Albania

*Making our way to a wild camping spot outside of Theth, in the background, the Accursed Mountains*

We had no idea what to expect of Albania but were outstandingly and positively surprised on every front. It may have helped that we arrived in fall after the travel season, but the wild camping was extraordinary - scenic mountain sites, private ocean beaches, rivers and lakefront all easily available. The cultural sites were intriguing, varied and ancient and the people genuinely warm and hospitable to travelers. Although English was not widely spoken, people smiled and worked with our awkward sign language and Google Translate was our friend. The food was flavorful, filling and inexpensive. Hands down, it was one of our favorite countries this year.

HIghlights:

Accursed Mountains: what a name! otherwise known as “The Albanian Alps,” gorgeous peaks, outstanding hiking and views

Rozafa Castle: majestic ruins of an Illyrian castle with spectacular valley views

Apollonia: a spontaneous exit from the freeway led us to an unexpected treasure trove of greek and roman ruins and art work

Albanian Riviera: wild camping along the southern coast, turquoise ocean, white sand beaches

Berat: ancient Ottoman town built onto a mountainside with a castle perched above

*Crossing the border into Albania -first sighting of some other overlanders in a while*

Logistically, entering the Balkans from the EU came with some additional requirements for us. Our EU based auto insurance (German company Tour Insure) does not cover our USA-registered truck out of the EU so we needed to buy country specific insurance at each border. Dawn’s phone is set up on Google Voice and sim cards for data so she needed to purchase a Balkans sim card and swap that out with the EU one. Then there is the currency issue, although we have found that Euros are widely accepted for touristy purchases throughout the Balkans, economies are much more cash based. We found the insurance office and purchased 15 days of insurance for 15 euros. Sim card swapped out (gas station purchase) and ATM found for local currency withdrawal and we were good to go. We did note that the insurance office was only open on weekdays until 3pm, Saturdays until 1pm and closed on Sundays so made a mental note for future border crossings.

Our paper work was all in order and Andy was careful to keep to the speed limit and we were glad as there were more police check points in Albania than anywhere else we had seen. We were not sure of the purpose but two policemen at the side of the road with the infamous red paddle ready to pull someone over was a regular site. They never bothered with us.

*View down on Shkodër, known as the cultural capital of Albania*

Our first stop was Shkodër, one of the oldest cities in Albania. We made our way to Rozafa Castle, a stunning complex built 4,000 years ago on a rocky hill above the city. It was the right combination of restoration and ruin for us. We could feel the history and understand the structure and use of the various buildings but it didn’t feel too new and perfect.

*View of Rozafa Castle from a neighboring hill*

*Wandering the grounds, mostly on our own except for a bride and groom doing a photo shoot*

Being in the mountains is always the happiest place for both of us and our next stop was the mountain range with the intimidating name “Accursed Mountains.” We understand the name came from the fact that they are perceived to be wild and insurmountable. That may be the case, but they are spectacular to look at and the hiking was steep but rewarding. We based our visit out of the small village of Theth, little more than a collection of river side guest houses and camping spots with some cafes and restaurants in between.

*Driving into the trailhead, Theth to Valbona hike.*

*Dawn’s knees need a little help on the down hill*

*Our second night we invested $10 in a campground - Dawn off to the hot shower*

*And celebrated Andy’s 62nd birthday with the last of our French cider (he did end up sharing the bottle).With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.*

*Campgrounds were typically fields attached to guest houses*

*Windy mountain road in and out of Theth*

Our souls enriched with nature we headed to Tirana, the urban capital, to learn more about Albanian history and culture.

*Skanderberg Square, named after the Albanian hero who lead the effort to free Albania from the Ottomans in the 1400’s*

We met our free walking tour guide and did a deep dive into history over the next few hours. He explained that Albanians have four unifiers : love of Skanderberg, drinking rakia, driving Mercedez Benz and their language. We had been wondering about the proliferation of Mercedes on the streets.

*Et'hem Bey Mosque, built in the 1700’s, closed under communism but miraculously not destroyed and now still in use.*

Although Albania was not part of Yugoslavia and the ensuing wars between religions and cultures, it is 90% Muslim and surrounded by recently warring neighbors. Our tour guide explained that in his perception, in Albania people practice religion privately, and there is a desire to keep faith separate from politics and government.

*Joyous colorful buildings everywhere in Tirana*

*Mosaic of Mother Theresa inside the Catholic Church - she was born to an Albanian family and is considered a national hero*

Our guide gave us a quick tour through the communist regime from his perspective as a 30-something born just as it was ending. Pre-WWII, Albania was a monarchy with King Zog I reigning. After Mussolini attacked Albania in WWII, King Zog escaped the country and the Albanian Communist Party led by Enver Hoxha formed to fight Mussolini and Germany. In 1944 Albania was free and unoccupied but technically still a monarchy. What followed was a “free” election with one party and leader to choose from, Hoxha. Guess who won.

