Albania

Thu -Sat 21st - 23rd Sept

We headed for a site on the coast, all the while looking around at what is clearly a ‘different country’. For a start the driving standards are more like I remember from the 1970s. A ‘faster’ car catches up with the general traffic ahead but needs to get there sooner. So it does that in and out overtaking, trying to progress up the ‘queue’. Sometimes it’s worth it and sometimes not. The risk can be increased and often is, by overtaking as a blind bend is approached. By just ‘going for it’ vast numbers of seconds can be saved.

The site was set behind a large bay with another, ‘rougher’ one formed on the beach road along the back. That one hadn’t been on the ‘list’. Ours was good, full of Northern Europeans and us. The price was less than expensive Austria and Croatia, plus we went to the local restaurant and ate very well (nice fish dish), as did many other campers. It wasn’t cheap but seemed more reasonable.

The site had a few pomegranate trees and others with fruit like green olives but it wasn’t.

This is Camping Maslina at Buljarica near Budva, (Click here for the website)

We decided to continue into Albania, with our first proper border to cross where a green card is necessary for vehicle insurance. Dawn reminded me that getting insurance for a vehicle classed as a motorhome is easy but for cars it isn’t, which is what we are (PLG Private - Light Goods for those who are interested) This area is dominated by the huge lake, Shkodër, which straddles the border.

These border people must relax at some point but when on duty they are very surly. We handed over the passports with no comment and then they were stamped, handed back with the command, “car documents”.

We passed over just the V5 (original) which was somehow approved after a few seconds and handed back. We must have seen a nod or a slight movement of the guy’s head in the direction of Albania, so we kicked into gear and moved along to the back of the queue for the Albania window.

This one seemed a little quicker and we were soon ‘in’ and driving towards the campsite at Lake Shkoder Resort (click here for tbe website). just a few minutes from this north western border crossing.

This place has increased in size and popularity since our visit in 2015. It’s a large modern site with well laid out pitches and a large grass approach to a long pontoon, giving access to very warm lake water. 

Everything is here, behind a fence. English is the universal language, cleaners clean the high standard utilities and the on site restaurant really is a good place to eat.

This isn’t Albania though. It is northern Europe transplanted to a warm place with lower prices.

The family next to us are from Germany and can’t believe how many other German people are here. They seem almost embarrassed. I can see one or two cars with A and CH but then I’m struggling.

It’s easy staying here although you are on top of each other. We are chatty with Toby, Sabine and little Elsa and Marie are playing. They are on maternity leave and have twelve weeks I think. I tell them about how hard it was in the 1980s and play my old man sympathy card “I had three days”.

An unfortunate milestone has been achieved. It’s a sad moment reached in our trips when the cake tin is empty.