The trip to this village was worth it. It is beautiful on top of a mountain with great views, cooling trees and vines and not a trace of tourism.

However, we experience it along the coastal road. It’s the weekend and everyone either wants to go to the sea or attend a wedding, which means that around five hundred guests fill entire streets.

However, we experience it along the coastal road. It’s the weekend and everyone either wants to go to the sea or attend a wedding, which means that around five hundred guests fill entire streets.

However, we experience it along the coastal road. It’s the weekend and everyone either wants to go to the sea or attend a wedding, which means that around five hundred guests fill entire streets.

The serpentines are wonderful to drive and the Mediterranean country is covered by the golden shimmer of the evening light. Our relaxed mood doesn’t let itself be clouded by crazy drivers who rush down the mountain at breakneck speed with the back door open and almost force the oncoming traffic to commit suicide when they dodge.

After this pass there is not a single part of the coast that is not built up.

In the meantime there is another call. They would bring us a new car tomorrow. At least.

While goats conquer a gas station on the right, an endless row of bars stretches along the beach on the left. The traffic on the coast road develops from a serious traffic jam to a standstill during the twilight.

Everyone wants to get home from the beach or to host their wedding.

It has been dark for a long time when we arrived in the city of Vlorë, the second largest city in Albania and the mother of all traffic chaos.

The traffic on Albania’s roads is already anarchistic. You will always be overtaken from the left and from the right. Any oncoming traffic that might be affected will be ignored and forced into the ditch. These are not isolated cases, whole new fast lanes are opening up out of nowhere. You generally overtake in curves. The traffic turns out to be the dark side of the always polite Albanians. In the end, however, the worst criminals in the chaos are Italians.

In Vlorë, entire streets that are actually intended for two directions are annexed by the majority of motorists coming from one direction and turned into one-way streets. Legitimately oncoming vehicles must flee to other streets to save their lives. In contrast, marked one-way streets are used in both directions, which of course also leads to problems – the streets are far too narrow and one-way streets for good reason.

We search in vain for a nice, affordable place to stay. Despite the fact that night has fallen, I insist on leaving the city and looking elsewhere. It is really late until later, through the darkness and villages, we found a hotel that could accommodate and feed us. The rooms and the food are good, because of the planned wedding the following day, nobody is there except us. Only at the next daylight do we see the whole beauty of the complex from the outside.