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https://www.strava.com/activities/9308230028

I haven't been keeping the blog up to date recently. This has been as a result of two things. My head hasn't been in the right place since Laura went home so I have just been going through the motions. I think have worked this and am now back and focussed on completing this challenge.

And, secondly, I have been trying to process my first 4 days of Albania. I wasn't sure what to expect. Last year a friend went trekking to the hills in Albania but when I asked what the country was like, all she said we got ill. I took that to mean an upset stomach. I wasn't sure how to interpret what she said?

When I entered Albania I had already experienced going from a well established and "normal" European country, Croatia, to a less well heeled and up and coming country, Montenegro. I sort of expected Albania to be similar to Montenegro but, using a footballing analogy, I seem to have gone from Premiere League to Championship League to the Boys Brigade Under 14s League. OK that may sound a bit more extreme but Albania certainly seems to be in another time altogether. I get a sense of being in Spain in the 1970s but surrounded by buildings designed by a failed Bulgarian architect. Clearly that is a reference to the Communist regime which ran or, rather, oppressed, Albania up until 1990 was a Communist country and in 1992 the Communist party was, effectively, thrown out.

The history of the country is somewhat disjointed, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albania

My initial ride into Albania was pretty pleasant. The countryside in the north was green and lush. It looked to me as though the land could be quite productive however I didn't really recognise the crops in the random and haphazard fields. The foliage was more akin to Vietnam than the UKmor even other Adriatic and Mediterranean countries. As I headed into Shkoder and left the countryside the traffic and the roadside habitat became more and more like Vietnam. There was, and still is, lots of rubbish strewn about the roadside. The roads, pavements, paths, bridges and other infrastructure is tired and in significant disrepair. The traffic became chaotic with lots of road rules being ignored making me much more uneasy on the bike. I faced bicycles coming towards me. They were on the wrong side of the road. This was very common for motorbikes in Vietnam. I had to take a breath and remind myself I was in Europe! Bikes would pull into the road with no glance to the rear. Again a common trait in Vietnam.

Once my cycling senses were on hi-alert I became more observant of what was happening around me. The problem with this state is I seek out and find the negative. Hence my reluctance to start writing about Albania as soon as I arrived. I wanted and need, really, to take Stoke before forming an opinion.

This is a poor country still struggling to shake of the constraints imposed by the horrible political regime between 1949 and 1990. It is clear that once the Communists were sent packing capitalism took hold and the country seems to have gone mad with redevelopment aimed at growth and bringing visitors in. But it has been uncontrolled resulting in haphazard and poor construction. Lots of failed developments obvious from the number of buildings and sites partially constructed but now rotting in the sun. Old buildings have been stripped back and their skeletons of beams and columns left to rot. I haven't taken many photos because whilst there are lovely landscapes they are regularly spoiled by these skeletons standing loud but less proud. The surrounding infrastructure has been left behind, in the seventies, whilst this development has taken place. This means relatively nice hotels are surrounded by the carnage of no roads, no pavements, ducts and pipes lying on the surface and random/chaotic parking. All reminiscent of Vietnam.

As a result of the uncontrolled development there seems to be massive over provision of hotels, restaurants and bars. I can get a room which would sit comfortable alongside a 3* UK hotel for under £30 and have loads of choice. Tonight I am in a hotel with 4 or 5 floors of rooms. I am one of three guests. 27€ including breakfast.

The road infrastructure is knackered. Huge potholes, roads subsiding around manholes leaving dangerous ledges in the middle of roads. I have seen lots of rail line but none of the track was shiny meaning it is not in use.

Driving behaviour is pretty bad with little or no respect given to cyclists and, index, other road users. Tonight I was cycling back to my hotel outside of the town. There was much more traffic heading into town than out so two cars chose to overtake and simply stayed in the wrong lane for hundreds of metres despite the risk associated with cars leaving town. The road was facing due west and into the bright setting sun. Nightmare.

This morning was the worst. The route was the best, mostly shadowing a dual carriageway on pretty crappy roads which were busy at times. Last night I was in Durres one of the biggest cities and one of the tourist cities. As a result there was a long long strip of beach development from the city heading south. It's fairly clear that refuse collection is haphazard so all these hotels and apartments have to bump their rubbish in dumpsterx and, when they are full, beside the dimpster and when that area is overflowing anywhere they can find space. The resulting stench of decaying and rotting food is overwhelming, This smell persisted for almost 30km of today's ride. It seemed to cling to me. Generally in the towns and cities you never seem to be more than 100m from this smell.

A friend sent me a link to an article about Hoxha the dictator who "ruled" over Albania until 1985. I have a pasted one paragraph. 3rd poorest. Wow! They started their comeback from an extremely lowly place. Perhaps this explains a lot.

When Hoxha died in 1985, Albania was officially the third poorest country in the world, with the GNP of a small town and an average income of 15 USD a month. Four decades of collectivisation had led to near starvation in the countryside, where Hoxha’s aggressive isolationism meant people were still using farming technology from the 1920s. When the regime finally collapsed a few years after Hoxha’s death, it left behind a tired, hungry, confused and fearful population.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/enver-hoxha-lunatic-who-took-over-asylum/

I found this on YT. Watch the first 4 mins.

https://youtu.be/dl_yEzULTB4