Storstäder och motorvägar i Albanien

Today we have experienced both big cities and motorways in Albania. We have travelled from Albania's south-west coast and north-east to Lake Ohrid. We have driven through four major Albanian cities and we have driven several stretches on the motorway. The journey has also taken us through much of the countryside and over some more mountains. This has certainly been an interesting day!

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Fruit sales on motorways in Albania

Today we have for the first time tried to drive on motorways in Albania. The quality of the roads is actually ok, but it is still not possible to drive as you are used to on a motorway. Maybe this motorway concept is a bit too new and inappropriate for the Albanians?

They don't really care what kind of road it is. They do what they do! That means driving around with tractors and mops, running across the road, and selling melons, apples, onions and figs along the roadside ...

Det är lätt kaotiskt att köra i Albanien ibland — Driving on motorways in Albania can be chaotic at times.

Försäljare vid den albanska motorvägen — Vendors are everywhere - and of course there are people who want to stop and shop!

Shopping for food - not like at home

We not only drove on motorways in Albania today, but also through four big cities: Vlora, Fier, Lushnje and Elbasan. In Elbasan we stopped for lunch and food shopping. You may remember that we have not yet found a big supermarket? Now we finally found one that was a bit bigger. But travelling in Albania is also travelling back in time, to a time when there was not much to choose from.

The store is bigger, but that really just means that the rows of available foods are longer. There are still only dry goods, tinned goods, wine and other drinks, some dairy products, feta cheese, sausages, eggs and some frozen meat. We can buy vegetables at the market outside.

Next interesting experience: We go into the pharmacy and ask for "Aspirina" (headache tablets). The clerk opens the packet and breaks it open. and tablet. "Eeeh ... I was going to buy the whole pack of ten tablets." "What?" It is obvious that here you usually only buy one tablet at a time, just when you have a headache. And I realise (again) that we're very rich in Sweden ...

Peter provar oliver på marknaden i Elbasan — Peter tries olives at the market in Elbasan... the lightest ones were the best and got to go home!

Towards Lake Ohrid

After Elbasan we continued eastwards towards Lake Ohrid, through one small village after another. If anything, this is time travel! Here you meet horses with carts, old uncles riding donkeys and shops selling mixtures of bath rings, scrap metal and bicycles. And then we arrive at the lake. Wow! We'll be back soon!

Albanien och vägar — Drive carefully because there are animals that do what they want to do

Man vet aldrig vad man möter på vägarna i Albanien — When driving in Albania, be prepared to encounter horses, donkeys, carts, mops, sheep, goats, cows, dogs, bicycles, hayrides ... and all sorts of other things.

Karta över vägen vi kört i Albanien - den sista pilen visar vägen vi kört idag — Map of the road we drove in Albania - the last arrow shows the road we drove today.

We spent a total of about three weeks in Albania, travelling around by motorhome. We drove into the country from the south, from Greece, and then continued north along the coast. You can read more here:

READ MORE: Is it safe to travel in Albania?
READ MORE: Facts about Albania - 30 things you (might) not have known
READ MORE: Ksamil in Albania
READ MORE: Food in Albania - what does Albanian food taste like?
READ MORE: By motorhome on Albania's mountain roads
READ MORE: Camping Erlin on Lake Ohrid in Albania

There are not only motorways in Albania but also beautiful mountain roads.

10 Comments

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Mr Steve says:

Truly an exciting country. And so different from home.

24 August 2015 - 23:17

BP says:

1. As for the traffic on the so-called motorway, your pictures remind me of India, but there is even more traffic if you say so. Oh, I haven't seen a single moped yet with 10 people on it;-)

2. Most cars in Albania are surprisingly new - no shabby ones there. Strange?! Prejudice again from my side...

3. no Carrfour yet. Yes, Albania is still in the 1970s and 1980s, where you bought meat in a butcher's shop and vegetables in a market. They still do that in Morocco, too. Charming and honestly I like it.

4. the visit to the pharmacy with a single aspirin pill I have never experienced. It was something new actually. Was the box so expensive that you can't afford to buy a whole box or...?

25 August 2015 - 0:12

Comment by post author

admin says:

Steve, exciting and different! And that's what is interesting when travelling, to see something that is not like home!

BP, 1) no mops with ten people here! And it is not very crowded either. So the chaos is perhaps a bit easier to handle here than in India 😉 2) Many cars look fresh, but some are also old, e.g. old Mercedes and some spray out black smoke behind them. 3) We have heard that there is a Carrefour in Tirana. But can agree, it is quite charming to shop in the meat shop, the fish shop and the market! 4) We experienced the same thing in Kenya where we were told that the vendors always divide into small quantities because you can only afford to buy day by day. So we guessed that it might be the same here.

25 August 2015 - 7:54

Maggan and Ingemar says:

Now you can really experience Albania when you go into the country. Yes, a lot is reminiscent of Morocco and certainly you are back in time, but it is also a bit charming 🙂

25 August 2015 - 8:48

solan says:

Nice shirt Peter! You will probably think it's strange to drive on the autobahn in the future, no donkeys, bikes or vendors pushing dumplings! 😉

25 August 2015 - 9:48

Ama de casa says:

Excitingly worse! And with a big motorhome too... I get a bit of a stomach ache just looking at the pictures of the traffic... 😉.

Keep having a wonderful time - looking forward to the pictures of the lake, guess it's very beautiful! 🙂

25 August 2015 - 9:53

Comment by post author

admin says:

Maggan and Ingemar, yes, you do see a bit more of the country when you leave the tourist resorts and travel around. Interesting!

Solan, haha, yes it will feel a bit empty and boring on the Autobahn without donkeys and tractors (and it is usually quite boring there ;))

Ama de casa, I am so happy that Peter is good at driving our big car 🙂 Pictures of the lake will come soon!

25 August 2015 - 10:27

Role o Carina says:

So cool to be travelling with you in Albania!
Luckily Peter is good at driving the camper van 🙂.

Take care and enjoy.....

25 August 2015 - 10:52

Ditte says:

This is what is so fun about travelling, to leave the touristy and see and experience the country more truly. Recognise a lot from when we travelled around China, Tibet, Thailand in the 70's, Cambodia etc. Also recognise a lot from the old "eastern countries" before another regime took over and they became freer.
Very interesting and fun to follow your journey through the country.

25 August 2015 - 11:15

Comment by post author

admin says:

Rolle and Carina, Peter knows exactly where he has the motorhome and it's nice!!!! 🙂

Ditte, agree! That's really when you travel for real, when you see life behind the tourist scenes 😉 It sounds fantastically exciting to have travelled around the countries you describe in the 70s!

25 August 2015 - 11:25

Major cities and motorways in Albania

Fruit sales on motorways in Albania

Shopping for food - not like at home

Towards Lake Ohrid

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Mr Steve says:

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