Expedition attendees
- Land Rover Defender 90 (Vladimír Přikryl & Vladimír Přikryl)
- Nissan Terrano (Ondřej Doktor & Roman Doktor)
To organize this expedition we were inspired by the isolation of Albania from neighboring countries. We planned the whole way through Albania, but we had to change the plan on-the-fly becaouse of the nature of albanian roads – 10km as the crow flies can take a whole day by car. The expedition started at the beginning of July 2007 by arrival in the Prokletje mountains. Then we went to the city of Shkodër across the Thethi mountain range, then to the valley Valbon over the Komani dam. Thence down to the south through the valley of the Černý Drin river to the Lakes of Lurës. During the journey it was hot as hell, but in a few hours it got so cold we wore all the clothes we had. The country is very mountainous, so that is almost impenetrable in certain places, so it is much faster to be transported by ferry over the dam than to ride the path around the dam (if there's any road). Unlike Romania and Ukraine, which are mostly crossed by paths for horse-drawn carriages, the paths in Albania are narrow, heavily broken by trucks and forest machinery. Many routes are stripped down by frequent avalanches and landslides. The path around the Lakes of Lurës is marked as a second class road on the maps, but in fact it's barely passable even with an off-road car. Fortunately it was dry weather. If raining, the path would be utterly impassable.
Albania has not a normal tourist destination, regarding to safety. Just before departure we found this article on the Internet: The Albanian mission and we got a little worried because we didn't brought satellite phones, machine rifles, etc. After passing the north of Albania, we found out that the usage of weapons is customary for Albanians. But if one comes as a friend and complies with certain rules, there is no immediate danger to him. The mountain terrain is so rugged and overgrown with shrubs and low trees, it becomes almost impenetrable. Another danger is lurking on the roads – The average age of the Albanian driver is 15 years.
Albania is a very beautiful country, which surely awaits tourist boom. But it will take some time, fortunately!
Photogallery