From 1945 to 1991 Albania was cut off from the west. Our guide described years of isolation, oppression and lack of freedom. He explained how his parents lived their whole life under communism and had no preparation for the ensuing world - banking, free enterprise, the joy of coca cola and bananas.

Apparently Hoxha was a huge fan of Stalin and aligned with the Soviet Union against Tito’s Yugoslavia until Stalin died in 1953 when he found a new partner in China until 1978. He split with China in 1985 (“not communist enough” ) and Albania remained isolated with no international support or partnerships until 1991. They faced food shortages, lack of trade, lack of outside information and human rights violations. Religion and private property were forbidden. When Hoxha died in 1985, the new leader allowed some connection to the outside world. When the Berlin wall fell in 1889, Albanian students felt empowered to protest and in 1991 the first opposition party was formed and eventually they won the election.

Currently Albania’s economy is ranked 30th among the the 45 countries in the European region, below the regional average but above the world average.

*One of the 175,000 bunkers that cover the country - built during Hoxha’s time to defend against foreign aggression*

*Hoxha’s old home. Currently national debate over whether or not to turn it into a museum, many do not want to seem to honor him others want to tell the story of the time.*

Inside the primary Orthodox church in Tirana. We did notice that our guide took us to each of the three main religious buildings - Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox, representing the three religions in the Balkans. (Croatia mainly Catholic, Serbia, Montenegro and N. Macedonia mainly Orthodox and Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia predominantly Muslim.

Our next stop was unplanned and one of our favorites. It was one of those moments when we were driving down the freeway, feeling like a break to stretch our legs, and saw a historic sign saying “Apollonia” with a picture of some Roman columns. So we pulled off and it ended up being an amazing place. Founded by the Greeks in 600 BC as a trading colony, later it flourished under the Romans. The on site museum is filled with statues and carvings found on the site and you can wander the ruins at will. Most of the time we were the only ones there - incredible.

*Our lone truck in the parking area, next to old Roman ruins*

We continued our way down the coast of the Adriatic ocean, driving the hairpin turns of the mountain to sea roads and eyeing the turquoise blue ocean the “Albanian Riviera” is known for.

*Found our favorite campsite in Albania - private beach, no one around*

*And on further exploration found an old submarine bunker built into the cliff, extraordinary and eerie*

Water was easy to find in Albania, most communities having a free spring with water on continuous flow. Andy is using our hose to run it through our UV system - just in case there is something our non-Albanian bodies are not used to

Our next stop was another historic site - Butrint National Park on the strait of Corfu. It has been the site of Greek and Roman colonies. Once again, we were allowed to wander freely among the ruins, often no one else around. Entrance fee was $3.

*Butrint National Park - ruins of a Roman city*

*Bumping along to what we hope will be a riverside camping spot*

A word on wild camping in Albania. Although not technically allowed as in many countries, it was readily available if you used common sense - avoiding what was obviously private land or land being farmed and staying out of sight of peoples’ houses. Typically the only person we would see would be a roaming shepherd with his flock of sheep. It brought back memories of our time in Romania where we loved seeing the shepherds solitary and hard working, always a friendly wave.

We also noticed that the lands the public (likely a mix of local and travelers) were using for recreation were often not well cared for - rubbish dumps were common and littering frequent. It was sad to see. It seems that there is a desire for a cultural shift - we have never seen so many dumpster style rubbish bins for free garbage dumping along the sides of every road. We are used to carrying our own garbage and adding some of other people’s to our bag, then dumping it when we find an appropriate dumpster, but in Albania we never seemed to carry it more than a mile - rare.

We next found our way to Gjirokastër to see the old town, a UNESCO site known for being a well preserved ancient Ottoman town. We were appreciating the difference in the ancient architecture we were seeing in Albania. Having spent most of the last year in western Europe, we had become a little jaded about stopping at each of what Lonely Planet likes to call “a charming village.” Albania was a welcome relief with its blocky style stone house, stone rooves, mosques with beautiful minarets and narrow winding alleys climbing cliffsides.

*We were fascinated by the roofs and how they were constructed*

Our final stop in Albania was a rest night - time for a private bathroom, dinner out, laundry, all the good stuff. We booked into a guest house in Berat with our favorite scenario, view down on the truck parked in front. For $25 we had a private room, access to a washing machine and a cooked breakfast.

Berat was beautiful, an ancient Ottoman city built up a hill, with the mandatory castle at the top. People we talked to were warm and welcoming, and we were treated to frighteningly strong rakia, the national alcoholic beverage.