• My reports
  • Documents
    • Visas
  • Страны
    • Albania
    • Belarus
    • Bosnia and Herzegovina
    • Egypt
    • Latvia
    • Lithuania
    • Moldova
    • Poland
    • Serbia
    • Ukraine
    • Montenegro
    • Czech Republic
    • Estonia
  • Online services
  • English
    • Русский
    • Українська
    • Deutsch
    • Español
    • العربية
    • 简体中文
    • Français
    • Italiano
    • 日本語
    • Português
  • Click to open the search input field Click to open the search input field Search
  • Menu Menu
You are here: Home1 / Albania

Albania is one of the most mysterious and least known countries in Europe. It is located on the Balkan Peninsula and for a long time remained extremely closed due to the conservative communist government. Today Albania is unspoiled nature, beautiful mountains and lakes, beautiful landscape and magnificent beaches. Not oversaturated with tourists, the area is great for an adventurous vacation at a fraction of the cost. During one of my trips in the Balkans, I stopped by Albania and I really liked this country, especially the cities of Shkoder, Tirana, and Pogradec. On this page I will share with you a lot of materials about Albania: photo and video reports, my stories, travel ideas and itineraries and many more useful things!

Albania, Bicycle, My reports

Cycling Near Shiroka (Albania) and Future Crossing

How I decided to go to this village.

A sedentary lifestyle is by no means the best thing in the life of a remote worker. That’s why it is important to warm up once in a while.

It so happened that I needed to go to Shkodër because I couldn’t find the medicines I needed in Montenegro. To avoid wasting time, I threw my bike in the car, hoping to ride somewhere interesting.

I initially wanted to ride to the point of geohashing. But, upon arrival, I found I could not pass. That’s why I opened the map and started flipping through my points of interest. One of them was the coastal village of Shiroka, on the border with Montenegro.

Rationalizing that it would be a good idea to ride there at sunset, I raced toward the right location.

An unfinished hotel or restaurant on the side of the road near the village of Shiroka, in Albania.

I turned right towards the checkpoint at the fork where I usually went left when leaving Shkoder. After a minute of driving, I came to a slum with a lot of gypsies. I thought I’d have to turn around and leave. But, after another kilometer, the landscape began to normalize. Suddenly, a footpath appeared on the right. (In Montenegro, I had forgotten what a sidewalk was.) In the distance, there was a lake.

When I got to the village itself, I realized that I’d better park somewhere else. Everything here was full of cars, and parking starts at 2 euros. I turned around and headed for the cemetery I had noticed on the way here. There was enough free space to park for free (coordinates – 42.05565985700833, 19.467744460739038).

Cycling report

I retrieved my touring bike from the trunk and put a bottle of mineral water into my backpack. Locking up the car and on my way, I pedaled away!

Driving along the lake on a flat road is fabulous. No elevation changes… You can easily ride 100 km or more without any special physical preparation.

A bike, overgrown with shrubs, is in front of an unfinished hotel near the Montenegro border.

The first thing that caught my eye was an unfinished cafe building (42.05650772889564, 19.46719081389819). The place was supposed to be luxurious and offer a beautiful view of the lake. But something didn’t work out. Now it is a concrete box, part of which is used as a public toilet.

The view from the site is pretty amazing, so I had to take a few photos.

Beautiful view of the mountains and Skadar Lake from the Albanian side.

A little farther away, on my left side, there was a stone wall that looked like a castle wall. But I had never seen any mention of it before. I took a photo to find out more about it later. Google Maps calls it a residential complex. But, in the Balkans, to believe that is to lack respect for oneself.

The walls of a medieval-style hotel in Albania, against a sunset-colored cloudy sky.

UPD. At home, I found out that this place was not on the old topographical maps either. It turned out to be a very atmospheric, old-fashioned hotel called “RUSTICO.”

Next stop – another abandoned place on the lake. Developers planned to build a hotel here, based on the comments. But, as is common in these countries, they did not finish it. Now the place is a skeleton on an island. Earlier, it was free. But now, some citizens are charging for passage.

There's an abandoned restaurant on a small island in Lake Skadar. There are also the remains of an old sunken boat nearby.

The island itself is not simple either. I’ll tell you about it next time. Now I want to draw your attention to this photo. Do you see the sunken boat? It is so typical here that I didn’t pay much attention to it and only thought about how to fit it into the frame. At home, I found out I was looking at a sunken Austro-Hungarian boat. It has been here for over a hundred years.

Another angle of an abandoned restaurant in Albania on an islet in Lake Skadar.

I’m going to Shiroka. It is very crowded for a small village on the outskirts of the country. People stroll along the promenade and spend time in cafés. Cats and dogs scurry underfoot. They look much less intimidating here than in Montenegro.

I didn’t have much time to look at the embankment; I left it for a leisurely walk with my girlfriend. I noticed a strange concrete structure. It seemed to cut into the lake near the pier where tourist boats leave.

