A Bunker & A Border

ok I'm jumping about a bit here but we've discovered the b&b has free wifi & as i'm sheltering indoors from the mid-day sun it seemed a good opportunity to fill in some bits I've skipped. Also I've had a special request for bunker photos

It was only an hour from our last Albanian stop in Shkoder to the border. About a hundred yards before reaching the border post I spotted a concrete bunker in a carpark next to a hand carwash. I'd been wanting to get up close to a bunker as all the others we'd seen had been too far from the road. Also the bikes were filthy so this was a perfect spot. LB washed the bikes while I pratted around with the camera taking photos of the bunker!.An excellent division of labour!

The bunker was tiny. You had to stoop to enter it & inside it was only about 5'10" high. I could just touch opposing walls with my finger tips. It's walls were double skinned concrete with quite a big gap between.

We didn't see quite as any of them as expected. There were lots at the Greek border, some on mountain passes and others on beaches. The rest of the countryside seemed clear of them.


With clean bikes we then headed for Montenegro. The border post was modern with a joint building between Albania & Montenegro. A road for cars and pavement for pedetrians went either side of the four, in-line, offices of passport & customs for each country. Very civilised. We were pleasantly surprised to be beckoned from the back of the queue of cars to ride up the pavement and go through the empty & narrow pedestrian side. Great fun! We've had no problems at all at the borders. We bought another €10 each bike insurance from another office next to customs & were all set to go.

Just down the road we stopped at this little shop for a cold drink. The owner who you see here sat down with us, chatted in Albian, pointed out the route on the map and gave us a load of figs off the tree in his garden. Wonderful hospitality!

Elvie