Bar to Sarande
Much has been spouted on Albania. I remembered a post on here where some nobber described it as a 'failed state' and you shouldn't go there.
Well, if you miss it out on account of such a load of old tosh the failure is on your part. It is a a knockout of a place and a very interesting part of the world to be.
We took roads that were completely unsignposted and reached the border mid-morning. They had a special narrow window that bikes could pass through. How very forward thinking
The border folks were charming and pleasant. "Are you Rob?" said the man, looking at the passport "Is that a BMW?" or 'Bumvee' as the genial fellow enquired, looking quizically at my logo which had been expertly replaced by a sticker featuring an annoyed hedgehog. "Yes" I said. "Very nice" he says, and with a quick look at the V5 he says "Welcome to Albania, Robert" followed by a big smile.
David gets more of a questioning. "Where are you going today?" says chappy. David doesn't actually know, and confers for an answer. "Sarande" he eventually responds, but I think the first answer of I don't really have any idea at all was solid enough for the border guard.
Within a couple or so miles of the border and already the flavour is fantastic. There is a woman ushering a cow across the road; A guy reversing down the road towards us at a rate of speed (I guess he couldn't be bothered to turn around); A guy trotting a horse along, led by a moped.
.. enormous mobile haystacks on A Roads with carts underneath unseen...
[
It is a wonderful place. We love it. We get back onto the main road towards Lezhe, a place I've visited before. It's relatively nice 'A' road stuff, two way traffic, easy overtakes and good pace. Drivers are courteous to motorbikes and more than one bobbles onto the shoulder to let us pass.
We head through Lezhe and stop for a drink. The waiter, Albert, is very polite and summons up fanta and coke. I have an amount of Albanian funny money which was given to me by a dear friend and forget the denomination, but from the look of the bill compared to what we have we could stay here for weeks. Back to the road and onwards.
The Road turns into a Motorway, little green motorway sign and everything. There are still mopeds coming up the hard shoulder, people selling fruit, Donkeys, Horses, all kinds of stuff. But the going is fine. It is total food for the eyes, you want to look at everything. Note to self: must ensure to remember I am riding a bike.
Here's a typical load lugger arrangement..
We hit sections of roadworks that seem to have a common denominator of being under bridges, where there is no surface, so the traffic streams from 70mph to walking pace as it bobbles twenty feet or so across to the proper tarmac. There's no central reservation at this bit, and one car thinks the surface is better on the opposite carriageway so simply crosses over there into oncoming traffic. eek.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dFk2gG423UE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Here's another little taster of the Albanian Motorway. Signage not their big thing. You can see while the FCO says 'never motor at night'.. Eek
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WjavB4iPux0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
There's really just too much to say about the variety of roads, amusing roadworks, surfaces, towns and sights. It is just formidable and not at all unpleasant riding. The drivers let you get on with it and there's no hassle.
One thing to mention, is that Albania is like one giant Petrol Station. Certainly on the main routes, you've no fear of running out. I think I spied a Petrol Station within one of the Petrol Stations at one point.
We get to Vlore, and then start on the road to Sarande. We wind and climb into the hills and stop for a coca cola. We consult my large scale AA roadmap which has been great. But it seems to quote 70km for what seems like a relatively short distance. It must be wrong, we thought.
Ah, well now you see it isn't- the road twists and turns up and down, back and forth along the rocky coast. It is epic and memorable riding and the road is in great condition. I make some decent video of it.
The coastal road is a gem.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Y-Sa62HWEb0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Here's some of the lower section, a little flavour of through the villages.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ySTkmeiKoE8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
After a heavenly couple of hours we descend upon Sarande.
I had done not much research, only that we wanted to stop at the Hotel Briliant which has been recommended by a few folks on UKGSer. Unfortunately for us, Sarande isn't a one horse town, and Garmin have just simply not bothered to map it, so we're just a cursor moving around not even a base map. Bother.
After getting no sense we stop and I ask a Motorcycle Policeman who looks pretty fearsome. I observe the international rules of pleasantness and protocol. Rule number one - Take off your hat. He looks for a bit at me but it seemed to work. He has no English, but lightens up once he understands what I'm after. Points the way, up there round a bit and right. The directions are perfect.
The Hotel is very nice and they get us a prime spot to park up. There will be no problems with the bikes, they say; they have a little man watching out. We have very modern rooms for something like 35 Euros and it is very nice indeed. We go out and have a two course fish dinner with wine for two for the equivalent of 17 quid. The waiter presents us with a spirit sort of ouzo affair and it is the strongest thing ever. Dave decides to light it, and it burns like flamethrower for about 10 minutes. I decide to try and put it out and set light to the table cloth. I blame Dave, conveniently, and tell the waiter he is a fire chief and he should know better. I think he just wants us to go away, so we oblige him.
Sarande is a top place and at less than half the price of Corfu which you can see from across the bay, for me it would be a no brainer for a beach break. There was a beach bar that served perfect Lowenbrau, too. Retro! It was quite superb, I even broke my domestic beer only rule for it.
Albania.. we salute you!
