Day 37 the slow roads out of Albania - 230 miles in 10 hours

Days 37 Montenegro is as Turkey, not in the EU - perhaps more pre-trip research was needed...

Off by 8:00 am and up the slow mountainous coast road. Staying an extra night by the beach has resulted in a long drive to get us to the apartment in Montenegro we booked a couple of weeks ago. The windows are down early as its already hot and there is a new noise from the rear of the van - seems to be from both sides. I adopt my usual tactic and trust it will go away given a bit of time, there is no real logic to this but it does seems to work most of the time. After all if you have got the windows open you are more likely to hear stuff that you don't normally

A few Km further and it is not going away, it is getting worse. We decide to pull over though I am not too sure what I will actually look at - Albania was the only country other than Iceland that we don't have car breakdown cover ( probably Turkey as well now I come to think of it). As I slow to pull in I see the hand brake is on and it all makes depressing sense. Its been on for the last 15 km and I could use the excuse that the van is not blessed with a 'handbrake on' light as but as I did think the van was struggling more than ever up the steep hills just how many clues do I need....a child of 4 could probably work out that a noise from the back, from both sides that started as a ticking as the wheel went round can only be brakes; next time I will consult deeper with Charlie when we have van issues.

Hand brake off and back wheel brake drums glowing cherry red we keep going and have breakfast at the top of mountain pass. Honey sellers are in abundance, you don't have to travel far to find someone sat by the roadside in the shade next to a table with a few jars of honey on them and you can't help wondering just how in earth they make a living sat out every day selling a jar or 2.

The roads are very slow and if you don't keep your wits about you it would be all too easy to wreck your car....pot holes, roads where one lane has just disappeared down the mountain and repairs are clearly not going to happen, subsidence where the road surface dips and slopes  - actually this is one a keen eye can sometimes spot as looking forward the Armco barrier suddenly disappears. However it is the bridges that require careful handling. If you see traffic slowing ahead 99% of the time it is because there must be a bridge and crossing most Albanian road bridges at any speed above 10 mph would be damn foolish.......

A civil engineering taster......Bridges get longer when they get hot  - not a couple of mm but a few cm in summer. So to stop a bridge buckling the bridge is built with one end fixed and the other end supported on rollers, at the roller end it has a gap - with a cunning calculation you can work out what size this needs to be such that the gap doesn't quite close completely on the hottest day of the year so ensuring the bridge reamins flat and does not buckle.

the gap is at its greatest in the cold of winter and to avoid cars dropping in and out of a large hole all sorts of clever solutions have been developed - interlocking fingers or a flexible rubber infill. Not so in Albania....the bridge expansion joint is a rare thing. To compound the issue I also think that all bridges were built in the winter when they were at thier shortest....a perfect flat road that come the summer warms, expands and has no where to go other than skywards. As you approach the bridge there is kerb sized step up and as you leave the bridge you drop off the 'kerb' at the other end.

Road improvement in progress

There are few road signs and so with no 'Tom Tom' we repeatedly draw up beside strangers at the road side and bark 'Tirana' ( Albania's Capital) at them..


We get to the Montenegro border mid afternoon and it is baking hot. There's another very slow moving queue and we are surrounded by Albanian women and children banging on the windows wanting money, food or clothes. The queue moves slowly and eventually we are by the booth and the police ask us for our 'green card'  - We proudly present out 4 day old Albanian green card to which he shakes his head....'Not Albanian, Montenegro'.

Susan shows him our insurance document that clearly states that we are covered in all EU countries.....That may be the case but it is clear from whatever the Police bloke is saying is that Montenegro is not in the EU. Susan turns to him and says' But isn't Montenegro in the EU', unfortunately our desire for Montenegro to be in the EU is not enough for Montenegro to be in the EU. We are asked to park up and once more I am led into a sweaty office to buy a 2 week Green card for 15 Euros...cheap as chips.

We drive off checking our 'Montenegro' lonely planet guide to make sure Montenegro is really not in the EU ( just in case the police man got it wrong). ' How can Montenegro have the Euro as its currency when it isn't in the EU, it must be in the EU'.

Montenegro is NOT in the EU - it wants to be, has applied to get in and no doubt soon will be......nor is Albania or Turkey as I have learnt (every day is a school day)

We drive on to drive up the Montenegro riviera - its coastline is only 60 miles long but it is visually stunning; again mountainous, pitted with beautiful old towns and small resorts. After 4 days in Albania this is perhaps the biggest contrast we have seen crossing from one European country to another, we could be in any of the more developed Euro countries and its nice, in a way, for all to be 'certain' again ( english understood, WIFI, menus in many languages, roads that are surfaced and maintained, cows in fields rather than on the road, garages with names that I have heard of before) but we are sad that we have left Albania behind

Camping in Albania - think that house is falling down ?

No helmets on motorbikes, 'in your face' beggars, pick up trucks with many many sat in the back, seat belts for kids a thing yet to come, bad roads.........but.........lovely people of all ages who fondly greeted the boy, a coffee and water culture and not the normal lager one, fantastic scenery, white beaches by crystal clear turquoise seas, a visual feast for Mercedes enthusiasts, a good meal out for 3 for £10, supermarkets and ATM's a rarity.......all in all a top place to be returned to.


We arrive in Prcanj ( near Kotor) at 7 pm, we have been driving for over 10 hours with few breaks - the apartment is fantastic and is in the perfect location. we unload the 'sweaty van', crack a beer or two and revel in the space, the air conditioning.

Tragedy, the TV does not have the England Italy game. I try BBC Iplayer as we have good WiFi but it seems to know we are not in england and does no play. Google to the rescue, some no doubt dodgy website gives me an IP address from the UK for £5 and we are in business.....Its 2am when we get to bed - gutted at the loss

Day 37       Himara ( Alb) to Prcanj( Kotor) ( MNE)       390 Km    Total    6378 Km