Albania features two cities which have been awarded UNESCO World Heritage status, Gjirokastër and Berat. Both are located in southern Albania and it would be highly recommended to include them in any tour of the country.
Albania, previously closed off and still very different to the rest of Europe. It's one of the poorest countries in Europe, depending on how far east ones definition of Europe extends. Consequently its infrastructure still has a lot to be desired.
This low quality infrastructure includes hundreds of kilometres of unpaved roads. These are sometimes primary
Crossing over one of Europe's great rivers, the Danube, we enter into Romania just south of Bucharest. The Danube runs along the border between Bulgaria and Romania, and we will revisit this river further upstream when we return to Budapest.
Crossing over from Macedonia at 1,500m altitude, we return to the European Union and into Bulgaria one of the newest members. Our initial research indicated that even motorbikes require vignettes to use any major road, however the customs officials just wave us through.
Over the border from Kosovo and its our first chance to use our green cards, saving us a reported €50 each. Ohrid (Охрид) in the south-west corner of the country, is our destination.
Ten kilometers after exiting Montenegro we arrive at the border crossing into Kosovo. There is a vacant gunner tower opposite the insurance office, likely due to recent violence at nearby crossing points. When we're there the crossing is quiet and a pack of puppies are on hand to greet us.
Straight from Croatia into the Bay of Kotor, and there is a nice breeze. The road from the border to the Bay is busy and slow with numerous resort complexes & developments scattered along the shoreline. You can drive around the bay itself to Kotor, which is heaving, accommodation seems to be both expensive and
The border crossing is tiny. Two portacabins beside each other, one for leaving Bosnia, and one with a solitary Croatian border guard who checks our passports and registration documents, then manually raises the barrier. The border (and "Welcome to Croatia" signs) are passed first, and only a few minutes later do we come upon the