Much has been spouted on Albania. I remembered a post on here where some nobber described it as a 'failed state' and you shouldn't go there.
Well, if you miss it out on account of such a load of old tosh the failure is on your part. It is a a knockout of a place and a very interesting part of the world to be.
We took roads that were completely unsignposted and reached the border mid-morning. They had a special narrow window that bikes could pass through. How very forward thinking
The border folks were charming and pleasant. "Are you Rob?" said the man, looking at the passport "Is that a BMW?" or 'Bumvee' as the genial fellow enquired, looking quizically at my logo which had been expertly replaced by a sticker featuring an annoyed hedgehog. "Yes" I said. "Very nice" he says, and with a quick look at the V5 he says "Welcome to Albania, Robert" followed by a big smile.
David gets more of a questioning. "Where are you going today?" says chappy. David doesn't actually know, and confers for an answer. "Sarande" he eventually responds, but I think the first answer of I don't really have any idea at all was solid enough for the border guard.
Within a couple or so miles of the border and already the flavour is fantastic. There is a woman ushering a cow across the road; A guy reversing down the road towards us at a rate of speed (I guess he couldn't be bothered to turn around); A guy trotting a horse along, led by a moped.
.. enormous mobile haystacks on A Roads with carts underneath unseen...
[
It is a wonderful place. We love it. We get back onto the main road towards Lezhe, a place I've visited before. It's relatively nice 'A' road stuff, two way traffic, easy overtakes and good pace. Drivers are courteous to motorbikes and more than one bobbles onto the shoulder to let us pass.
We head through Lezhe and stop for a drink. The waiter, Albert, is very polite and summons up fanta and coke. I have an amount of Albanian funny money which was given to me by a dear friend and forget the denomination, but from the look of the bill compared to what we have we could stay here for weeks. Back to the road and onwards.
The Road turns into a Motorway, little green motorway sign and everything. There are still mopeds coming up the hard shoulder, people selling fruit, Donkeys, Horses, all kinds of stuff. But the going is fine. It is total food for the eyes, you want to look at everything. Note to self: must ensure to remember I am riding a bike.
Here's a typical load lugger arrangement..
We hit sections of roadworks that seem to have a common denominator of being under bridges, where there is no surface, so the traffic streams from 70mph to walking pace as it bobbles twenty feet or so across to the proper tarmac. There's no central reservation at this bit, and one car thinks the surface is better on the opposite carriageway so simply crosses over there into oncoming traffic. eek.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dFk2gG423UE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Here's another little taster of the Albanian Motorway. Signage not their big thing. You can see while the FCO says 'never motor at night'.. Eek
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WjavB4iPux0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
There's really just too much to say about the variety of roads, amusing roadworks, surfaces, towns and sights. It is just formidable and not at all unpleasant riding. The drivers let you get on with it and there's no hassle.
One thing to mention, is that Albania is like one giant Petrol Station. Certainly on the main routes, you've no fear of running out. I think I spied a Petrol Station within one of the Petrol Stations at one point.
We get to Vlore, and then start on the road to Sarande. We wind and climb into the hills and stop for a coca cola. We consult my large scale AA roadmap which has been great. But it seems to quote 70km for what seems like a relatively short distance. It must be wrong, we thought.
Ah, well now you see it isn't- the road twists and turns up and down, back and forth along the rocky coast. It is epic and memorable riding and the road is in great condition. I make some decent video of it.
The coastal road is a gem.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Y-Sa62HWEb0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Here's some of the lower section, a little flavour of through the villages.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ySTkmeiKoE8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
After a heavenly couple of hours we descend upon Sarande.
I had done not much research, only that we wanted to stop at the Hotel Briliant which has been recommended by a few folks on UKGSer. Unfortunately for us, Sarande isn't a one horse town, and Garmin have just simply not bothered to map it, so we're just a cursor moving around not even a base map. Bother.
After getting no sense we stop and I ask a Motorcycle Policeman who looks pretty fearsome. I observe the international rules of pleasantness and protocol. Rule number one - Take off your hat. He looks for a bit at me but it seemed to work. He has no English, but lightens up once he understands what I'm after. Points the way, up there round a bit and right. The directions are perfect.
The Hotel is very nice and they get us a prime spot to park up. There will be no problems with the bikes, they say; they have a little man watching out. We have very modern rooms for something like 35 Euros and it is very nice indeed. We go out and have a two course fish dinner with wine for two for the equivalent of 17 quid. The waiter presents us with a spirit sort of ouzo affair and it is the strongest thing ever. Dave decides to light it, and it burns like flamethrower for about 10 minutes. I decide to try and put it out and set light to the table cloth. I blame Dave, conveniently, and tell the waiter he is a fire chief and he should know better. I think he just wants us to go away, so we oblige him.
Sarande is a top place and at less than half the price of Corfu which you can see from across the bay, for me it would be a no brainer for a beach break. There was a beach bar that served perfect Lowenbrau, too. Retro! It was quite superb, I even broke my domestic beer only rule for it.
Albania.. we salute you!