Shkoder > Tirana > Elbasan 100km, 56km

September 27, 2014

Shkoder > Tirana > Elbasan 100km, 56km

[Originally posted Sept 27, 2014]

It's 8:34pm. Earlier than I usually get started on a blog entry. But Katy's halfway between sick and didn't get enough sleep last night - so with her napping/sleeping I was able to quickly get into town for dinner and return the hostel. I walked in super quietly, hoping that she would stay asleep. I can hear my mom's voice in the back of my head, "don't wake her, let her sleep, she needs her rest." And so despite her Kebab going cold on the table, I sit here in the dark typing away, hoping that I can get this entry finished quickly so I can return to watching Gladiator before she wakes up.

Things I like Albania:

We were riding into Tirana and the traffic had intensified while it appeared driving rules and regulations had unintensified. Katy informed me that during the Communist days (I suppose this means post WWII - early 90s) there were roughly 2,000 cars in the country. Total. Which means driving around here is a pretty new thing. (This also explains why we see so many old people driving around in cars that say AUTOSHKOLA on the top.) Anyways, first thing I like about Albania is the driving here reminds me of Jamaica. It's a little too fast, blinkers aren't used, there aren't exactly "lanes" as we would use the word, and when you get into a busy round-a-bout in Tirana it's an "every man for himself" kind of feeling. So I operate our bike according to my Jamaica driving instincts, which generally follows one simple rule: If you are in the way, you have the right of way.

And so as we were riding into Tirana a white van pulled up along side us and a guy rolled down the window and in decent English asked (in the rather loud voice to beat the drone of the traffic), From how long do it take you to ride from Shkoder? I see you in Shkoder this morning. Four hours, I responded in an equally loud voice. Wow, that is very good. Very strong, he said (all the while making the universal sign language for cycling - which is taking both hands, making fists, and then pretending to pedal a bicycle with your hands). And then as he drove off he shouted out the window, Welcome to Albania. It was nice to get a formal welcome.

Moments later we came up along side a bus. And to our amusement, a group of kids standing at the front of the bus had their iPhones out and were taking pictures of Katy and I - so I threw up my Peace Sign - knee jerk reaction to any hellos from passer bys. (It's always a boost to our ego when others take interest in us). And then they passed us. But as always happens riding down a road with a bus, the bus has to stop and pick up some people, so you pass the bus, then a bit later the bus passes you. And so I was prepared, with my iPhone out. I took a picture of the kids on the bus (to show them, hey I've got an iPhone too) and I got the Peace Sign in return.

My bus peeps.

Food is cheap. Dinner tonight was a Sufllaqe, Albania's version of the Kebab. It was 150 leke, or just a shave over 1€. It's hard to not have fourths and fifths when food runs at this price.

Sheep Head. Katy said this was not a viable lunch option.

Other ramblings.

It seems that as soon as one person in this country gets a business idea, everyone around quickly follows suit. This might explain why we have passed about 400 car washes (LAVAZH) in the past two days (and seen 3 cars actually being washed), or why on the road into Tirana we passed about 20 outdoor furniture stores (all within 3 km of each other, all selling the same stuff), or why when you walk down the street and come across a guy in front of a shop selling Rotisserie Chickens the next 3 shops are all doing the same thing. Bad business model.

The dog situation seems to track pretty well with road quality. Yesterday, Katy's fear of dogs chasing and possibly biting us (and when I say "us" I really mean her, because she has the back seat) reached a new threshold, so we preemptively armed ourselves with a handful of rocks. First we placed the rocks in the small bags on our frame within easy reach, but realizing that the few seconds it requires to unzip the bag may be the only seconds we have, we decided to tuck the rocks into our spandex shorts for quicker access. So far no rocks have been thrown.