Balkans Holiday Revisited- Day 8

Day 8 Vlore to Shkoder This was by far the worst day's ride of the whole trip! It started off on a reasonable single carriageway road but heavy with cars and slow lorries. The scenery was nice enough and at one point the road went through an avenue of huge eucalyptus trees which filled the air with their aromatic scent. With clear noses we then reach Fier and the start of the motorway. This was fairly empty and free flowing but after 50K we were back on a busy, slow single carriageway road, here we had some horses and carts to contend with as well as the slow lorries. We got slightly lost after Durres and had a very pleasant ride on minor rural roads until a stop at a filling station where the local lads helpfully pointed us in the right direction to a bit more motorway. Just before Tirana we turned left onto a major road with major road works and heavy traffic. We had 85K on it & it was horrendous! The extensive roadworks involved large stretches without tarmac but with deep potholes. The cars were really struggling not to bottom out. We arrived at Shkoder mid afternoon but the journey had seemed an awful lot longer! This seems an opportune time to mention Albanian driving . This is universally condemned as being appalling though, once used to it, we didn't find it so bad, just different. The worst was definitely on this day's journey where fast expensive cars would overtake in the face of oncoming traffic at ridiculous speeds. Fortunately the majority of Albanian cars are clapped out old wrecks that stick roughly to the speed limits. The limits are very low by Western standards so most of the time one had plenty of time to anticipate and react to the usual Albanian modus operandi. Town limits are 20 or 40kph, outside of town is 60kph and the motorway limits are only 80kph. On the motorways in particular there were police with mobile speed traps every couple of miles. In towns and smaller roads driving was interesting! There were few rules regarding right of way. On the whole major roads had right of way over any minor roads joining ( so that's better than some towns in France!) Cross roads were largely by negotiation, with no road markings and often traffic lights that didn't work. I didn't quite manage to work out the rules for roundabouts! It was acceptable for cars to stop, often at a strange angle, for the driver to have a chat to another car driver or pedestrian and then to pull away without any indication. Mobile phone use was common though it seemed to be the rule to slow to 5-10 mph while you were doing so. No one got angry at other road users and there was no horn tooting. In Vlore the main street was a three lane dual carriageway, though the inside lane and half the middle one was occupied by parked cars. Turning left across it was easy as traffic stopped and gave way. Perhaps they were just surprised by my indicators! Seriously though, while eating we observed pedestrians crossing & they just stepped out into the maelstrom and everything stopped to let them pass. In some ways it was more civilised than home! Anyway in Shkoder we took Lonely Planet's advice and booked into the 5* Grand Hotel for €65 B&B. We were lucky to get a room as a local football team had all booked in for the same night. There was secure underground parking for the bikes. Our room was pretty plush though the shower leaked and there was no plug for the bath! The electric supply was a bit erratic too but breakfast was a feast! The views from the top floor bar were magnificent so we went up there before sunset to take photos of the gathering storm and later, the setting sun . We had a big meal at a nearby traditional restaurant. Here we met four elderly Poles who'd travelled by car from Warsaw via Kosovo. They'd had no problems in Kosovo although commented that it was an incredibly poor country. It was the one place we'd actively decided against visiting due to warnings of possible trouble near the Serbian border. Perhaps we'll put it on the itinerary for next year? Anyway, afterwards, a good night's sleep and good breakfast banished traffic problems from our minds and put us in the mood for the days ride into to Montenegro __________________ http://mogs-travels.blogspot.com/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/pontydoc/