There's a concrete structure covered with plants that sticks out from the shore into the water of Skadar Lake in the village of Shiroka. Lilies cover the water, and the setting sun colors the sky.
View of Skadar Lake and the mountains beyond. From the shore, an abandoned concrete garden is overgrown with weeds.

After taking a break for about five minutes, I pedaled onward. I wanted to reach the former checkpoint on the border with Montenegro, which is now used as a cowshed.

There is no curb or bicycle lane here, so you have to move on a one-lane asphalt road. But there are practically no cars here, even on a weekday evening. The ride is pleasant, cool from the water.

To my right is Lake Skadar. To the left are gorgeous mountain peaks. Driving along, I can’t stop turning my head in all directions. I want to capture these moments not only in photos but also in my memories.

Clouds cover the sky above the beautiful mountains on the Albania-Montenegro border.

By that time, however, the sun had already set, and dusk was fast approaching. I decided not to drive the last kilometer. My past, wandering at night in the mountains of Ukraine and Montenegro, taught me to avoid risks. It would be an interesting location for next time.

So what’s the checkpoint?

А интересна она тем, что в ближайшие годы здесь планируют открыть ещё один пограничный пункт пропуска между Черногорией и Албанией Чкла — Зогай. Соглашение было подписано в 2018 году [1]. .

В 2021 году представители обеих сторон отчитались, что строительство идёт по плану [2]. .

A satellite view shows a good-quality road on the Montenegrin side. This is not the case in Albania, where it is still a dirt path with wild bushes.

Satellite image of the future checkpoint Čkla - Zogaj between Montenegro and Albania. The road goes into the void.

I hope this border crossing will be completed as soon as possible. It will greatly ease tourist travel around and along Lake Skadar (both for motorists and cyclists).

Trip results

I went for a very easy bike ride to stretch my bones. I rode about 11.6 km, gaining 22 meters of altitude. You can see the route below if you’re interested.


  1. Janković, S. (2018, August 25). Preuski Granični Prelazi Između Crne Gore I Albanije. Radio Slobodna Evropa. https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/granica-prelazi-crna-gora-albanija/29451600.html[↩]
  2. Lekovic, I. (2021, July 2). Razgovarali O graničnim Prelazima Sukobin-Murićani I CKLA-Zogaj. BARinfo. https://barinfo.me/razgovarali-o-prosirenju-granicnog-prelaza-sukobin-muricani/[↩]
07.09.2024/0 Comments/by Kwidoo
Albania, My reports

Albanian girls in photos

Albanian girls are beautiful. No, of course, it is in Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, and Belarus that you find the greatest number of beauties. But on the Balkan Peninsula you quickly get used to rather stiff faces of Balkan girls with sharp cheekbones. And then you get to Albania! A country ruled by the toughest tyrant in Europe. Which only 20 years ago was able to breathe more or less calmly from the oppression of the rigid hand of socialists. And you see, the girls here are delicious.

It is worth noting that despite the very good natural data, here it is difficult to meet a woman painted like an Indian, on which it is impossible to understand – is it a night moth or just overdone with makeup lady? That’s how, how do they do it? Almost complete absence of makeup on the face, fashionable and beautiful clothes, as if with a needle, but absolutely not provocative … No disgusting “leopards” and panties that can be seen from the jeans. There is something to learn from these beauties!

Read more
06.10.2015/0 Comments/by Kwidoo

Pages

  • DISCLAIMER
  • Kwidoo – author’s project about traveling
  • Privacy Policy

Categories

  • Albania
  • Belarus
  • Bicycle
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Czech Republic
  • Discounts and Promotions
  • Documents
  • Egypt
  • Estonia
  • Events
  • Hobbies
  • Information
  • Instructions
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Moldova
  • Montenegro
  • My reports
  • News
  • Online services
  • Personal experience
  • Poland
  • Self-development
  • Serbia
  • Train
  • Ukraine
  • Visas
  • Без категории

Archive

  • September 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2018
  • June 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • January 2016
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • August 2014
  • January 2014
  • August 2013
  • May 2013
  • November 2012
  • December 2011

Контакты

  • Украина, Запорожье
  • Черногория, Бар
  • Австрия, Вена

Телефон: (WhatsApp, Telegram)

Email:

Почтовый адрес:

Правовая информация

Основной язык сайта – русский. Публикации на остальных языках являются переводом и могут содержать ошибки.

Search

Search Search
Лицензия Creative Commons
© 2011 - 2024 Денис Демидов. ВСЕ ПРАВА ЗАЩИЩЕНЫ. Правила копирования материалов. - Enfold WordPress Theme by Kriesi
Scroll to top Scroll to top Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Accept settingsHide notification onlyНастройки

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Политика конфиденциальности
Accept settingsHide notification only