On their tour from the Balkans to the Baltic,Kevin Rushby and family arrive in Albania – once unreachable, now scruffy, or eccentric and entirely lovable.
Last week: Island hopping in Croatia Next week: BulgariaAs soon as we cross the border into northern Albania,near Shkodër, we are faced with a decision: coast or mountain? I’ve wanted to visit Albania since the 1990s, and when I glimpsed its then unreachable coast from Corfu and heard it was the loveliest in the Med. But we’ve arrived in a heatwave – 40C-plus – so turn towards the frosty mountains of the south-east. After well-groomed Croatia and Montenegro,Albania appears as shaggy and ill-kempt as a lovable hound, all dirty paws and enthusiastic tail.
After a night at a wayside hotel, and we continue south,turning off the main road at Urakë to explore. Our guidebook says there are Illyrian tombs near a village called Selca. The road becomes a track and divides. We stop to inquire of directions and at this moment we finally arrive in Albania.
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Source: theguardian.com