result: free watermelon! He didn’t accept any payment, and he wanted to give even one more!

After a short sightseeing and lunch we cycled towards the South on the flat land, watching the beautiful mountains on the Eastern side of the road. When it was almost dark we stopped in a small and poor village called Balldreni. A guy approached us immediately and invited us to his home for a coffee and snack. We were looking for lodging, and he said he couldn’t provide that, but it turned out, that he was just afraid to offer his couch, which may not fit our expectations, so he didn’t dare to mention it.

We stayed there for the night and they shared their stories, meanwhile treating us as king and queen. The young couple went to Germany as refugees, without speaking the language or having a good degree. They worked and made very good friends with local German families, but after 14 months their refugee status was denied, as Albania was not in war with anyone. Their old German friends were crying on the farewell party. Now they are back, living in poverty, but their hearts are made of gold, they would never hurt anyone. A very moving story…

The poor family, who gave us the best they had

Tirana was an exciting place, especially in the evening: people love to walk on the streets, having some snacks, spending time with friends in cafés. The city itself wasn’t very beautiful, but we enjoyed the atmosphere of a big, lively downtown, like in big cities in Vietnam.

Traditional and tasty food from Albania: pilaf (rice with beans), boiling stew in hot clay dish (lamb, onion, fresh cheese for a little sour taste) and bread is served with everything, it is complimentary.

Ugly pyramid for Enver Hoxha: soon it will be demolished. Hoxha was a communist leader, who isolated the country not only from western but from eastern superpowers as well, pushing the country into poverty

Skanderbeg’s strong ally against the Ottomans: the Hungarian János Hunyadi

Street in Tirana

The hero of the nation: Skanderbeg who fought with his allies against the Ottomans several times successfully. Albania was still invaded for 481 years by the Turks.

Esküvői palota. Az albánok úgy tartják, hogy ők az illírek leszármazottai, és ezt meg is akarják mutatni az építészetükben, ahol csak lehet

We cycled on a smaller road to Durres, which is one of the oldest cities in Albania, and it has the biggest port at the sea. We asked people on the street, if we can camp in their yard, and we found Bashkim: a family man, who’s daughter speaks excellent English and translates through the phone. They offered their home, we just needed to follow Bashkim’s car.

After some kilometres we asked him: how far are we going on the highway towards Tirana? Not far, about 12 km only! This surprized us but we couldn’t give up. His family was very welcoming, we felt like at home with them. This conservative Muslim family showed us around in Durres, gave us gorgeous Albanian food and we learned a lot about Albanians.

Bashkim étkezőasztala: házi készítésű burek (itt byrek), csirkehúsleves, fehérsajt, oliva, ecetes padlizsán, friss zöldségek és joghurt.

Egy új komplexum Durres-ben: kávézó, étterem és konferenciaterem a tenger felett

Bashkim családja, ahol mi is családtagokká váltunk

We had to stay some days at Bashim’s because Linh was a little bit unwell, and after we left we didn’t cycle too far: we went to a campsite to the beach south from Durres. It was very cool to camp next to the sea and swim in the morning before cycling again!