Albania

We made our way from Macedonia to Albania, through some great mountain scenery. As soon as we got through the border crossing, it was aparant that we were in a different country. The roads were different. At this stage they werent too bad, just different. The main road to the capital, Tirana, was sometimes like a country lane and sometimes like a one way mountain road and sometimes like a typical two lane road. That didnt mean it changed the way people drove of course, which is to say faster. It is like a rule that you must go faster than the guy in front, regardless of how fast they are going, and to do this you must be no further than one metre behind at all times. Most people in Albania have not had cars all their lives and in fact it has only been in the last 10 years that cars have become more reasily available. This means that generally people have only been driving for 10 years or less, and it shows. There are no rules really. Lanes dont mean a thing, right of way means the one who can get there first. If you want to get into a space, then you move over and THEN indicate. Tirana is crazy. You can fit five cars into a two lane road, no problem. We made it through unscathed though, more by luck that judgement. The city itself, apart from the traffic, is quite nice. It would seem that no one works because at all times on all days there are people everywhere. We were in a bar at about 2pm and it was full. I quite like the place though and would like time to explore it more, but as it was we decided not to head south (given the state of the roads, it wasnt a good idea) but to head to Montenegro instead.