Shkoder

After quite some time, I finally managed to leave Montenegro. I had only planned to stay one week, but 17 days later, I was still there. I had considered skipping Albania, but everyone I spoke to consider that sacrilege. As such, I will have to cut down time in other parts of my trip. This will likely end up being the French Riviera. The reason I made this decision is that Albania is cheaper, less busy, but with equally nice beaches, so I think I can rush through the south of France without feeling too hard done by.

I headed straight from the Pirate hostel to Shkoder via a transfer organised by the hostel. It was little more than a van, but it got the job done, and within an hour, we had arrived in Shkoder. Shkoder is a cute little town near a lake, and I planned to spend most of time chilling out waiting for Lewis and Erin to arrive so we could complete the hike through a valley from Valbone to Theth.

I dropped my stuff off in the hostel and began to wander through the streets of Shkoder to see what Albania had to offer. I met up with a couple of the other people from Pirates hostel that were in the transfer bus with us for a beer and continued to wander. It is very cute with lots of people selling items and knick-knacks on the streets. Mostly targeted at tourists, they sell cool Albanian items. I was tempted to buy some, but it doesn't look like the most high-quality stuff. Similar to the rest of the Balkans, it has an atmosphere that makes it feel like a small town regardless of where you are. Everyone seems to know each other and look after one another. Makes it an interesting place to wander through. They look after tourists and the locals alike. One of the first things I saw, however, was a man being pulled over (it should be worth mentioning that no other road rules seem to apply in Albania) because he had a monkey sitting on his rear view mirror as he drove. I couldn't determine much from the interaction, but the police officer seemed only interesting in meeting the little monkey and giving him a pat. This encapsulates Albania well, to be honest. I then got a feed in the main strip of Albania, and headed home to relax and get a good sleep.Les mer